Laser Cut - Presentation Box for Student Exemplars

 

This creation has come from one of our amazing teachers here at school which came out of an idea about ways to display exemplars of students work.  We have looked online at various items for displaying of figures with a combination of LED strip lighting and MDF or wood veneer.

The idea is to have a semi permanent display with some exemplars physically present to show as a example of our students creativity and innovation.

In the example display box shown left the laser cutter has been used to create both the top and bottom for the box which has then been stained to alter the colour.

The walls of the box have been created by using the laser cutter to cut perspex which has then been anchored into position by the slots created by the box.

The design at present measures 200mm by 220mm and has a height of 260mm.   The wooden lid is designed to lock the Perspex into place and is 220mm by 220mm and is 5mm high. 

Although there is no LED strip lighting directly linked to the display box it would be potentially possible via the lid and a battery operate light (inexpensive fairy lights might also work in the same manner).

This would potentially allow the school to easily create a bank of exemplars that could either be stacked on top of each other or combined with another furniture item.

This photograph left shows the storage box placed in a cube shaped storage item - although if it was to be permanently mounted into something such as this we would potentially look at the dimensions to increase the size relative to where it is placed.

There are a significant number of sites online which contains laser cut files for the purpose.

We also have created a bank of examples of laser cut projects which are located via the tab on the main page of this blog.

2025: Year in Review - Dolls House Project

 

In February 2025 we started with one of our long term projects for the year, when we attempted to use our technology to repurpose a Dolls House.

This item was scheduled scheduled to be sent to landfill and we set about using the schools technology, the 3D Printers and the Laser Cutter to see if we could revive the item and make it into a useable item.   While the seniors concentrated on using the laser cutter to replace the panels and the wood base for the item the juniors from our class spent time designing 3D Printed furniture that could be placed inside the Dolls House.

This proved to be an excellent hands on task for the students from our classroom.  They were able to use their iPads and the Tinkercad App to design and create a range of items that could fit into the dolls house and be used as furniture.

The students used various figures to complete some basic proto-typing (shown left) and then created furniture that fitted in with these figures, which was then applied to the Dolls House.

We used Tinkercads AR/VR feature extensively as we were creating the designs and then projecting them into place in the house to see how they would fit, what adjustments needed to be made and how we could develop the designs further.

Further designs and creations followed including some practical problem solving from the students (for instance in the early examples the base of the 3D prints tended to have stump bases as the students found in regular examples however this meant the designs would be weak at this point so they opted to instead produce block finishes to the designs.

Students spent several months refining each design, testing its viability and ensuring that they were challenging themselves by more complex designs and features for the build.

We eventually developed a range of exemplars for furniture that met the brief, that had an element of size that would work with the house and the figures that we had been using.

At the same time the seniors had opted for a complete rebuild of the Dolls House when structural concerns were raised about the MDF base.   This involved extensive laser cut work as the project was started again from scratch.

This also meant that the furniture that our juniors had designed was in turn placed into a different location than had been replaced and some adjustments were required to ensure that they met the purpose they were intended for.  We also investigated using the Roland Versa Sign Maker to produce potential decals for both the walls and the floors of the design.

By October the project was reaching its conclusion - at this point we had the Dolls House fully completed, and the furniture had also been completed and detailed.  We had our major fundraising event for the school year, our 2025 Market Day where the Dolls House became one of the major auction items which was auctioned to raise money for the school.

This was done safe in the knowledge that the files for the production of another Dolls House were on file and easily accessible at the point that we wanted to print another one.

It ended up being a practical task that combined two different levels of work at our school and combined the use of two significant technologies.   We used our iPads and the Tinkercad App for the furniture design and AR/VR and our Mac Books and Sketch-up for the Laser Cutting design and creation.

The slideshow below details the entire process.   Thank you for your visit - this site has now closed for the year, we are rebuilding it in the background and we will be moving onto new projects in February 2026.

Dolls House 2025 Project: Culmination

 

The full scale Dolls House, which started as a 3D Printing project in the classroom for our junior students has now been fully completed, designed, laser cut and had all of the finishing touches added.

You can view the project as it started as a 3D Printing task with the slideshow on the guides/special projects tabs.  It is also mentioned numerous times on our laser cutter exemplars tab which you can click on with the link here.

The dimensions of the print we would describe as extremely significant in that the design and build measures 850mm across is 450mm deep and 750mm high.    It has the numerous rooms that were previously described in the process of making it.

The entire project has been laser cut with the exception of the hinges that support the opening and closing of the roof (as shown left) which has been created by using the Bambu H2D to create the hinges.

The final project has shifted from being a gift to the junior classrooms into a object that is being put into the school auction for our major fundraising event for the year which is taking place on October 31st for our School Market Day 2025.

Laser Cutting: Resource Cube

 

Laser Cut Resource Cube: This cube has been created as a resource for the Step Master Competition that is taking place in School on Monday morning.   Its purpose will be revealed during the livestream.

Initially the idea was to locate this locally but finding a set of them, with the dimensions that were required seemed a bit of a challenge.

The answer was the school laser cutter which was used to custom make these MDF boxes.  They have then been assembled and glued (with a wood glue).  Our Roland Versa Sign Maker will then be utilised to produce a sticker which will then be applied to the box.

The boxes each took approximately ten minutes to cut the six side on the laser cutter.   The dimensions of the boxes are 130mm wide, long and high.    The MDF used to cut the boxes is 3mm thick.    These could be used for a variety of tasks and tools in the classroom from everything from a dice to a resource.   While there would be the option to paint or glue something on the sides of the box a much superior finish would be provided by using the sticker machine.

We have used it extensively for producing media for our students examples of which include the market day labels from 2023 or the decals and finishing on our school pinball and dance revolution machine.

Laser Cut Seniors Music Player Project

 

The seniors (Y7/8 at our school, 12 and 13 year olds) once a week have our DPE (Design Production Engineering) subjects including laser cutting.

Laser cutting involves using our school laser cutter as we have detailed in previous posts on this blog.  

As another group of our students are nearing the completion cycle of their work they have been completing their new range of designs.   An example shown left is this MP3 player.    The unit is housed in a MDF laser cut rectangular box.   The student wanted to include some personalisation with the design the first aspect of which is the ears shown and the placement of the speakers to give the impact of eyes.

At the end of the box the student took a photograph and used the laser cutter to burn the image into the wood.

The box measures 280mm across is 140mm high and 140mm deep.

The student designed the dimension of the box, carried out the laser cutting and then used wood glue to glue the joins together.

The box can be further stained for a finish.    Additional details could be added by using the school 3D Printers or sticker machine to add decals.

Previously we used 3D printers to construct the speaker housing, which you can view via a post from 2015 here.

Senior Market Day Laser Cut: Pool Table

 

We have spoken on this blog about projects that are being completed by our Auroa Primary School senior (Year Seven and Year Eight) students who are using the school laser cutter to produce products for our school market day 2025.

One group has worked on developing a table game, which initially was using cues to play (see details below).   For the design of the table the school laser cutter was used to design the table.

The dimensions of the table as it stands at present and shown in the photographs is 370mm long is 210mm wide and the base is 70mm high.  It sits on a stand 60mm high.    

The print was made using bamboo composite MDF is 2mm thick.    The wood has then been stained to give the finish shown.   The felt/green look shown in the picture was purchased from a local craft store.

The holes that are shown in the picture need revising.   The students concerned intend using marbles as the playing pieces.   A further potential challenge for the students is that there is currently no track or shoot for the balls to be returned towards the starting point.   The balls currently drop down into the table when they are sunk into a hole.

The students could also further develop the rules for the game and look at ways in which to further develop tools to be used with the game.   The students had experimented with the 3D Printing of cues to play the game with, however the strength required and the skill required to use these correctly has proven to be quite challenging.

As the feature of the Market Day is 'personalisation' as well as innovation this can be addressed by having names custom built into the side of the design.

Dolls House 2025: Major Update

 

Earlier this year we spent a number of weeks working on a significant project involving our technology, as we attempted to rebuild and then fully furnish a Dolls House for the junior school students at Auroa Primary School.

It was always the intention to repair the original item and replace the pieces while maintaining as much of the original as possible.   The more that we investigated this and started the process, particularly with the chipboard that made up the bulk of the item the more that we realised this was not really possible.  MDF when it becomes wet becomes 'fluffy' and cannot be returned to its original state.   This was the case in a number of places for the original dolls house.

As a result we have undertaken an entire rebuild of the structure using the laser cutter to create the sides.   The junior students from the classroom used the printers to create the furniture to fit inside the dolls house, as the dimensions for the replacement are still valid and would work with the new structure.

The material that the students designed could then be inserted directly into the new .   This project has been completed with precision and accuracy and the students primary role has been to put the pieces together once they have been cut.

The final step for this project, now that the structure has been built will be to seal it, to ensure that it lasts for as long as possible and then combine it with the 3D printed furniture so it can be used in the junior classroom.

The dimensions of the project are extremely large as it is a regular full scale dolls house.  The laser cut measures 1200mm across the front, has a depth of 400mm and is 600mm high split into two levels.   Stairs and dividing walls for each of the sections of the house are going to be added.