LASER CUTTING

 Hello Everyone!! Today we'll be talking about 

LASER CUTTING!

So let's start with the most important thing, which is safety. Laser cutting, as the name suggests, uses a laser. While a laser is a very strong beam of light that emits radiation. So few hazards and risks that come with laser cutting is

1. A large amount of heat produced which could cause fire

2. Emission of toxic fumes causing irritation to the respiratory system.

3. Exposure to the laser beam can cause severe eye damage and skin burns

4. Cracked Lens

So what has been done to lower the risks?

1. Power of laser <50% to make sure that laser is not too overpowered for the operation

2. Exhaust system and air compressor are on at the very start of operation. Material is also left in the laser cutter for a minute to make sure all the toxic fumes are all sucked out.

3. We can only make a few side glances at the cutter in operation and not stare at it to not get as much eye damage.  The laser cutter will only operate when the lid is down. When the lid is opened, the laser will stop.

4. If the material cannot be cut through, stop and check, the focus lens may be dirty. Continual use of dirty lenses can cause cracked lenses. 

With that said, what materials can we use and what can we not use? 

Usable	Not Usable
Acrylic	Foam
Ply Wood	Materials with chlorine (e.g. PVC)
Natural Wood	Metal
Cardboard
Art Card
Technical Board

Those materials we can't use usually are materials that would pose a hazard to us. 

So whats the steps to be done for laser cutting?

Description	Picture-Aid
Preparation: Turn On the power for laser cutter, air assist, extractor and light switch
Import file Select file > Import > File to be imported in .DXF > drag into CorelDRAW or click on Import  Keep objects in Zone 1 of laser cutter for more effective cutting	Top View
Check the layers of the objects Top menu > Windows > Dockers > Objects Delete the repeated layers to make borders thinner
Edit lines of object to make it match the different type of cuts Bottom right of window Vector Cut Engrave Vector Engrave Colour RED  (R: 255, G: 0, B, 0) Green (R: 0, G: 255, B, 0) Green (R: 0, G: 255, B, 0) Line weight/ fill hairline fill hairline
Once settings are all checked and good, send file for printing. Top menu > File > Print Or Ctrl + P
At print page, click on the cogwheel Right of printer  Will bring you to universal material’s settings
At universal material’s settings, load profile for material used
Check the settings of the printer Colour:  make sure that red and green are in raster/vector mode Power:  The output power of laser Not more than 50% (more than that is too overpowered) Too high will cause ugly charring Speed: Speed of movement of laser head Longer = so that material is cut through Pulse per Inch (PPI):  How many times the laser pulses over a given distance Higher PPI:  that edge is cleaner, but more heat would be generated causing materials to melt or be charred Z-axis: material height for optimal focus point  Once done, click OK
Open Universal Control Panel (UCP) and click on the power button to activate laser cutter With the lid still open, click on the FOCUS Tool, and a crosshair will appear.  Check if file is within the safe cutting area,  Click on extreme bottom right corner of file, check the laser head position making sure that laser head is at repeat the same for top left corner  Click on Estimate time Button and press the START button to check for the timing.  If play button was activated before UCP was activated, deactivate the play button then reactivate it. When all is set, shut the lid gently and Press either the PLAY button on UCP or the Physical button on the Laser cutter
Once printing is done,  wait for 1 min before lifting the lid. After 1 min, gently lift up the lid but Don’t remove the material Tap on the cut material to see if it is free from its main material to check if material did get cut through. If it didn’t cut through, inform staff in charge as the laser cutter lens might be dirty
House keeping: Once done,  1) Remove any unwanted materials and dispose them 2) DEACTIVATE the Laser cutter 3) Switch off the necessary switches 4) You need not Shut down the PC

When encounter fire, first thing to do is to stop the laser cutter job. You wouldn't want to add to the situation by continuing the cutting. Secondly, if the fire is small, blow it out or take the material out and step on the fire to extinguish it. If the fire is too huge, just take the fire extinguisher and extinguish the fire.

inform the TEs of the fire too. During cases of fire, do not just stand dare and panic, because the fire is till there and nothing has been done to solve it. neither should you contibue with the cutting job, because large amount of energy is still being emmited, which can cause fire to grow bigger.

Some thoughts and feelings i had during the competency test:

Honestly now that i recal, it wasn't that bad. It was a simple test just to make sure that we know how to operate the machine. However, somehow i panicked when I was at the cutter doing my test. and Mr Louis had to calm me down multiple time. Of course i did pass my test as i knew what to do and watched the video multiple times too. Laser cutting is definitely an area I would want to explore. In fact, Me and my friends already has plans to make something out for our uses already.