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LASER CUTTING TUTORIAL

SMALL LASER CUTTER 40cents/min MAX MATERIAL SIZE: 24”(609.6mm) x 18”(457.2mm)

LARGE LASER CUTTER 70 cents/min MAX MATERIAL SIZE: 48”(1219.2mm) x 48”(1219.2mm)

What is a laser cutter A laser cutting is a tool that reveals a CAD drawing by vaporizing a material, through afocused beam of light. Lasers work by sending an energized beam of coherent lightthrough a series of focal lens. These lens focus the beam of light to a fraction of an inchcausing the beam to evaporate the material which may lie in it’s path. Our laser cuttersare able to cut through wood, plastics and composite materials of up to 3/8”(12mm)thick. We are not able to cut glass or metal.

The laser cutter processes files by cutting, etching or filling lines and solids which aredrawn in a CAD based program such as: AutoCAD, Rhino or Illustrator. The machinecannot simulate line thickness and therefore is limited by the thickness of the beam of

light which it emits = .3mm (1/64”).

File preparationThe basics of file preparation are twofold.The first is to create the appropriate layers for which you wish the file to be cut out with.(EX. If you are just cutting through a material, there should only be one layer and alldrawn lines should exist on this layer. If you were to cut and etch on the material thereshould be two layers one for cutting and one for etching. All subsequent drawn linesshould exit on their proper layer. Any additional ‘types’ of marking should be onadditional layers.)The second is to be sure you have drawn a bounding box, which represents thedimension of the machine you, will be using (EX. 24”wide x 18”high). All objects drawn

must fit within this bounding box and have a ¼” boarder between the box and the drawnobjects.

File Export/SavingEach CAD program is unique in its own right, though one commonality shared betweenthem is the ability to export and import to similar file types. It is a good rule of thumb tosave or export to a 2000 or 2004 dwg. file for our laser cutters. Illustrator files can beopened but only if they are backsaved to a CS3 format.

 Tips for filesTo insure that your laser cutting experience is an enjoyable one (and so you don’t rip outyour hair) we ask that you practice clean drawing techniques and ‘finish’ the file before

bringing it to be processed. This includes:- Keep all information on one file (specified by different layers)- Be sure lines are snapped at ends & intersections- Delete overlapping lines- Close/Join lines- Remove any information not to be cut.- Be sure the file is at 1:1 scale of what is to be cut.

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 Tips for specific programsRHINO

- Line weights should be set to default.- Delete any overlapping lines (command = ‘Make2d’)- Be sure bottom left corner of bounding box and objects are set to 0,0,0 origins.- Remove or explode any blocks.

- SaveAs or Export selected to:  AutoCad drawing file 2000 (*.dwg) Or Rhino 4 3D models (*.3dm)

ILLUSTRATOR- Be sure that all cut styles are on their proper layer- Remove any fills on objects. (unless needed for processing)- Use ‘Expand’ command on live traced images- Use ‘Create Outlines’ command on all text, so that font styles transfer over.- Save as:

  Adobe Illustrator (*.AI)  Version – Illustrator CS3

 AUTOCAD

- Line weights should be set to default.- Delete any overlapping lines (command = ‘OVERKILL’)- Be sure bottom left corner of bounding box and objects are set to 0,0,0 origins.- Remove or explode any blocks.

- SaveAs or Export to:    AutoCAD 2000/LT2000 Drawing(*.dwg) 

VECTORWORKS- Covert all polygons to polylines or lines- Export file as:

  DXF/DWG  Format - DWG  Version - 2000/2000i/2002  Export as DXF layers = layers