Hasta La Ideas

Here’s an innovative use of a CNC laser cutter: Spanish supercreative Ishac Bertran precision sliced segments out of vinyl records, essentially cut-and-pasting music samples for analog playback. He’s posted the entire procedure on his blog, along with notes on how he first experimented with a hot wire cutter and even a utility knife before settling on the laser:

I made many tests to find the right laser power in order to get the cleanest cut possible. The best setting was to let the laser go through *almost* through the vinyl, and then crack manually the last thin layer. If the laser goes all the way through, it melts too much material and leaves a gap. If the laser doesn’t go enough deep, it’s pretty much impossible to take the piece out without creating an undesired crack.

Even if the laser is well calibrated, it always cuts creating a cone-shape cut. Using the first option the crack doesn’t take out any material or creates burrs on the bottom surface, so that surface is the one I used for playing the record afterwards. The top one always have a gap where the stylus would go in.

Check out the results:

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