Equipment/HPC LS3060 Laser Cutter

Status

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

We're currently trying to reverse engineer the software.

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).

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.

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

Insert key and turn - the PC is turned on using the 'sleep' button on the keyboard.
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
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 ± 3 °C) then wait for the water to cool before using the cutter.

Start the 'LaserCut' application and load/import your design.
TODO Different file types pros/cons
- DXF is nice because it maintains absolute dimensions.
Sometimes it's useful scale your design. The Laser cutter application allows for this but it's rather quirky:
- From the Laser software menu select 'Tools/Size'
- Calculate and enter your new widths/heights in Google/calc etc.
The work-area in the LaserCut software is not an absolute representation of the laser cutter bed. The origin must be set relative to your design.
- From the LaserCut application menu select 'Laser/Set laser origin'
- Move the 'target' cursor and click on the location on your design where you wish to position the origin (this is usually at the top right of the design)
- You may also manually enter the position - the top corner of bed is located at (299, 559)
Layers can be used in your design to provide combinations of different cut types and engrave options on a single piece. For example you may wish to cut out a key-ring and then engrave a name on it.
- Each layer can be assigned different action, speed and power settings - consult the manual or the wiki for appropriate settings.
- Finer control of layer power and speed settings is available by clicking on the layer

Upload the file to the design and settings to the laser cutter hardware as follows:
- Select the 'Download' button
- Remove any existing files by selecting them and clicking 'Del all'
- Download (upload) your file by clicking 'Download current'
- You should hear the laser cutter machine beep.

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.
Place the material on the cutter bed.
The bed height must be adjusted to the thickness of your material. This can be done as follows:
- Press the 'Z' button on the control panel with your material on the bed.
- The display will show 'Z-Axis operate'
- Then press the 'Datum' button
- The display should now show 'Z-Axis datum' and the bed should move to the correct height for your material.
To make sure that your design will be cut within the boundary of your material you can have the cutter mark out the bounding box with the red-dot pointer. Note that you must upload your design to the cutter before doing this.
- Click the 'Run box' button in the laser cutter application
- Observe the path of the red-dot pointer

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.
Turn on the air pump on the main control panel
To begin cutting press the 'Start' button in the laser cutter application.
Monitoring progress
- TODO What to watch out for
- TODO What to do in case of problems
TODO What to try if the result is not what you expect
Log your Laser Cutter use in the logbook

If you found some sweet settings please share them here.

Material	Thickness (mm)	Speed (mm/sec)	Power (%)	Corner power (%)	Examples
Ply wood	3	?	?	?
MDF	3	4	100	20
Acrylic - Perspex	4	3.5	100	21
Acrylic - Palglas	3	6	100	21	Cubauble

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

Plastic Online
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 - Elliot has bought some Palglas from here. They cut to size - delivery £8.00. Price guide (incl. VAT):
- 320x600x3mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic (Palglas) = £3.84
- 320x600x4mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic (Palglas) = £5.12
- 320x600x5mm (laser bed size) clear acrylic (Palglas) = £6.29

(bed size sheets)

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
- Latest version of the software
- Firmware for MPC6515 controller and software (hit the download page for latest version)
For making boxes, you can use this script - recommended settings of "--bolt_length 13 --nut_multiplier 1.8" YMMV
http://rahulbotics.com/personal-projects/boxmaker/?boxmaker/ is also _very_ good for making boxes.
QCAD - open source .dxf exporting 2D CAD program