Laser Cutting

This article was written by Elizabeth (Maylin) Rawson! I used the laser cutter to cut out paper templates that we used to trace the wheel cutouts and the canopy cutouts on Daybreak. My knowledge currently only extends to cutting out profiles and I'm not currently knowledgeable on how to cut images, so please add what you can to expand the article!

The model of the laser cutter that we are using is the Full Spectrum LASER PRO-SERIES (aka the Laser Lizard Wizard) located in the ETC garage. The bed size is 48'' x 36''.

Materials

• The outline of what you want to cut, preferably in PDF format
• The material you want to cut from (I highly, highly suggest that the material has an inch margin from the outline). 
• Ethernet cable
• Eye protection
• Respirator 

Step-by-step guide

Setting up the laser cutter

1. Open the big garage door, make sure the room is well ventilated.
2. Attach the pressure gauge to the water in tube of the bottom of the laser cutter
3. Attach the air hose to the laser cutter via the pressure gauge. It should snap on with the quick release. 
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4. Flip the power switch on (located on the right)
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5. Untwist the emergency stop button so it's sticking out
6. Turn the key so it's horizontal
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7. When the light in the bed is on, that means that it's booting up. All you can do now is wait for the laser cutter to boot up (this will take a minute or so).
8. Click agree when the danger screen pops up
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9. Turn the air on with this valve next to the garage door
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Inserting your file

1. Plug in your computer into the laser cutter using an ethernet cable
2. Go to the laser cutting website by typing in the IP address (http://169.254.62.96/)
3. Create a new project 
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4. Go to File > Import > Image to import the outline you want to cut. PDF files work best.
   1. I made the part in SolidWorks, made a drawing from the part, and then saved it as a PDF.
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5. If the PDF that you insert is made from a SolidWorks drawing, there will be excess lines on it from the drawing template. You can delete them by...
   1. Clicking and dragging to select the entire image (text and all)
   2. Selecting the "Ungroup" button (this will make every single line separate so you can delete individual parts)
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   3. Click and drag to select the items you don't want and delete them OR select individual elements from the Layers tab on the lefthand side and delete them. Make sure that the only elements that exist are the ones you want to print.
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6. You can scale your image here so it matches the original size of the CAD.
   1. Go to the "Size" bar in the "Jog Controls" tab and change the numbers.
      1. The quickest way to do this is to select the "Keep Ratio" button in the middle (you'll know it's active when it's filled) and then multiply one of the values (length or width) by the scale in the SolidWorks drawing.
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Adjusting the settings for each material

1. The amount of speed, power, and current should change depending on the type of material you are using. Every time you cut a new material, you should test these values to make sure that you get a good cut. You can adjust these by clicking on the item you're going to cut, and going to the "Vector Engraving Parameters" sidebar:
   1. The outline color of the item you're going to cut corresponds with the color block to the left of the "Speed %" setting
      
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2. You might need to turn on the turbo setting to allow the machine to run speeds higher than 100%. Turn this on by going to Settings > Laser > Enable Turbo Mode
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3. For paper, it's best to keep the "Speed %" high and the "Power %" low
   1. I find that the best settings for that are 125%-150% speed, 15%-20% power, and 100% current

Orienting the laser cutter and running the program

1. Make sure the laser is high up enough so that you can put your material in. Change the height with these up and down arrows 
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2. Put your material in the laser cutter, making sure the edges of the material line up with the bed of the cutter. I have my suspicions that the bed might be a little wonky so it might not line up perfectly but do your best.
3. The red dot on your the grid of your computer screen shows where the laser is located on the machine.
   1. I like to recalibrate the laser using the "Home Laser" setting on the laser cutter screen. This is so that you know that the location of the laser matches the red dot on the screen.
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   2. Use the arrow keys on your computer or these arrow keys on the screen to move the location of the laser in the machine to match the corner of your material. The computer is precise and the screen is fast.
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4. Change where your item in the program is going to be located by altering the "Position" setting under the "Jog Controls" tab. Make sure that the corner of the material matches the red dot.
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5. Trace over the border of the item you want to cut with the red dot, so you can ensure that the laser is always hitting the material 
6. Before cutting a new material, draw a line somewhere on the material that you aren't planning on using and do a test run to make sure that your settings are right
7. Put on a respirator because it's about to stink of burnt material and other such fumes
8. Press run on your computer to begin the cut! (it's the play button, or the fire button if you have the turbo setting on)
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9. Let the laser run its course, and don't look at the laser without eye protection
10. If anything goes awry, press the emergency stop button or the stop button in the program

Taking your part out

1. I suggest waiting 2-5 minutes to let your part settle 
2. Reorient the laser so it's not in your way
3. Lift the hood and take your part out

Turning off the laser cutter and cleaning up

1. Delete your project if you don't need it anymore
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2. Flip the power switch off
3. Press the emergency stop button down
4. Turn the key so it's vertical
5. The light in the laser cutter should be OFF
6. Shut off the air valve from the air compressor
7. Undo the quick release and put the hose back where you got it
8. If you borrowed an ethernet port, return it to the box where they keep all the wires in the garage

Example of what we cut!

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