laser cutting

Design & Tech CAD

Laser cutting

We have a 30W flat bed laser cutter in the Department with a maximum material size of 590 x 410.

Due to the high cost of filters [£300] and recharging the laser tube [£3k] we have to charge for the use of this machine.

This charge is currently £1 per minute of cutting time. The more metres of line work or the tougher/thicker the material, the more expensive the job will be.

This machine will not cut metals - the laser is not powerful enough. It will, however, cut a wide range of non-ferrous materials. We need to be sure that no toxic or corrosive fumes will be emitted during the cutting process - ie. PVC gives of corrosive fumes which will corrode the laser mirrors.

Materials containing chlorine, fluorine, bromine and iodine as part of their molecular structure must not be used with the laser cutter.  This is because 
of the production of corrosive gases which will damage the laser cutter and its filters.

You may need to obtain the material data sheet before we can cut the material.

Acrylic up to 12mm
MDF upto 5mm
Most timber, HIPS, common polymers, etc. - maximum thickness dependent on the nature of the material.

Try and have a scrap piece of the material for testing settings.

The two variables in the cutting process are the laser power and the speed it moves at. These need to be optimised to ensure a complete cut which has a minimum kerf angle.

With a high speed and low power the laser can also be used for engraving on the material surface.

Requirements

You will need your 2D graphics in a vector file format such as .dxf, .dwg, .ai, .wmf. The files needs to be created or imported into Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, MicroGrafix or 2D Designer. The driving software is then similar to a printer driver.

**** there is currently an issue with printing from Illustrator, files will have to be imported to another vector package to be printed - SPK - 06/03/07 *******

For profile cutting all vectors need to have 'zero' [minimal] thickness and no fill.

We cannot 'print' directly from ProE. If you export a .dxf or .dwg from a ProE drawing then make sure you select the older AutoCAD version 13 in the export options not the default AutoCAD 2004.

Because of the fire risk when using this machine it can only be operated by trained members of staff. Talk to SPK about your requirements.

Get the print properties setup as far as you can then see a member of staff to check them

Setup - for plain cutting and etching

Printer setup: select Mercury as the printer

Printer Properties

Tab > Option > Manual Colour fill

Tab > Pen > [colour refer to line colours in file. Power and speed need to be set according to the material - eg. cutting through 3mm acrylic needs 100% power, 2.2% speed]

Tab > Paper > [set paper size to the sheet size in the software NOT the size of your material]