Laser Cutting

 Hi there, on this page I will be showing you what I learnt from the laser cutting practical and what I did. We had to create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for operating a laser cutter in advance before the laser cutting practical. However, the SOP was not precise when doing the CorelDraw on the laser cutting machine. Therefore, here is my improved version of the SOP:

Start-up Procedure

1. Turn on the air compressor located behind the laser cutting machine by switching on the red switch at the side of the air compressor. (Applicable for Epilog Fusion M2 machine, Epilog Fusion Pro machine does not need to turn on the air compressor as it is built into the machine.)

2. Turn on the fume extractor by pressing the green button located at the side of the fume extractor. The fume extractor is located beside the laser cutting machine.

3. Turn on the laser cutting machine by switching the On/Off switch located at the lower right of the laser cutting machine below the emergency button.

4. Wait for the laser cutting machine to finish initialisation. Once the initialisation process is finished, it should say "CO2 Fusion"

5. Place the material that is being cut in the laser cutting machine if there is no material on the platform in the laser cutting machine. Open the hood all the way to put the material inside the laser cutting machine and gently close the hood. Prevent any hair or lanyard from getting stuck between the hood and laser cutting machine.

6. Ensure that both interlock LEDs are on (both L and R) after closing the hood before starting work on the workstation.

Using of CorelDraw

7. Use CorelDraw to import the DXG or SVG file that you created.

8. Select the lines you want to edit by highlighting them and then clicking on the bottom right interface panel with the colour and line weight.

9. Set the line weight and colour:

a. For lines that will be cut, use Red for line colour, set the line weight to hairline.

b. For lines that will be engraved, use Green for line colour, fill in with Green. However, for letters to be engraved, ensure that line weight is the same for all.

c. For lines that will be scored/engrave etch, use Green for line colour, set the line weight to hairline.

Use the following table as a reference.

10. Print the file that you made by CTRL+P or press the print button under file on the top to send it to Epilog Dashboard.

11. For Epilog Fusion Pro Machine:

• Select autofocus and thickness.
• The respective actions from the design should be displayed on the right side of the user interface. Objects with a line weight set to hairline will be regarded a VECTOR and cut, while those with thickness will be labeled with ENGRAVE.

12. For Epilog Fusion M2 Machine:

• toggle autofocus and air assist.
• The respective actions from the design should be displayed on the right side of the user interface. Objects with a line weight set to hairline will be regarded a VECTOR and cut, while those with thickness will be labeled with ENGRAVE.

13. Click on the file icon on the top right to import material setting to choose the material that you want to choose.

14. After that position your laser cutter for cutting on the material.  For Fusion Pro machines, there is a built-in camera inside the machine to help position the head where the material is.  For Fusion M2 machines, use the rulers at the top and the left side to position the head using the mouse tool. 

15. After you are done adjusting, click on print on the bottom of the interface and check the machine to see if it starts cutting. Be careful not to lean over to see laser as it might damage eyes.

16. For Fusion M2 machines, the file name and estimated cutting time should appear on the LCD. Once confirmed, press the GO button. For Fusion Pro machines, the file name and estimated cutting times should appear on the touch screen. Once confirmed, press Play to start cutting.

17. After the machine finished cutting, wait a while (30sec - 1min) for the material to cool down. After that, open the hood to obtain your laser-cut design.

Shutdown Procedure

18. Clear all the items in the laser cutting machine's platform and close the hood of the machine gently and then make sure both left and right icons of interlock LED lights are on.

19. Switch off the laser cutting machine by switching off the button located at the lower right of the laser cutting machine.

20. After that, Switch off the fume extractor and the air compressor. However, turning off the air compressor is only for Epilog Fusion M2 Machine. 

21. Exit CorelDraw.

Throughout all of this practical, I was quite happy to design as it helps me to get better at Fusion 360 which is part of my goal for this module. Here are the designs that I made :D

I was able to do the laser cutting machine and complete the competency test successfully which I am proud of. However, I did struggled for the CorelDraw and the Epilog Dashboard but thankfully the teachers were kind to help and I had my classmates to help me in the process.

This is what I made from the competency test.

My teammates and I created some parametric designs and here are some of the designs but these were just a few species, there is still many more.

Reflection:

After doing this laser cutting practical, I am now able to perform laser cutting on my own and this was a fun and useful learning experience for me. I learnt about the Epilog dashboard, CorelDraw and also how to make a parametric design. The parametric designs were quite fun to play with and I realised that this module requires alot on your designing skills, innovative thinking and your imagination. I am happy with my progress on Fusion 360 and laser cutting. Moreover, I've created an improved version of my SOP for laser cutting which I am proud of after learning what I did during the practical. However, my laser cutting skills are not perfected yet and I am looking forward in the future to come to the Fab Lab for more laser cut designs. I also found out some new functions that were pretty useful for Fusion 360 which I want to experiment with after my finding from my design for the parametric design and phone stand. I decided to play with Fusion 360 during my free time and I'm pretty excited and nervous for the Arduino Practical.