Laser Class

Schedule & Registration
Please visit our Meetup for class calendar and links to registration.

See Laser Cutting for general information on the laser cutter. This page contains notes from the class that is an introduction to using our laser cutter.

Material Selection

 * 1) Must be on the list of approved materials.
 * 2) To add materials to the list, Slack #laser. If not a member, email info@fatcatfablab.org.
 * 3) Reflective material can cause damage to the lens & laser. Either cover it with painters tape or flip it over if there is an opaque side.
 * 4) Must be raw material (not painted etc).
 * 5) Must be from a reputable source.

Adobe Illustrator

 * Make design in Adobe illustrator as a vector file
 * Settings: units should be millimeters, everything else default should be good. Color mode rgb, raster effects high.
 * Top bar > Document Setup > Edit Art Boards > drag around size of the art area or set width and height explicitly at the top (mm)
 * For the lines that you want to cut, set the stroke to 0.001mm so the cutter only has to make one pass. You probably want the fill of the shape you’re cutting to be None.

We have color conventions at this point, even though to some extent you can customize them later on in Job Control
 * Full RGB Red (255, 0, 0) = Cut
 * Full RGB Black (0, 0, 0) = Engrave

Print to JobControl

 * 'File' > 'Print' > Adobe print dialog box
 * Deselect 'Auto-rotate'. Placement top left (move matrix)
 * Change the size of our document to the size of your drawing area. It’s set to whatever it was last time.
 * Setup (bottom left of Adobe print dialog box) > Windows print dialog > 'Preferences' > JobControl printing preferences > top right change width and height
 * You can also flip your print horizontally here (i.e. if you’re flipping it over to cut on the opaque side)
 * Hit 'JC' to confirm
 * Hit 'Print' in Adobe Illustrator and your job will be sent to Trotec JobControl (another piece of software)

File Preparation in JobControl

 * JobControl runs on the laser laptop and is accessed through TightVNC, a remote desktop application. TightVNC should be running on the laser room computers already, but if not you can run the executable file jobcontrol.vnc found on the laser room computer desktops.
 * Right click 'Remove Job' (if there is an existing job) to move it back to the job queue on the right. 'Delete Job' removes it from the queue entirely.
 * Find your job in the job queue on the right side. If you don’t see it, try these steps:
 * 1) Hit show all
 * 2) Print it again
 * 3) Reboot the computer next to the laser cutter
 * 4) If none of these steps work, ask for help
 * Drag your job onto the representation of the print board in JC
 * 'Eyeball' icon at top shows you a preview of the job.

Material Settings
New users should create their own folders of material settings. In JobControl, go to 'Settings' > 'Material template setup' > 'Bottom left', scroll down. Right click > 'Create group' > enter your first name and last name. You can copy settings from another person’s folder. This is where you can customize how the colors in your file translate to the laser cutter.

Columns left to right:
 * Power (1-100): Power percentage. Don’t go over 90.
 * Speed: cutting is slower.
 * Points per inch: How many times per second the laser turns on and off.
 * Passes: number of times the laser goes around the path or engraves the shape.
 * Air assist: Must be on! Machine removes smoke and debris from the lens with compressed air. Without it, dirt and soot builds up on the lense will cause it to break.

Pre-Cut Checks
It’s a good idea to regularly clean the lens, especially if it looks smudged or dirty. The lens being dirty can cause them to crack (and therefore need to be replaced… $$$!!!). Use a few drops of the pink lens cleaner in the yellow pack near the laser cutter and dab it off with the microfiber paper, swiping in a straight line, in the same direction, and using a fresh section for each wipe.


 * In order to print, you need to make sure the print bed is at the right height relative to the tip of the cutter.
 * Move the print bed so that your material is ~1.5” below the tip (if your material is bumpy then use the highest point for these steps)
 * Hang the calibrator off of the little ledge on the cutter tip (see picture)
 * Raise the bed just until it touches the bottom of the calibrator.
 * Be careful not to cut material too close to the laser cutter. This can also cause the lens to crack

While Cutting/Engraving Checks
Four signs to look out for when you are starting the laser machine:
 * 1) You can hear the fan sound
 * 2) There is no thumping noise. That means a filter might be blocked
 * 3) Smoke created by your job should not be sitting in the cabinet. Immediately stop the job if that happens
 * 4) Smoke should be getting quickly sucked into the back of the cabinet, not moving slowly

If you see any of those four signs, do these three things:
 * 1) Stop the job by lifting the lid (the fastest way to stop the job)
 * 2) Hit stop button on bottom right of JobControl
 * 3) Post a physical note on the machine with the problem. Members post in #laser in Slack, non-members can email info@fatcatfablab.org.

Flame Ups
Sometimes flame ups can also happen. This happens when you’re cutting an organic material like wood or cloth and it catches on fire. If the fire is small, use the oven mitts nearby the laser cutter to smother the fire with your hands. The last resort is to use the fire extinguisher, since that can ruin the laser cutter.

To prevent flame up, you can increase speed and decrease power. You may need to correspondingly increase the number of passes to make sure your material gets cut through.