Laser Operating Procedure

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Operating Procedure

  1. Check a CO2 fire extinguisher is available and not empty
  2. Unlock the laser cutter lid
  3. Check table is at correct height and empty of materials/offcuts so no parts interfere with laser nozzle. If the bed looks like it has a residue build up on it, give it a clean.
  4. Turn on:
    1. Laser cooler (allow to cool for 5 mins before proceeding)
    2. Nozzle-clear pump
    3. Extraction pump
    4. Laser (including turning the keyed switch)
    5. Laser PC
  5. Set laser to datum position by pushing datum button
  6. Put the material to cut on the laser bed
  7. Adjust the bed height to focus the laser
  8. Open the Lasercut 5.3 software on the PC and import your design
  9. Process the design and apply correct speed/power settings. See Lasercut 5.3 page for more information on the software. Refer to the Laserable materials reference for guide lines on what materials can be cut and the appropriate settings.
  10. If cutting with a new material, test the power and speed settings by cutting a small test pattern on a scrap of material first
  11. 'Download' the design to the laser cutter
  12. Always use the 'test' button to show the outline of the cut path before cutting
  13. To cut: Close the cutter lid and press 'Start'
  14. When you've finished cutting, remove all materials and clean the surfaces inside the laser cutter


Tips & Tricks

  • If the laser cutter's user interface does not seem to respond/do what you want, hit "ESC" to return to 'normal mode'.
  • The opaque white acrylic needs slightly stronger settings for surface cuts as they are not as visible as in the transparent acrylic (i.e., for similar effect you need a deeper cut). Otherwise seems to cut equivalently to transparent acrylics.
  • If you want a tight fit of pieces or very accurate sizing, keep in mind that the laser beam has a width of just over 0.1 mm (maybe 0.11 or 0.12 mm). So all exterior cut lines should be offset by 0.05 mm; you can do this very easily in the LaserCutter Software with the "Offset" tool (units are in mm, so enter '0.05' and select 'Outer').
  • The DXF file format stores values only (not values and units). The internal units in the LaserCutter are in mm. If you set your document's units to mm in the exporting CAD system it should work fine, but generally it is a good idea to have a piece of geometry of known length, e.g. a line 100mm long, or a box of known size around your design. This makes adjusting the scaling a lot easier.
  • If you want to export a DXF from Inkscape (which is a great, free vector drawing package), then make sure you do "Object to path" from the Path menu for the whole object and then during the export stage, enable "use ROBO-Master type of spline output". This should make sure all the curves and so on work.
  • There's a page to help with Inkscape using Inkscape for laser cutter designs
  • If the jog buttons (arrow keys moving the laser head around) are only moving the head in small single steps rather than moving it continuously, make sure that the jog step size is set to 0.0mm in the Jog Settings section of the menu.
  • Whenever exporting a vector from CAD software, include a circle or rectangle that's there purely to maintain scale. Something like 100x100. Then it's super easy to check if something funky is going on, and fix it, however primitive the laser cut software is.
  • The laser kerf is 0.1-0.3mm and varies between materials and cut speeds.
  • For friction fits and tight tolerance parts, the kerf offset can be accounted for in CAD or using the offset function in LaserCut 5.3. One design choice can be to add small bumps that are bigger than the expected kerf, so there's only small bits of contact. This can make it easier to get a friction fit with poor tolerance parts.
  • It can be a good idea to check the exported DXF with a DXF viewer to check for strange export behaviour and as a troubleshooting tool. DWG Trueview and CAMBAM (DXF function still works after trial period) are recommended by some hackspace members.
  • LaserCut 5.3 works best with DXF version 'AutoCAD R14'

Fixing strange issues

Etching doesn't work
Lines are not closed. LaserCut usually warns you about this. Ctrl-a to select all, then Tools->Unite Lines (0.001 should be fine).
Two copies on top of each other. Copies on top of each other "cancel out" any etching. Delete one copy.
Test with Menu->Laser->Simulate
LaserCut will not download to the laser cutter
Check laser cutter isn't in a paused state
Restart LaserCut on the PC.
Laser cuts things out 2+ times
Check you don't have two copies loaded on top of each other
Check it's not set to cut multiple times in LaserCut (this setting is right of the Cut/Engrave/Speed/Power settings)
Check the laser front panel says "001" at the bottom. If not, press right arrow until the number is highlighted, then down to adjust back to 1, then press return.
Laser will only cut at the top right of the bed
Download again with Immediate Mode ticked
On laser panel, press return (I think?) then right twice (should select the bottom left option), then press return (I think).
You Hit Emergency stop
E-M button needs twisting to re-activate
If that fails - check the circuit breaker inside. From the back of the machine, you want to open the lower flap on the left side, which should be unlocked. Near to the back, there is a breaker board. Flip the flippy bit.


Operating cost

The laser consumes ~1000w so << £1/hr energy cost. The laser tube cost also works out at < £1/hr, so the main running cost is for the materials.

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