Money Box | Trotec Laser DIY sample

Use the directions and template below to make an arcylic money box with all-round photo engraving. The money box is a great gift for the hard-to-buy-for person in your life.
To browse our full materials range, please visit www.trotec-materials.com

Preparation

Required material

1/4 sheet of 3 mm TroGlass Color Gloss black (available at Trotec)
Material to cover the engraving table (e.g. paper)

Machine used

Speedy 400 flexx
120 Watt CO₂/50 Watt fiber laser with 2.85" flexx lens

For this sample, you should use a laser machine from the Speedy flexx Series.

Important

Use the acrylic cutting grid table.
Leave the protection foil on the material during cutting. It protects the acrylic from scratches. Remove the foil right before marking.

Tip:

Produce cash boxes to keep in your inventory and individualize them for your customers upon request.

dreamcar-templates.zip

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ZIP

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Step by step

Step 1

Step 1: Import /create design template

Create your own design or import our design template into your graphics program. We optimized the design so that you can produce two cash boxes out of one quarter sheet of TroGlass without material waste. You can also visit www.makeabox.io and enter the required dimensions, material thickness, kerf, etc. and download the finished file. If you define the kerf correctly, you can simply put together the parts without glue. (We used a kerf of 0.2 mm.)

Print settings

Process mode	Resolution	Cut line
Standard	500 dpi	none

Halftone	Others
Black & White	enhanced geometries inner geometries first

Step 2

Step 2: Laser process

To optimize your results, you should use the acrylic cutting grid table because it eliminates back reflections on the material. Simply position the acrylic sheet into your laser and cover the rest of the table to maximize the exhaust power. Then cut the design out of TroGlass.

Laser Parameters:

Color	Process	Power (%)	Speed (%)	ppi/Hz
red	Cut CO2	30	0.2	5000

Passes	Air Assist	Z-Offset	Advanced
1	on	-	-

Info:

We used the standard laser parameters from JobControl optimized for quality because we want to mark on the cutting edges as well.
You can download the material parameters from JobControl here.

Step 3

Step 3: Prepare for photo marking

Open the template for laser marking. It shows the four pages of the money box. Import the desired image and position it into the center of the page. Please make sure that the image is big enough to cover all four sides of the box. Make 3 duplicates of the image and position them all into the center of the page. Now position each of the images into one of the four power clip containers (with transparent outline - see video). The image appears as one, but has been split into four. Now send all four designs to the laser. Make sure that you use the exact dimensions and the graphic is positioned in the middle.

Print settings:

Process mode	Resolution	Cut line
Photo	500dpi	none

Halftone	Others
Stucki	Invert

Important:

All black parts of the image are marked and appear white afterwards. This is why the image needs to be inverted.

Step 4

Step 4: Laser marking

Position the assembled money box into your laser. Start marking with the right (narrow) side (no. 1), followed by the left (narrow) side (no. 3). Next mark the front (no. 2) and finally the back (no. 4). Remember to focus the laser machine before marking the front (no. 2). You could mark the pieces from 1-4 one after the other, but then you will have to focus again after each part.

Laser Parameters:

Color	Process	Power (%)	Speed (%)	ppi/Hz
black	engrave FLP	40	55	75000

Passes	Air Assist	Z-Offset	Advanced
1	on	-	High Quality

Step 5

Step 5: Post-processing

The only post-processing necessary is cleaning the glass holder. We recommend using some water and dish soap.

Inspirations

On dark acrylic you can achieve particularly good results with the fiber laser source of the Speedy flexx series.
If you want to mark four individual images instead of the all-round graphic, you can mark the image directly on the material before cutting.
You can also UV-print the material. Our JobControl Vision will help you cut out the printed sheets with highest precision. Don't forget that the cutting edges will appear black (resp. in the color of the acrylic used)