5th Line Design Services specializes in offering the following services:
Laser cutting
Laser etching
CNC millwork
general wood-working
The target market for 5th Line Design Studio services is to individuals such as crafters, students and teachers, other small businesses and local markets.
There are limitations to what can be done due to machine characteristics and time and resource constraints.
Laser Limitations:
– The maximum size of material that can be put into the laser machine for either cutting or etching is 600mm x 300mm (24in x 12in).
– The laser bed can accommodate something up to 4in thick – so to laser etch the top of a wood box, the box must be 4in or less tall. If I disassemble some parts in the laser bed I can increase the height to 8-9in but whether this would work or not depends on the other dimensions of the object to be lasered.
– maximum thickness of material that can be cut is about 15mm (5/8in) depending on the type of material. I’ve successfully cut solid maple wood up to 13mm (1/2in).
– there are safety limitations on what types of material can be cut or etched. Generally organic material is safe – wood, leather (vegetable dyed), textiles, paper, glass. Any material containing PVC (poly-vinyl chloride) is very unsafe due to the production of chlorine gas during the laser process. Search “laser safe materials” for more info on what materials are safe to use in a CO2 laser.
CNC Router Limitations
– The maximum size of material that can be machined on the XCarve 1000mm is about 900mm x 900mm (36in x 36in). The machine does have a pass-through capability which allows longer pieces to be machined. I’ve only used the pass-through once so any work with larger pieces will entail some risk.
– The maximum thickness of material that can be machined is about 4.5in
– The types of material that can be machined safely include wood, corian, plastics such as acrylic and delrin, and soft metals like aluminum.
Mass production capability. Being a one-person shop, I do not have the capacity or desire to mass produce 100s of the same thing. My interests and skills are oriented towards production of unique, custom products.
See the Project Gallery for examples of the range of unique projects that I have completed. I like a challenge and really enjoy coming up with innovative and creative solutions to meet your needs. Please contact me to discuss how we could work together to meet your needs.