Laser Cutter / Engraver Resources
Here you will find a collection of handy techniques, resources, and info about Laser Cutting
Guides
How to engrave greyscale images
File Generators
Files the generators create on the following sites are all free for personal use as of DATE. Please refer to individual sites for commercial use guidelines. The files they produce may need final tweaking in a vector program to make them laser-ready, eg, applying the correct stroke colour and weight for the laser to recognize cut lines.
| What does it generate? | Site Name | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple boxes | MakerCase | A simple box generator allows you to enter parameters to generate a free downloadable vector file of the box design. | https://www.makercase.com/#/ |
| Simple boxes | Make a Box | A simple box generator allows you to enter parameters to generate a free downloadable vector file of the box design. | https://makeabox.io/ |
| Simple boxes with open sides or sloped edges | Laser Cutter Box | A simple box generator allows you to enter parameters to generate a free downloadable vector file of the box design. Has the option to add partitions, a sloped edge, and/or open sides to your box design | http://jeromeleary.com/laser/ |
| Paper boxes in a wide variety of shapes | Template Maker | Generates files for a wide variety of paper/card boxes in a variety of fun shapes. | https://www.templatemaker.nl/ |
| Complex boxes (many different styles and parameters) | Boxes.py | An open source online box generator which also has an extension for Inkscape (free vector design software). There are simpler and more complex designs. | https://hackaday.io/project/10649-boxespy |
| Interlocking gears | Involute Spur Gear Builder | Easily generate interlocking gears that will work smoothly when actually used. Many customisable options. | http://hessmer.org/gears/InvoluteSpurGearBuilder.html |
| Interlocking gears | Gear Designer | A simple to use site to create interlocking gears | http://www.jeromeleary.com/gears/ |
| Interlocking gears | Gear Generator | A gear generator that allows you to animate the interlocking gears to see how they move together. | https://geargenerator.com/ |
| Maze games | Laser-Cut Maze Designer | Enter your parameters and it will generate a square or rectangular maze game you can cut and assemble. | https://adashrod.github.io/LaserCutMazes/welcome |
| Maze games | Maze Generator | Enter your parameters and it will generate a square, rectangular, hexagonal or triangular maze game you can cut and assemble. | http://www.mazegenerator.net/ |
| Rulers | Vector Ruler Generator | Create simple rulers in a variety of sizes | http://robbbb.github.io/VectorRuler/ |
| Jigsaws | Jigsaw Puzzle | Enter your parameters to create a square, rectangular or hexagonal jigsaw. | https://draradech.github.io/jigsaw/index.html |
| Living Hinges | Inkscape | An Inkscape extension to generate living hinges (requires Inkscape, free vector design software) | https://inkscape.org/~drphonon/%E2%98%85living-hinge-creator |
| Elliptical boxes | Github | An Inkscape extension to generate elliptical boxes with living hinge sides (requires Inkscape, free vector design software) | https://github.com/BvdP/elliptical-box-maker |
| SIngle-line Text Fonts | Imajeenyus | Single line fonts provide a super efficient way to engrave text using a laser cutter on score settings. | http://www.imajeenyus.com/computer/20150110_single_line_fonts/index.shtml/ |
| single-line text inkscape plugin | Hershey Text, Evil Mad Scientist Labs | Single line fonts provide a super efficient way to engrave text using a laser cutter on score settings. | https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2011/hershey-text-an-inkscape-extension-for-engraving-fonts/ |
Pre-made designs
Pre-made designs for laser cutting, free for personal use. Please refer to individual sites/contributors for commercial use guidelines. Files provided may need final tweaking in a vector program to make them laser-ready, eg, applying the correct stroke colour and weight for the laser to recognize cut lines.
| Design Types | Site Name | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various | Trotec DIY Laser Projects | A wide variety of curated designs for laser cutting. | https://www.troteclaser.com/en-au/knowledge/do-it-yourself-samples/ |
| Various | Epilog Laser Sample Club | A wide variety of curated designs for laser cutting. | https://www.epiloglaser.com.au/resources/sample-club.htm |
| Various | Boss Laser | A small variety of curated designs for laser cutting. | https://www.bosslaser.com/laser-files/downloads/ |
| Various | Glowforge Community Forums - Free Laser Designs Category | A wide variety of user-contributed designs for laser cutting. | https://community.glowforge.com/c/free-laser-designs/11 |
| Various | Thingieverse - contributions tagged 'Lasercut' | A wide variety of user-contributed designs for laser cutting. | https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:lasercut |
| Various | Maker Design Lab | A small selection of designs for laser cutting. | https://makerdesignlab.com/tag/free-laser-cutter-files/ |
| Papercrafts | Dreaming Tree | A variety of papercraft designs that could be easily adapted to laser cutting | https://3dsvg.com/product-category/free-svg-files/ |
| Various | Free Paterns Area | A small selection of designs for laser cutting and CnC. | https://www.freepatternsarea.com/free-projects/ |
| Various | 3axis.co | A wide variety of designs for laser cutting. Please note, this site contains a lot of external advertising and as such, may be difficult to navigate without use of an ad blocker. | https://3axis.co/ |
| Living Hinge Swatches | Obrary | Creative commons licensed living hinge swatches. See link in comments if download link does not work. | https://obrary.com/products/living-hinge-patterns?variant=798259727 |
| Living Hinge Swatches | Instructibles | Creative commons licensed living hinge swatches. | https://www.instructables.com/Curved-laser-bent-wood/ |
