LASER CUTTING

 Laser cutting

Improved Standard Operating Procedure(SOP)

A: Pre-start up check 

1. 1.Remove any foreign objects around the neck/body to prevent getting tangled into the Machine 

2. 2.Ensure long hair/ fringe is tied up 

3. 3.Lift the cover of the Laser Cutter fully  

4. 4.Do not put your head inside the machine  

5. 5.Do not slam the cover of the machine (as the interlocking light would disappear) 

6. 6.Do not assume LED is spoiled, ensure both Left and Right LED is turn on 

7. 

7. 7.Do not lean your body on the cover of the Laser Cutter as it would trigger the safety interlock and operation of the Laser Cutter would halt 

8. 8.Do not stare into the beam while cutting 

9. 9.Do not leave machine unattended while cutting/engraving 

10. If a small fire occurs attempt to extinguish by blowing/removing material from laser cutter *Safety Feature: (There is a safety interlock, simply open the Laser cutter cover fully which will aid to stop the beaming of the laser and movement of the head)

11. 10.Take note of where is the nearest fire extinguisher. 

11. If the material cannot be cut through, stop and check - Focus lens might be dirty. 

* Continued use of dirty lens will result in Cracked Lens. 

12. 11.When using the Epilog Software - Remember to on ‘Air Assist’ (if not it will result in Fire) 

B. Start up 

1. 1.Turn on the air compressor 

2. 

2. 2.Turn on the fume extractor 

3. 

3. 3.Turn on the main laser cutter 

4.  

4. 4.Wait until the laser cutter completes initializing [around 1 min]

5.  

5. Proceed to the Workstation i.e., Desktop connected to Laser Cutter 

C. Operation (Using CorelDraw):  

*For Basic Features, Refer to Figure 9-12, (See Note below Figure 12 for guidance) 

           

1. 1.Open the program CorelDraw and select new document. 

2. 2.File -> Import; Import the DXF file (Fusion 360 File) into CorelDraw  

2. 3.Select the Image after Imported

3. 

3. 4.Click Bottom Right Corner (Pen and Fill icon) and adjust the appropriate settings i.e. (Colour, Line weight and Fill) for Cutting and Engraving. 

4. Cutting: select outline thickness to be hairline and colour Ratio to be Red:255, G:0 & B:0

5. Engrave: select outline thickness to be hairline and colour Ratio to be Red:0, G:255 & B:0

4. 5.Once done, Press ‘Control +P’, Print box would pop-up, and Select ‘Print’ 

5. 
   

D. Operation (Using Epilog Software)  

  

Fusion M2 

1. Set ‘AutoFocus’ -> ‘On’ 

2. Choose ‘Air Assist’ -> ‘On’ for each process 

*Note: Any object’s line-weight set as hairline are considered as vector and with thickness is considered as engraving  

 

E. Material Setting  

 

 1. Load Material Library 

 

1. 1.Click the ‘Folder Icon’ to Load Material Library  

2. 2.Once Material Library has loaded, choose which material to be used for cutting/engraving. Do it for both Processes. Then Click ‘Import’ 

3. 

3. 3.For Engraving, Select the Engraving Tab and enter the thickness of the material chosen. 

4. 

*Note: To be able to select a material, you would need to know its thickness so measure its thickness using a Vernier caliper first  

4. 4.For Cutting, Select the Vector Tab and enter the thickness of the material chosen. 

5. Always Check that ‘Air Assist’ is turned on for FUSION M2 Machine 

6. 5. To double check, use a vernier caliper to ensure that the material place in the laser cutter has the same thickness as what is selected. 

 

F. Positioning (*If required) 

 Fusion M2 

*There is no Built-in camera  

 

1.  Adjust the material using mouse tool on the left bar and adjust base on the location of 2 ruler on the top and left. 

 

G. Print 

Once done, click on “PRINT” to send file to Laser cutter. It will not cut immediately but will be display on the LCD screen instead. 

 

Fusion M2: 

1.To cut, check file name and estimated time to cut on the LCD touch screen. Once confirm, press the “Go button” 

2.Wait for 1 minute after printing is completed yo prevent breathing the smoke produced from laser cutting.

3. Ensures that the workplace has been successfully cut through by pressing on it to check that it is movable.

H. Shut Down: (Reverse of Start-up) 

 

1. 1.Turn off the main laser cutter

2. 2.Turn off the fume extractor 

3. 3.Turn off the air compressor 

This is the what I have laser cut during my competency test. During the first laser cut, The laser beam did not manage to cut through the acrylic. After checking on whether the acrylic have been cut, I forget to align the acrylic and the machine which resulted in double layer text forming. 

 

For my team's parametric construction kit, we decided to make a construction kit that looks alike to Christmas tree that is made up of shapes such as square being the base, rectangle as the main body, triangle being the branches and a star shape.

At our first attempt, we tried to use acrylic as the material for the construction kit as we thought that it would look nice with acrylic being a transparent plastic material. However it did not work out as after laser cutting, the pieces does not fit together. Hence, to solve this, we tried using ply wood and it fits nicely with all the parts. I think this is because acrylic is slightly thicker than ply wood which resulted in the parts cannot be fit together.

This is how our final product looks like:(A hero shot taken together with all the team member)

These are the parametric construction that my team had done it during practical:

1. Rectangle

Step 1: Select modify and click change parameters and key in the parameters and values 

Step 2: Select create sketch, select a plane, click 2-point rectangle and draw a 200 (length) by 50 (width) mm rectangle 

Step 3:Select line, draw a diagonal rectangle 10 (sloth) by 7 (shortsloth) by 3 (thickness)mm and repeat this on both side 4 times.

 

Step 4: Select finish sketch, select extrude and click the body and type 3mm (thickness)

2.Square

Step 1: Select modify and click change parameters and key in the parameter and value.

Step 2: Select create sketch and select a plane. Then select 2-point rectangle and type in 40 (length) by 40 mm (length) 

Step 3: Select center diameter circle and draw a 3mm circle at midpoint of the breadth. Select line and draw a 10mm (sloth) line from the edge of the circle. Select line and draw a 3 mm (thickness) line from the line drew previously. Right click the circle and click delete the unwanted parts.

Step 4: Repeat for all 4 sides. Select extrude and click on the body to extrude by 3mm (thickness).

 

3.star

Step 1: Select modify and click change parameters and Key in parameter and value .

 

Step 2: Select create sketch. Select a plane, click center diameter circle and draw a 30 mm (length) circle

Step 3: Select polygon and click circumscribed polygon. Set the diameter of the polygon as 5mm and number of sides as 5

Step 4: Select horizontal/vertical constrain and click on the polygon. Right click on the sides and click normal/construction. Right click on the sides and click normal/construction

 

Step 5: Select line and draw a line from the edge of the polygon to the circle and back to the other edge of the polygon. Select circular patterns. Click objects and click on the 2 lines previously drew. Then click on center point and click the center of the circle/polygon. Next type 5 patterns 

Step 6: Select extrude and click on the body, type 3mm (thickness)

4. 50&30mm Circle 

Step 1: First, set the dimension of the big circle with naming of diameter 50mm and height 3mm under change parameter

 

Step 2: Next, form a circle, for the diameter of circle, select the set diameter of 50 mm 

Step 3: After defining the diameter of circle, select line and mark out the unwanted parts with dimensions of 10mm by 3mm

Step 4: To remove the unwanted part of the circle, select trim and click on the unwanted parts. 

Step 5: Lastly, Click finish sketch and extrude the circle to the defined dimension named as height with 3mm thickness. Repeat the above steps for the 30mm circle. 

Reflection

In summary, during this week's practical, we are required to show how competent we are in operating the laser cutter machine. Also, we are task to design a parametric construction kit that can be laser cut and form into a product. Everything  part of the competency testwent well except that I have to re-cut the acrylic and I did not align when I re-cut it which affect its appearance.

This practical is Important as it helps us to pick up a new skills that we cannot do so by only watching the videos provided by our lecturer. Only by doing the practical ,  we can then know the machine really works and understand the hazards it can cause if we don't follow the safety rules strictly. The practical is interesting as we  are able to try out laser cutting and able to bring home the unique piece that we had cut out. This practical is useful for projects is CP5070 as this skill that we have learn can help us to save time when we need to make a prototype.

I used to think that Laser cutting is difficult as it maybe hard to operate the machine and it can be dangerous as it involves the use of laser. However, now I think that to operate a laser cutter is not difficult and dangerous so long as we follow the instruction and safety rules carefully strictly,  operating a laser cutter is not difficult and dangerous. Next time, when I operate the laser cutter I will have more confident as I will not be afraid of causing danger to others or myself while operating as I know the dos and don'ts when I operate laser cutter. Hence, through this practical, I picked up a new skill which is to operate laser cutter confidently.