Laserleikkuri CM1690

The Machine

NOTE: Not yet in general use, content of operator training and best-practises are still being formulated.

First rules

• Only operated by qualified operators, trainings will be organized with some regularity
• Lifting the honeycomb must not be done alone (it's easy to break and costs 1800EUR to replace)
  • You probably don't need it anyway unless you're doing tiny things or fabrics.
• Never leave machine unattended even for a moment when it is cutting (significant risk of fire)
• Never touch the laser lens/nozzle combo.
• Use only pure distilled water (akkuvesi) as cooling water, do not add anything else to the cooling water.

In case of fire

• Small fire: open lid, try to blow it out.
• If does not go out with blowing, use the fire-blanket.
• If blanket does not solve the issue use CO2 extinguisher, leave the room, close the door and inform everyone at the lab.
• If the CO2 extinguisher did not solve the issue: call fire brigade, inform the board.

Q & A

• Materials?
  • See http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials
  • https://tampere.hacklab.fi/viswiki/Laserleikkuri
  • Basically everything but metals and stuff that produces poisonous/corrosive gas.
  • Why not metal? Short answer: Metal reflects IR too well to be cut with IR laser. Marking metals is possible, though.
• Cutting area: 1600 × 900 mm with through feed.
• File formats
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • DXF
  • BMP/JPG
  • "ISO" Gerber
  • SVG is NOT SUPPORTED.

Start of operation checklist

• Open the log form, fill in your name and the current time.
• Use keys to turn on power
• Turn on blower (switch)
• If previous operator did not raise the bed to top ask for help from a superuser
• Adjust bed for correct focus distance for your material

Cutting checklist

• Did you change material ? If yes, re-check focus distance
• Adjust head position, set origin (NOTE: the red helper dot might not be pointing exactly to the cutting point, use "pulse" to verify)
  • Make sure you know which point of your cutting job you should set as origin in the machine.
• Use "border view" (sw) or "range" (panel) to verify bounding-box of cut.
• Make sure blower is on (switch)
• Make sure lid is closed
• Start cutting, keep close watch on what is happening.
  • Risk of fire
  • Settings may need tuning
• When done cutting wait 30-60 seconds for fume extraction before opening lid.

End of operation checklist

• Remove honeycomb if installed
• Raise bed to top
• Turn off blower (switch)
• Fill uptime, laser on time & work time to log
• Turn off machine (keys)
• Clean up the bottom "drop area" in case you dropped something.
• Finish filling up the log form (notes, end time) and submit.
  • Failure to submit logbook will result in suspension of "qualified operator" -status.

Superusers

• Aaro
• Kremmen
• Suovula

Useful links

• Laser cutter cut width and inaccuracies (Wandel)