¶ Safety
¶ Potential risks
Fire hazard, especially when cutting cardboard, or wood. ALWAYS STAY BESIDE THE LASER CUTTER, to keep an eye on the current cut. If a fire starts:
1. Press the emergency button to stop the printer;
2. If there are only tiny flames, you can try to spray water (water spray near the laser cutter);
3. If the flames starts to spread, use the fire safety stick.
Microparticles and VOCs inhalation. The laser cutter is equipped with a multi-filter block VOCs, but the risk still exists.
Injuries due to moving parts and burns due to the laser, during the maintenance and the enclosure opened. The laser cutter is equipped with an enclosure and an interlocking system. Do not wear loose clothing when operating the printer.
¶ Personal protective equipment
Recommended: safety glasses to avoid any laser reflection that could go through the laser enclosure.
Recommended: respiratory mask to prevent VOCs and microparticules inhalation, if needed.
¶ Quick start
¶ Prepare your 2D file
- Come to the makerspace with the DXF file of the object you want to cut/engrave on a USB flash drive. Ideally also bring the original drawing (we have inkscape or FreeCAD for editing)
.ai,
.dxf, .plt, .dst, .dsb, .eps, .dat, .nc, .bmp, .rdb, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif, .png, .mng, .ico, .cur, .tif, .tiff, .tga, .pcx, .wbmp, .wmf, .emf, .jbg, .j2c, .jpc, .pgx, .ras, .pnm, .pgm, .ppm, .ska, .raw
- Use RDCam to prepare the model for cutting. For example:
- Select the layers (different colors)
- Select the type of work (engraving, cutting)
- Set the power (max and min=0.8max. Min is the power used when the cutter slows down when cutting corners: since the speed is reduced, the power needs to be reduced too to avoid burns)
- Set the speed
¶ Cutting
- Starts the filter block ventilation, by pressing the red button.
This is very important since the air ventilation limits the release of VOCs and particles in the room.
- Starts the laser cutter, with the top switch on the right side of the machine. Then wait for the laser cutter to initialize.
- Place your materials to cut on the waste board.
- Adjust XY position, by moving the laser with the arrows.
- Adjust Z position: unscrew the nozzle, place the plastic spacer (attached to the keys) to adjust the nozzle height to the right focal length, then tighten the screw.
- Set the origin of the cut, by pressing "Origin" on the tactile screen. The position of the origin on the machine should match the position of the green square on your RDCam model.
- Press "Lancer" on the RDCam software.
¶ Ending
Repeat previous steps in reverse.
¶ Parameters for cutting and engraving
¶ Engraving without filling :
Note that the engraving is done by filling an area, e.g. if the drawing is a simple circle, the whole circle will be filled.
If you want to engrave only the contour without filling, switching to cutting with the same parameters on the software will not provide correct results : the engraving speed (300mm/s) is too high to produce smooth shapes, and the laser will cut too deep into the material.
We have experemented and found optimum parameters for engraving without filling :
- In the software, switch to cutting mode
- Set the speed to 10mm/s and the power to 25%
- Set the potentiometer on the machine to a 1h position
Those settings were found for acrylic, we recommend testing beforehand for other materials.
This is the only situation where it comes handy to use to machine potentiometer. Don't forget to turn it back to maximum after engraving.
¶ Extended documentation
Soon to be updated
¶ Regular maintenance
| Maintenance operation | Frequency |
|---|---|
| General machine cleaning | Every 50 hours / 1 time per year |
| Axis cleaning | Every 30 hours |
| Mirrors cleaning | Every 30 hours |
| Cleaning of focal lens | Every 30 hours |
| Drain cooling circuit | Every 50 hours / 1 time per year |
| Check mirror alignment | When cutting is not clean |
¶ Consumables
The most common materials cut are PMMA and plywood, up to 6 mm thick with this laser cutter.
- PMMA : 'When using cast acrylic, you can achieve optimum cut edges and high-contrast engravings. In the contrary, extruded PMMA has less thickness tolerances and is usually cheaper in purchasing. ' Reference
Materials you should not process with a laser :
- Vinyl, PVC, PVB and any materials containing chlorine (release of corrosive and toxic gases)
- PTFE (release of toxic gases)
- PUR
- POM
- Polystyrene foam (fire hazard)
- Epoxy resin (release of toxic gases)
¶ Where to buy
Here is a non-exhaustive list of suppliers:
- A4 Technologies
- Polydis
- RS
¶ Waste sorting
Soon to be updated
¶ Others links:
- XY calibration : https://wiki.centuri-engineering.univ-amu.fr/en/techlab/makerspace/laser-cutter/XY-calibration
- Laser cut box generator : https://cuttle.xyz/@cuttle/Box-With-Dividers-LFERvnBMrvVE
- Make a box with laser cutting : https://wiki.centuri-engineering.univ-amu.fr/en/techlab/makerspace/laser-cutter/laser-cut-box
- Inkscape extension to remove duplicate lines : https://inkscape.org/~EllenWasbo/★remove-duplicate-lines-with-tolerance
- Customizable Parts Box : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:327393
- Stackable box to test : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12123