Laser cut acrylic sphere
Making a card prototype.
Components drawn using Adobe Illustrator
The components cut by laser cutter.
The ability of the laser cutting process to cut lines of very narrow width, enables components to be fitted with very close tolerances, while producing delicate parts that might not withstand the stresses involved in conventional mechanical cutting processes.
The ability of the artist and designer to work directly with computer software enables very accurate decisions to be made on the "drawing board", early on, and with great precision. In this example the 3 dimensional fitting of the three elements was trialled using cardboard, scissors and masking tape, which are themselves speedily adaptable.
See also object 14 , object 5