Laser Cut Talent Quest Props: Bus

 

Recently Auroa Primary School held it school Talent Quest.   You can visit Mr Bloors Youtube page for the links and media from our school here.

We had a special event and part of it was presented to our local community Mr Bloor our amazing AV technician, creator and broadcaster and decided to use the same technology that we used to livestream our recent 2026 Virtual Pinball Competition.

Words cannot express how important to our school - if you haven't seen his amazing page you should and visit it or look at some of his creative highlights including the full movie productions that he has been involved in.

This bus shown here in profile and side view was created by one of our amazing teachers, Mr Spice.  This bus was used for one of our acts for the talent quest. 

It was created by using our large scale laser cutter.   The bus outline was cut from a silhouette that was found online.   It was then cut out from corrugated cardboard, the kind used for real estate signs.

You can view the video of the school talent quest live streaming below.  If you have any questions regarding any of Mr Bloor's amazing work ranging from his Pinball, his full scale movies his dance machine amazing spectacular events and the list goes on.

As we speak Mr Bloor is preparing for his next amazing school event - more details of which are to come at a later point, but it is a sequel to his amazing 'Fast and the Furious' movie.

Laser Cut Coasters - Two Years Later

We have recently posted about the process of using the 3D Printers (Bambu H2D) to create a coaster for use for hot drinks.  You can click on the link to that example here using 'scribble' to create the project here.

The durability of the PLA filament meant that this is a positive use however the print time is one hour.   As an alternative for this we have in the past used the school laser cutter to produce coasters.  These were a prominent feature of our 2023 School Market Day in the Senior School.  You can click on the link to see examples of this here (in Mr Bloors amazing summary video of the event).

In the examples shown in this print they are coaters that were made and have been in use since 2023 - of note they have been sealed to protect them.  As a standard MDF cut that had not been sprayed with sealant we would expect there to be staining and some damage to the design and the coaster.     The print time for the project was approximately ten minutes for each of the individual coasters.

How might it be relevant to your classroom or your school? 

The design is simple - in both cases the design template was available online, it was imported into software by a senior student and they applied it to the laser cutter.   

If your school was holding a market day or fundraising event this is something that could be created.   If you have extension students who require a task to complete this is something that they could complete.

There are additional examples of how our (senior students) have used laser cutter from school projects here.

3D Prints and Laser Cuts: Where to Next

 

As we are celebrating the end of the school term we have a number of events that are occurring, one of which is our Easter Holidays.   As per the New Zealand tradition of the 'Easter Bunny' there is a large number of media and resources pre-made.  A basic example of this is the laser cut shown left.   It is not student designed and the files can readily be found online and the image took just over ten minutes to print. 

Additional decoration was possible however it was not deemed something that was carried out.

Our AR/VR designs, to apply the Tinkercad designs to the Dolls House are now needing to be 'a model'.  We have discussed how our model images will need to be 'to scale', to have the 'other features in the photograph' and also feature the 'model' figure.   An example of all of these is the photograph shown left, it needs to be repeated as the flooring is not in the correct location, the model was not present (it was just out of shot)

We have the school holidays for the term coming up very soon in New Zealand.  We want to use the two week break to ensure that we can complete as many of the outstanding projects as possible.   We have three printers in our school, two of which are typically able for our classroom, depending on demand.   We will be able to print during the break a number of the larger projects which will be the furniture for the dolls house.   The project has been so successful that we are building a second dolls house which will be made around the dimensions of the first, so we are intending to complete two copies of each object.

Laser Cut Projects: Photoframe

Challenge: Independent design activity from a senior (Year 7 and Year 8 student) creating something original using Sketch Up.

Background: Student was looking for ideas for a project and saw some of the off cuts from another students projects.    The student then decided that this would be the basis for an original project.   The student wanted to create a layered effect with the laser cutter to produce a series of layers to create a frame for a regulation photograph (as shown left).   

The design process was based around the corner pieces (which were a series of circles) with the addition of the three layers of the print.

The project was then joined and put together with wood glue and set.   

Level of Difficulty: Low - the student was able to create and execute this project completely independently.  They had previously worked on more complicated projects but these had been very detailed with the student following a teachers set of videos as shown in this post.

Timeframe: Five minute.  This task potentially could be completed by a full classroom with the variation provided by the corners of the frame - the decoration of the MDF./Bamboo is another potential for some variation.

Size: The current frame as shown in the photograph 150mm across and 200mm high.   Each of the layers of the from is 5mm thick so 15mm before the final corner edging.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: As noted the student was responsible for the design and execution of the project.   They currently have no stand at the back which could potentially be developed but otherwise the project is complete.   We completed 3D Printed versions of a stand in 2018 the details of which can be located here.

Laser Cut Projects: Continued Expansion

 

The Laser Cut Earring project/small scale business is continuing to gather pace.   The students who is responsible for this is refining her designs, including the placement of the holes to attach the earrings to the loop holders, 

She has started to develop ideas such as the finish of the product including experimenting with the staining of the wood (coffee is something that is proving effective).

Central to this idea of using the Laser Cutter for the design is the fact that combined with the technology and the free software available the earrings can be produced for a minimal cost - even allowing for this the student is looking to simply run a small scale business without the need for significant overheads.

This will be documented moving forward during the course of the school year.

Game Board Basic Design:

The same student who is responsible for the earrings project is looking to further develop their skills with the laser cutter.   

In this example she has decided to look at designing a board game using the 3D Printer to create the board.   This is her basic example she has a board and placed some semi-random examples on each of the squares.   The student also designed some basic instructions on each of the squares as can be clearly seen on the left.

The student is revising the board as it stands (which is currently 'busy') and is looking to play test this idea to add depth to it.   It goes without saying that this will be revised and reworked during the course of the school year and we will continue to update the process and product as it develops.

Laser Cut 101: Plant Wall Stands

Challenge: To extend a student using a Laser Cutter during independent work time.

Background: This students has shown a considerable talent to independently work on design projects using the school laser cutter, GIMP and Sketch-Up to design project, material and works.   In this instance we were looking for short term projects, ones that the student could complete easily and use as a starting point for something further.

In this example we used a common search engine to look for 'interesting laser cut projects' and saw various hanging stands.   The student took the concept and used Sketch-Up to design a three piece laser cut with the intention of using it to have a small pot plant placed upon it.    The project was cut from the MDF and then glued together using PVA wood glue.   

The next steps for this student are the key.   The project works, the time is exceptionally short (less than five minutes to laser cut the design) - the questions posed to the student: how stable is the design? How much weight can the design hold? How can they add details or features? How can they increase the impact of the design? Would a different wood make a difference? 

Left: The final design shown left having been spray painted and then mounted on the wall.   Given that the design is MDF the decision was made to mount LEGO plants on the holder to act as a test item.

Laser Cutting: Students Basic Projects to Start the School Year

Challenge: To introduce Laser Cutting to students in the junior school.

Background: Its 2024 - this is another school year in New Zealand, in a junior classroom where the students are seven and eight years old.  Again this year we are looking at producing projects and engaging the students with a range of activities.   This year to create something different for 'the last stand' we are wanting to introduce the concept of Laser Cutting to the students.

This was a short project created by a senior student (twelve year old) at the school which is intended to excite the juniors into following the example.   This project is intended as an introductory example so that the students can get the 'feel' for the laser cutter in a short space of time.   

Level of Difficulty for the Project: Low.  The student involved selected an image online with the intention of it being a silhouette.  They then used GIMP to introduce a circle as the background, converting the file in the process making it suitable for laser cutting, in this case a background of a circle was chosen.   It is going to be passed over to Y3 and Y4 students in the coming days.

Size: The design is currently 150mm across.   The bamboo that is used for the wood (this is not MDF) was chosen as something durable that could be handled but there is not intended to be any sealing or painting of the wood, the idea is to complete the project as quickly as possible.

Timeframe: The speed of the laser cutter is one of the best things about it.  Three of these were completed in under ten minutes - the intention is to push these out for a number of students (a class) in short order.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: The image shown above while striking has not worked perfectly, there was some loss inside the interior of the flowers.  The purpose of the laser cut is another issue - at present the idea is to create a stencil - but this is not easily possible unless the wood is spray painted, which would affect its presentation.   This will be developed further.