Small Laser Cutter

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Hive13 Equipment
List of All Documented Equipment
Owner/Loaner: Hive13
Hive13 Asset Tag: None
Make/Model: Full Spectrum Engineering 60W CO2 Laser Cutter/Engraver (google)
Arrival Date: 06/2011
Does it work?: yes
Certification Needed?: yes
Contact:
Floorplan: 1A

	Pages to do with the Laser Cutter:
	Big laser cutter Laser Class Laser Cutter Resources Laser Exhaust System Laser Service Log Laser Settings Laser TODO Laser Troubleshooting Laser Usage Procedure Small Laser Cutter Space Computers/laserchicken

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Current Status

as of 06/02/2011:

Laser arrived and installed. Test cuts made.

Certified with the laser? Want to get on the good side of the laser operators? See what you can possibly do to help on the Laser workstream on BetterMeans.

Paul is working on setting up a Laser Class.

Users

The Laser is only available to Hive13 members who have been certified on its use & care. If you are not in this group, you may be able to do so on Fab Lab Mondays, but please get in touch ahead of time to prevent a wasted trip.

To become certified, you need to take the certification class. There will be a class August 13th. Contact us about scheduling one at other times.

Only the following people are certified and permitted to fire the lazzzor:

• Chris Davis
• Paul Vincent
• Dave Menninger
  • Tiffany Vincent
  • Alicia Kravitz
  • Ian Wilson
  • John Stoughton
  • Brandon Wooldridge
• Jon Neal
• Chris Hodapp
• Craig Smith
• Kris Sandrick
• Dave Myers
• Ben Dakin

Specs

• http://www.fullspectrumengineering.com/co2laserv260w.html
• Cutting Area: ~12"x20"
• Tube Cost: $600 @ 3500 Hours
• Automatic Z Axis
• Travel Speed: 12" / minute cutting 3/4" wood
• 100% speed: 60" / minute (cutting thin materials)

Materials

For details on the different settings required for different materials, see Laser Settings.

For sources of materials to cut and engrave, see Materials Resources.

General material limits:

• Acrylic ¾” max
• Wood ¾” max
• Circuit Boards (theoretically, not tested yet)
  • Either - Apply coating, laser etch off coating, etch off exposed copper w/ acid.
• Metal - Will not cut
  • Must apply chemical to "etch". Does not really etch, chemical only bonds to metal.
  • Can only do this to soft metal.
• Paper / Cardboard
  • Yes

Fees

Pay by the Minute

• $0.50 / minute for members, pay by the minute

Operator fee, pay by the hour

Details currently under discussion

Operating the Laser Cutter

Scheduling time on the Laser

Please note: The Laser is only available to Hive13 members who have been certified on its use & care. If you are not in this group, you may be able to do so on Fab Lab Mondays, but please get in touch ahead of time to prevent a wasted trip.

1. Open your Hive13 Calendar (http://cal.hive13.org/ is a good start) and create an event.
2. On the left hand side, select 'Add.. Rooms, etc.' and then 'Add 60W Laser Cutter'
3. Select the 'Find a time' tab and navigate to the date and time you would like to use the laser, and make sure it is not shown as previously reserved on the calendar. You may schedule up to 2 hours at a time in advance. If no one else schedules time you can just continue using the machine - but we'd appreciate it if you would update your block later so we can keep track of usage.
4. Save your event.

Do

1. Check for water flow on startup
2. Make sure exhaust fan is running
3. Check for fires and put them out ;)

Don't

1. Ever leave the laser unattended (see fires above)
2. Turn off the “Air” button. That needs to be on to protect the lens
3. Laser on Vinyl, PVC, Sintra (will produce corrosive and toxic gases)
4. Cut metals (it won't work)
5. Bump or touch the mirrors or lenses (will put the machine out of alignment or damage optics)

Software

LaserCut (Windows only)

• This software will import files in these formats:
  • *.PLT (HPGL)
  • *.AI (Adobe Illustrator)
  • *.DXF (AutoCAD)
  • *.DST (Tajima)
  • *.CDR (Corel Draw)
  • *.BMP (Plain old bitmap, monochrome only) - and other common raster formats like PNG and GIF that will do monochrome
• http://www.leetro.com/english/sale/35.html
• Manual (pdf)

Printer Driver (Windows only)

• Currently in beta, does vector only; raster coming later
• Can print from most windows programs
• Outputs a *.PLT file in the C:\output directory, which can then be imported into LaserCut

For more design software, see Design Resources

Troubleshooting

• Laser Troubleshooting

Maintenance

Cleaning

• Optics
• Grid
  • http://www.built-to-spec.com/blog/2011/03/13/laser-vector-grid-construction-and-care/

Links

• Hive13 Laser Manager Site: http://lazer.hive13.org/
• Glenn's intro to Laser Cutting: http://dallasmakerspace.org/w/images/3/39/Laser_Presentation.pdf
• Design Resources
• http://www.honeycommcore.com/home.html - replacement honeycomb table
• http://wiki.nycresistor.com/wiki/Laser
• http://www.ladyada.net/resources/laser/equipment.html
• http://www.laserxchange.com/
• Experimentally Determining Optimal Laser Machining Settings - http://jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/laserexp.htm
• Example usage directions - http://jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/lasercutter.htm
• A local laser user / shop - http://www.momentousgift.com/contact/
• noisebridge has the same one we are thinking about getting: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Lasercutter
• London Hackerspace RE of Leetro laser software - http://wiki.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Projects/RELaserSoftware
• http://wiki.laoslaser.org/index.php/OpensourceLasercutterdriver
• http://www.qcpinc.net/Information/information.html
• Online tool for designing gears - downloadable PLT file format: http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html
• Online tool for designing tabbed boxes - downloadable PDF file format: http://boxmaker.rahulbotics.com/
• Inkscape extension to make tabbed boxes - http://www.keppel.demon.co.uk/111000/111000.html