Silvertail A0 Laser Cutter

Silvertail A0 Laser Cutter
Model	Just Add Sharks Silvertail
Sub-category	CNC
Status	Under construction
Last updated	28 November 2024 11:17:00
Training requirement	yes
Owner	LHS
Origin	Pledge
Location	Ground Floor
Maintainers	Solexious, Yetifiasco, Russ

Our shiny new laser cutter, purchased in 2014 by pledge.

• 1200mm by 900mm cutting area (A0 sized)
• 80W laser tube

Training

You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. The laser cutter is unlikely to hurt you, but you can easily hurt it without training.

Training is given most Wednesdays or Thursdays at around 8pm, is free to attend and available to all members but your place needs to be pre-booked. Space is strictly limited per session so you need to reserve a spot on the Training Roster when a session is available - watch the Mailing List for announcements. Reserving a spot is on a first come first serve so you'll need to be quick. If you can't attend your training session please remove your name from the roster and inform the Mailing List, this will save wasting people's time and can allow a last minute replacement to take your slot.

Training is limited to London Hackspace members only.

A good way to get notified of new training sessions is to go to the roster page, add it to your wiki page Watch list, and modify your wiki account preferences so that you receive emails when pages you Watch get modified.

Feel free to ask for help on the Mailing List, but please read the FAQ first

Costs

• Training - Free
• Usage - £5/hour
• Consumables - Bring your own and/or use what is in the off cuts bin, but always ensure (rather than assume) it's laser safe.

Safety information

• Never leave the laser cutter unattended while cutting: your material may ignite, and an unchecked fire in the laser cutter could be both dangerous and costly. We've also seen mirrors go out of alignment and cut into the cables, This is what a laser cutter fire does to a laser cutter:

• In case of fire: use the CO₂ extinguisher by the laser cutter first. Do not use the powder extinguisher unless you feel that you can't control the fire. Put it in the logbook and tell the Mailing List: tiny flames while cutting are normal; anything more must be reported.
• Never cut PVC or chlorinated plastic: you should always know what material you are cutting, and chlorinated plastics should be avoided because they release chlorine gas when cut. Guidelines for how to test materials.
• You can't cut metal in the laser cutter: if you wish to mark the metal, please use Thermark / Cermark, or use anodised aluminium.

List of allowed and banned materials

Allowed

• MDF (up to 4mm)
• Plywood (Up to 6mm) Note: Denser/poor quality ply will have trouble cutting deeper than 4mm, use poplar or another less dense ply for 6mm
• Balsa wood
• Non-resinous wood IE hardwood (Engraving only)
• Paper (Cut only, don't engrave)
• Card/Cardboard
• Acrylic (up to 10mm)
• Foamcore (non-PVC variety)
• Anodized Aluminium (Engrave only)

Banned

• Food
• Body parts
• Plastics containing PVC
• Plastics containing ABS
• Fibreglass
• Glass
• Circuit boards
• Polycarbonate
• All metal (except anodized aluminium)

You should only be cutting materials on the Allowed list, if you want to cut a material which is not on this list, contact one of the trainers and get them to OK it first.

Trainers and maintainers

If you have questions or problems with the laser cutter, please speak to one of these people:

• Solexious (talk)
• Yetifiasco (talk)