Laser Cutter Operation

Laser Cutter Operation
Warning
The laser cutter is a potentially dangerous machine. It is very easy to start fires with the
laser cutter. The laser cutter can also produce dangerous fumes if used with improper
materials. The cutter must remain under constant supervision while in use.
General Information
• You must take a laser tutorial in order to be able to use the laser cutter. Sign up sheets for
the tutorials are on the bulletin board located outside the laser cutter room.
• The laser room is open when the Arch. shop is open. See hours posted on shop door. If
you have a deadline, plan ahead.
• Any questions can be emailed to [email protected]
Material Information
• You can only use approved materials with the laser cutter. These are:
- Matte board (lightly charred edges)
- Chipboard (lightly charred edges)
- Museum board (lightly charred edges on light colored material)
- Corrugated cardboard- up to 1/4” (cuts cleanly)
- Basswood, Balsa wood, Maple, Alder- up to 1/8” (lightly charred edges)
- MDF- up to 1/4” (charred edges)
- Baltic Birch plywood- up to 1/8” (lightly charred edges)
- Acrylic, Plexiglas, Lucite- up to 3/8” (leaves polished edges)
- Romark ADA plastic- 1/32" & 1/16”, (smooth edges) Comes in matte white and many
colors. Available at Delvies Plastic.
• Max. material size is 48” x 24”
DO NOT CUT- Metal, Glass, Foam core, Particle board, Lexan (polycarbonate), Sintra,
PVC, or anything else that does not appear in the list. If you are using “scrap” material,
make sure you are absolutely certain that it is one of the approved materials or you may
damage the laser cutter as well as risk the health and safety of yourself and others.
File Set-up
Arrange your drawings by colors corresponding to intended cuts and etches. Cyan is for vector
cutting. Magenta is for inside cuts (optional), Red is for vector engraving (fine line engraving), and
black is for raster engraving (fonts, artwork, etc.). Remember to arrange your drawings to
conserve material. You can do this by drawing a box in model space that will cut at scale to the
size of your material (a 48” x 24” box at 1:1 is the laser bed size) and then packing your drawings
into the box. Do not use one of the cut or engrave colors for your box or the laser cutter will try to
process it.
Importing
Files will be cut on the laser cutter using CorelDraw as the interface. Files can be imported from
AutoCAD into CorelDraw by saving as a DXF. Save your file on the network, CD, or flash drive for
importation on the laser room computer. After logging onto the laser room computer, open
CorelDraw and set your work space to 48” x 24”. Import your file by choosing Import from the File
menu. After choosing your file, click once in the top left corner of your work space to display
drawing (do not click and drag as this will cause scaling errors). Position drawing in work space
according to material size. Leave approx. 1/8” space around the edges to assure your parts will be
completely cut. Make sure pen colors are as shown above.
Sending File to Laser Cutter
When your file is ready to cut, choose Print from the File menu. In the print dialog box, select the
Laser Cutter as the printer and click on the Properties button. In the Properties window, click Load
to find the appropriate material settings. They are located on the desktop in the Laser Cut Settings
folder. Open the material setting that most closely matches your material and thickness (ex. 1/4”
acrylic = acrylic_.250_). Click OK once you have loaded the appropriate setting. Turn on laser
cutter by pushing the black Start button located on the gray box on the wall. Once the Laser cutter
has initialized, click Print to send file.
Focusing and Cutting
When your file appears on the laser cutter, open the lid and place your material on the bed in the
upper right hand corner. Press the Focus button. Take the focusing tool from the side of the
machine and place it on your material next to the laser head with the notch in the stalk against the
laser head. Using the  and  buttons, raise and lower the bed until it is just at the point where
the stalk begins to kick out. Once you have focused the laser, move your material to the upper left
side of the bed. Close the lid and press Start to begin cutting. When finished cutting, press the red
Stop button on the gray box on the wall. There are two ways to stop the laser while it is cutting.
1) Press Pause. The laser will finish the vector it is cutting. You can start up again in the same
place by pressing Pause again.
2) Push the red Stop button on the wall. This will shut everything down.
Do not forget to clean up after yourself and log out of the computer.
Warning: Remember to Focus! Forgetting to focus can cause the laser to ignite the
material causing a fire!

Laser Cutter Operation

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Laser Cutter Operation

• Any questions can be emailed to [email protected]

• Max. material size is 48” x 24”

Sending File to Laser Cutter

Focusing and Cutting

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