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Laser Cutting

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Laser cutting with CATS

CATS owns and operates an S1 laser cutter by Xtool, located in the Physical Media Lab, Rm S310, at the Granoff.
The S1 laser cutter is accessible to existing MML members that successfully complete our training on laser cutting with the S1.
- - If you are new to laser cutting and design, we recommend you start by reviewing our Designing for the Laser cutting section below before taking the training
The S1 is currently available on a first come first serve basis, but we ask users to be considerate of others' time by coming ready to cut
Users needing help or support can sign up for a one-on-one session with one of our CTAs

Get Trained On the Laser cutter

Materials

We restrict materials to a limited variety of CATS-approved types of which we provide some to users to prototype with such as MDF and cardboard
Settings for each CATS Approved material can and should be referred to in our CATS Material Reference Sheet, which can be found below
- - Custom materials may be used on a case by case basis with prior approval from CATS professional staff.
Note: The S1 is a blue laser, which means it can not cut through transparent or clear acrylic as well as other blue materials

candle holder made by using simple wooden shapes cut out with a laser cutter

Safety Policies

Absolutely no mirrors, aerosols, or highly flammable material may enter the laser cutter. Review our Materials Manual for further details
Do not stack materials on top of each other, only one layer of material can be cut through at a time.
The air filtration system must always be on when the laser cutter is on
You must stay and observe your laser cut for the entire duration of the print.
The lid must stay closed while the laser cutter is operating.
- - The lid keeps oxygen out of the bed to prevent fires.
  - The lid is also made of special plastic that protects your eyes from harmful UV light created by the laser.
Know where the fire extinguisher is in the room at all times.
Fires can happen. If a fire in the printer bed occurs:
- - 1. Don't panic and do not lift the lid
    2. Press the large red emergency stop button on the right side of the laser cutter.
    3. If a fire persists within the laser cutter chamber, press the button on the fire safety extinguisher box only once. The system will release two separate doses of CO2, which should extinguish the fire
    4. If fire moves from the laser cutter to any other part of the room, leave the room and inform professional staff of the situation or tell office staff on the second floor of what is happening.

location of the fire extinguisher by the entrance to the room, near the first aid kit and eye wash station

Emergency stop button on the S1. back right corner.

Designing For Laser cutter

What can a laser cutter do?

Simply put, a laser cutter is a digital fabrication tool that can do one of two things:

It can use a powerful laser to cut through material following a designated path
It can engrave the surface of objects and materials by selectively burning certain areas

Both are done by giving the laser cutter different types of image files:

vector images are usually used to cut
raster images are usually used to engrave, but vector images can be used as well.

Vector images:

are computer-made image that is made up of points, lines, and curves that are based upon mathematical equations, not pixels.
file types include: SVG, EPS, AI (adobe illustrator)

Raster images:

images compiled using pixels, or tiny dots, containing unique color and tonal information that come together to create the image. Often photographic in nature but not exclusively
common file types include: jpg, png, PSD (photoshop file)

Differences in Raster And Vector Images

example provided by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Learning to use vector shapes in design

Using free online tools, this next section will teach you how to make simple but effective designs using only vector images.

Step 1: on a computer, go to Vectr.com, a free online design tool

Select "Use Online" in the top right corner.
- You can also create an account if you want to save your work online, but for this tutorial, it is not necessary.

Step 2: follow along with the video tutorial below where you will learn the basics of how to design a keychain to make with the glowforge laser cutter.

Optional: Looking for more advanced techniques that includes raster image engraving? the playlist of videos bellow was originally designed for use with the Brown Design Workshop's more industrial laser cutter, but the skills are applicable to the S1 in the Physical Media Lab. This tutorial will require use of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator which are available to active Brown students, staff, and instructors. The first pretraining video in this playlist is almost the same as the video "Differences in Raster and Vectore Images" above

Preparing Raster Images for Engraving

While you can use any raster image as is, you will get much better results by doing a little image processing to your image first. This can be done in any software you prefer like photoshop, gimp, preview, pixlr.com, photopea.com, etc.

Its worth noting that raster images will only engrave onto material, so if you want to also cut out your creation, you will have to also upload and .SVG vector file.

Suggestions on how to process your raster images:

Resolution: higher resolution images work best, between 200-600 dpi
Black and White: convert your image to B&W to increase fidelity
Contrast: higher contrast images read better on most laser cut materials.
Sharpness: sharpen your image alot, a bit more than looks good on your screen
Crop: Because fine details are lost in the raster engraving process, cropping your image ensure the parts of the picture that matter are legible.
Background: when appropriate, erase the background from your subject

original raster image with no processing

raster image processed for successful engraving

If you are new to photo editing software, the video tutorial on the right (below if on mobile) will walk you step by step on how to prep your raster images for lasercutting using photopea.com, a free and online imaging software. This tutorial is set up for a different machine called a glowforge, but the portion about preparing your image (between 2:08 and 4:58) is really relevant regardless of the type of laser cutter you are using.

Other Resources

always check the licenses of images for commercial projects

The noun project: a resource for free to use vector icons.

Pexels: website with free to use raster images.

Heritage Type: free to download curated "packs" of vintage public domain images

Rawpixel: free high resolution files of artworks that have entered the public domain

SVG Cuts: 40 pages of free to use SVG files designed for digital fabrication.

DesignFind: Digital marketplace with free laser cutting designs and files

Xtool Quick Links

Material Safety + Recommendations

Materials Guide for Xtool S1 Laser Cutter

Laser Cutter and Fabric

When laser cutting fabric here are few things to consider:

You should only laser cut one layer of fabric at a time. Multiple layers increase risk of fire
You can use the auto distance tool to set up your file. When using fabric you must manually measure

3.You should only try and lasercut fabrics made of mostly natural materials like cotton, linen, felt, wool, etc. Laser cutting fabrics made of artificial fibers like rayon and polyester will melt the fabric and possibly cause fire.

Purchasing Materials

There are few places where you can purchase materials. Keep in mind the correct size material for our is 12x20 or smaller.

If you buy, mdf, wood, paper, or non-mirrored opaque acrylic from xtools.com directly, or purchase glowforge branded materials (which can be found in Michael's craft stores) then you may use them immediately.
Home depot can be a good place to purchase 3mm mdf board, as well as hardboard or chipboard.
All other materials need to be approved by CATS Professional Staff. CATS@brown.edu

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