Week 3 Laser Cut Mold

Import an image of your choice

Select Path > Trace Bitmap

Right click image > Fill & Stroke > Stroke Paint > select fill & make sure color is set (in this case I set the stroke color to black

Select Stroke Style and set width to 1 px

Save svg file

Import SVG into your cutting program (Lightburn in this case)

Select the appropriate speed and strength (100% and 5 mm/s for this machine)

Load the material into laser cutter

Select the appropriate settings for your laser cutting device

Select cut

Remove finished product

Note: I experimented with cutting an outline as an alternative mold, but that is not a requirement.

Agar Agar Recipe:

150 ml of water / 16 g of agar agar / 8 ml of glycerin / dash of tumeric for color. 

We were aiming for a springy mixture. Adding less agar agar will be fine and will result in a more stiff final product.

Instructions: Add the water and agar agar in cold to the pot. Heat the mix to a medium temperature while stiring slowly. 

Add the glycerin and tumeric. Allow the mix to simmer and pour into the mould once it has begun to harden.

The biomaterial had shrunk during the drying stage, but largely retained its shape. The consistency was not as jiggly as I had hoped. Additionally, Singapore is a humid country so there was some minor mould spotting, but that was easy enough to brush off.