FAQs
How long will my order take?
Once your order is placed, it goes into our production queue. It can take one to two weeks for your designs to be made depending on the volume of orders we are processing. Shipping time depends on your location, but usually takes no longer than a week.
To be safe you should always order your designs at least three weeks before you need them.
How much will it cost to make my design?Back to top
The cost is determined by the complexity of your design and the material type and thickness you’ve chosen.
The laser cuts materials at a range of speeds and as a rule it takes longer to cut thicker materials. The laser is also faster at cutting straight lines than it is at cutting curves. As a general rule of thumb, the more lines your design has, the more it will cost to make.
In your personal factory, when you add the materials to your designs, you’ll get an instant price for how much it will cost to make it. If you need to, you can then go back and refine your designs and upload them again. Check out design tips for advice on how to make your design more economical.
How do I order more than one design / material at once?Back to top
All the designs you wish to make at one time need to be uploaded together. If you want to make one design from multiple materials, you’ll need to upload one design file per material. The easiest way to do this is to simply duplicate the file you want to use, and add the material type or color to the end of the filename.
1. Add your first design file. Here’s the screen you’ll see:
2. Click ‘Add another .eps file’. (This will read ‘.svg file’ if that’s the type of file you’re using.)
3. Now you can upload your second/duplicate file, and repeat that process as many times as required. Click ‘Done’ once all of your files are uploaded and you can then add materials.
What is ‘laser cutting’?Back to top
A laser cutter is a machine that uses a beam a light to cut or mark designs out of a flat sheet of material. Laser cutting is very precise. Computer generated files control the direction, speed, intensity and spread of the laser beam.
First, the laser cutter loads your file and programs itself to begin the cutting process. The laser beam passes through a focusing lens to increase its strength and create a high quality, finished edge. The beam itself measures around 0.2 mm which makes it possible to create intricate patterns and designs.
Can I setup the laser cutter to achieve a special effect?Back to top
No, not at this stage.
What materials can I use?Back to top
You can choose from the range listed in our materials catalog. We are expanding the materials catalog as we go along.
What size restrictions are there?Back to top
There are 3 design templates per design package, used to make on our 3 material sheet sizes:
Can I use my own materials?Back to top
Kind of, yes. You can request your own materials, for us to source for you.
After you’ve made something with this material, we’ll then be able to photograph it and add it to our materials catalog for you to order it direct from your personal factory. Of course, you can use your own materials to embellish your design once we deliver your creations to you.
Will there be burn marks on my lasered parts?Back to top
Yes, there may be some burn marks on some materials, such as timbers and fabrics – please check photos in our materials catalog. To remove them, you can lightly sandpaper them off. Plastics do not suffer from the same kind of burn marks.
What if a material I’ve used is no longer available?Back to top
From time to time, we have to remove a material from our catalog because we can no longer source it. If this happens, you can no longer make with that material but you can edit your design and add a different material.
Contact us if you’d like us to help by suggesting a good alternative material.
Can I use Google Sketch-Up to design things?Back to top
Yes, see how to use Sketch Up.