Laser Cutter

Before laser cutting:

First of all check your design. Areas you wish to engrave should be in red, cut lines should be in black.

Before using the laser cutter - make sure you've copied your 2D design or fusion file, into the correct year and teacher folder into the D&T dropbox here.

When you save use a filename, your name and the colour of Acrylic you wish to cut. For example, MynameClockBlue.dtd.

Once you've saved your file, check with your teacher that you can use the laser cutter before proceeding.

Setting up the laser cutter:

1. Turn the laser cutter on at the wall (it may already be on! check the control panel on the front):

2. Turn on the fume extractor unit - VERY IMPORTANT! If the fan blade on the display is spinning and there is a green light behind the power button it is already on.

3. If possible, put your material in the back right hand corner, flush with the edges of the cutting bed. If it is uneven, oddly shaped material, place it as square as possible to the edges of the cutting bed.

Please use up scrap material before you use new!

4. Using the cursor keys on the laser cutter position the laser cutting head at the top right most corner of the space needed for the piece you want to cut out. Ensure there is enough material to complete your job! You can check the sizes in 2d design and measure with a ruler if you are unsure.

Cutting out your file:

1. Using the laser cutter computer, you need to copy your file from the drop box onto the desktop, select the file, right click and select Download:

2. Now, open your file in 2dDesign and export it as a dxf to the desktop:

3. Drag your newly exported dxf file onto the "laser" shortcut icon on the desktop, and your job will open in the laser cutting application, click "Enter" to the "select output" pop-up:

4. Go to the Operation menu, then select "Whole Setting",

Select the "ParameterSetting1" tab and ensure that outline_speed is 0.6
select the "Parametersetting2" tab, change select_pen to 2pen (red colour) and ensure both least_depth and most_depth are set to 5. (if you are not cutting acrylic, check with your teacher for the best settings) Then press OK.
Now, change select pen to 8pen (black) and ensure both least_depth and most_depth are set to 90. (if you are not cutting acrylic, check with your teacher for the best settings) Then press OK.

5. Follow these steps to cut out your job once it's loaded:

Go to the Operation drop down menu, and select Carve Out.
If necessary, Change the OutPort setting to COM3.
Click Process.
Click Output.
tick the "Cuttent position" tick box.
Click the "Out" button and the job will be cut.

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