Equipment/HPC LS3060 Laser Cutter

Status

The cutter is currently operational - check the logbook for more information.

Model

• HPC LS3060 "plus" laser engraver and cutter.

Specification

Laser:	40W - water cooled CO2 laser.
Working area:	320 x 600mm honeycomb bed (cutting area possibly about 300 x 550mm)
Features:	Air-assist (removes debris from cutting region), red-dot pointer (to show beam location)
Water cooling:	Simple tube cooling circuit connected with (9mm OD, 6mm ID) latex tube. Uses supplied submersible pond pump (2.8m head, 2800L/H flow).

Safety information

Please don't touch or fiddle with the laser cutter unless you've have been trained.

• Please don't affect the cooling system without consultation - overheating or rapid cooling can damage the laser.
• Never leave the laser cutter unattended - Your material may ignite, and an unchecked fire in the laser cutter could be both dangerous and costly.
• 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.
• 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.
• Do not try to cut metal in the laser cutter - If you wish to mark the metal, please use "Thermark Laser Engraving Spray / Paste", or use anodised aluminium.

Instructions

These instructions are intended as a companion to laser cutter safety training - not a replacement.

Powering on

1. Insert key and turn
2. Always perform the following pre-checks:
   1. Check that there is a CO₂ fire extinguisher immediately to hand.
   2. Check that the water pump is running
   3. Check that the extractor fan is on
3. Caution: Be certain that the water coolant is at a suitable temperature.
   • If you are unsure if the cutter has been used recently, or you have been using the cutter for an extended period of time (an hour or so) check the temperature of the water using the infra-red thermometer.
   • If the water temperature is outside the acceptable operating range (22 ± 5 °C) then wait for the water to cool before using the cutter.

Uploading your data file

TODO

• Different file types pros/cons
• Setting the scale
• Setting the origin - what to watch out for
• Layers - how are they used
• How do you know when the file is sent successfully

Positioning your material

TODO

• Caution: Know your material - be absolutely certain that your material is safe to use in the laser cutter. If in doubt - ask. For unidentified plastics try this test method.
• Caution: There are a number of electrically live areas inside the cabinet towards the back. Be very careful when reaching around at the back as you may get a shock.
• Setting the bed Z-axis
• Viewing the bounding box with red-dot pointer

Cutting

TODO

• Caution: Never leave the machine unattended. The laser cuts and engraves by burning the material so you must be present to deal with any fires should this process undesirably escalate.
• Initiating the cut
• Monitoring progress
  • What to watch out for
  • What to do in case of problems
• What to try if the result is not what you expect
• Log your Laser Cutter use in the logbook

Parameters for different materials

If you found some sweet settings please share them here.

Cutting

Material	Thickness (mm)	Speed (mm/sec)	Power (%)	Corner power (%)	Examples
Ply wood	3	?	?	?	some images
Acrylic - Perspex, Palglas	4	3.5	100	21	some images

Engraving

Material	Speed (mm/sec)	Power (%)	Corner power (%)	Examples
Anodized aluminium (dyed black)	450	90	?	LHS logo on black phone
Anodized aluminium (Macbook Pro) (Vector - in "cut" mode)	100	100	80	Russ's Macbook Pro

Consumables

• HPC sheet products - Laser ply, perspex, engraving laminate - where we purchased the cutter.
• The Plastics Shop - mattp purchased the plastic for the first batch of Hackspace key rings from here.
• Hamar Acrylic Cuts to size, and is ~10mins walk from the space. Order by phone and it should be cut and ready to collect on arrival.
  • Price guide 320x600x4mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic = £8.
• Acrylic-Online cuts to size - delivery £8.00. Price guide (incl. VAT):
  • 320x600x3mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic = £3.84
  • 320x600x4mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic = £5.12
  • 320x600x5mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic = £6.29

Guide For bulk order Quote

(bed size sheets)

Acrylic (perspex)

• Clear:
  • 10 x 1.5mm
  • 10 x 3mm
  • 10 x 5mm
  • 5 x 10mm

• Solid: Black:
  • 10 x 1.5mm
  • 10 x 3mm
  • 10 x 5mm

• Solid: Red, Blue (ea):
  • 5 x 1.5mm
  • 5 x 3mm
  • 5 x 5mm

More information

• Some useful laser info from Adafruit - the settings section in particular gave a good idea of what we can expect.
• More information about the controller card used by the cutter
  • http://www.leetro.com/english/sale/20.html
  • http://www.leetro.com/english/sale/23.html
• For making boxes, you can use this script - recommended settings of "--bolt_length 13 --nut_multiplier 1.8" YMMV