Using DraftSight with the Laser Cutter

DraftSight is a free cad program that works pretty well!

Just some notes for now, but I'll refine this as I go… -Lance

In DraftSight, set up layers for each color. I typically set up “InnerCut”, “Etch”, and “OuterCut” layers.

• InnerCut: (BLACK) The first cuts you want to do. screw holes, etc. Things that don't matter if the _inside_ of the area cut is no longer aligned (if the inside falls at an angle)
• Etch: (GREEN) Things I'll want etched, but not cut through.
• OuterCut: (RED) The last cuts to do - this is typically the outside edge of the object, removing it from the overall work material.

To laser cut directly from Draftsight, set the objects line width to 0.00“

I was able to print fairly easily/well by creating the object in DraftSight, then exporting via “R2000-2002 ASCII Drawing (*.dxf)”.

I then open the .dxf file in Corel - line weights are already “hairline” and colors are retained.

I did run into one issue with my Etch layer - I was not able to do the “polygon subtraction” operation between two polygons. For this I needed to use Inkscape. Since this issue I discovered the “HATCH” command in DraftSight, which allows me to build a filled polygon.