Laser Operations

2019-04-12T19:49:47Z

Jw: /* "Verified" Members */

'''Hack Manhattan Has a Lazer!!'''




<table border=2>
<tr><td cellpadding=5>The laser is:</td>
<td cellpadding=5 bgcolor=#00cc33><center>OPERATIONAL</center></td></tr>


<tr><td cellpadding=5>Comments:</td><td cellpadding=5>220mmX170mm</td></tr>
</table>

K40 lazer

Note: Although the lazer has been re-assembled and run, it's not quite open-seasons for general usage yet. 
What the procedure will be for checkouts, training, etc has still to be decided.

=== "Verified" Members ===
Only the members listed below should be using the laser. 
If you wish to gain access to the laser, contact someone on the list and request a walk-through from them. 
When you get your walk-through, add yourself to the list and put down the name/handle of who gave it to you. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Member !! Instructor !! Comments
|-
|James || James || "Thanks for getting it to work"
|-
|Konstantin || James ||
|-
|Guan || Konstantin ||
|-
|Krissy ||Konstantin ||
|-
|John OB||Konstantin ||
|-
|Masahiro||Konstantin ||
|-
|Mark Carroll||Konstantin ||
|-
|Charlie Ridgway||Konstantin ||
|-
|Stephen Lynch||Konstantin ||
|-
|Max ||Stephen ||
|-
|Waldo||Stephen/Charlie/Jay||
|-
|Justin||Stephen||
|}

===The lazor is not a workbench, vise, or shelf===

The linear bearing surface of the ways is actually quite fragile and easily damaged by denting or abrasion. 
'''Check before lazing whether your material is safe to laze'''. Do not laze metal objects. The reflections will damage the lazor. Do not laze any material that contains chlorine (e.g. PVC, Vinyl) 
'''Do not have the lazer turned on when the controller is off!''' It will behave unpredictably and may fire without warning if the controller board is turned off.

===Installation===
* Inkscape
* [https://github.com/TurnkeyTyranny/laser-gcode-exporter-inkscape-plugin Turnkey Laser Exporter]
* Pronterface

===Design Preparation Guide===
1) Align design inside of blue guide-lines of template (white box if you are using the new template). 
2) Select all design features (the ones inside of the blue lines). 
3) Select Extensions->export->turnkey laser exporter. 
4) Do not export design with auto-home. 
5) Make sure y axis origin is set to bottom left.

===General Laze Starting Checklist===
# Make sure laser power switch is off.
# Insert workpiece. Bottom left corner of workpiece should be aligned with back right corner of laser cutter.
# Plug in the ghetto 220V plug into outlet.
# Turn on laser related accessories power strip.
# Turn on ATX power supply to enable exhaust fan.
# Verify that water is flowing by pinching water supply tube.
'''SAFETY GOGGLES ON!''' The window on the lazor is perspex and may or may not block laser light. The laser light is not visible and can cause eye damage if you do not wear goggles.

===Printing from SD with aligned design===
''Note that raster designs will not print reliably using the SD card ''
1) Load gcode onto SD card. 
2) Insert SD card into controller and make sure it is on. 
3) ONLY WHEN CONTROLLER IS ON, TURN ON LASER POWER. 
4) Navigate on the menu to Prepare-> Autohome, and select. 
5) Select your g-code and choose print.

===Printing Through USB with aligned design===
1) Launch pronterface. 
2) Connect USB cable to computer instead of wall wart. 
3) Wait for menu to appear, then choose connect assuming that the correct port is populated. Use default baud rate of 115200 
3) ONLY WHEN CONTROLLER IS ON, TURN ON LASER POWER. 
4) Use the pronterface menu to home x and y 
note: your design will not be visible. as proterface thinks it's talking to a printer. 
5) Select your g-code and choose print.

===Shutdown Checklist===

1) TURN OFF LASER POWER IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE laze IS DONE! 
2) Remove the workpiece. 
3) Unplug 220V outlet cord. 
4) Turn off ATX power Supply 
5) Turn off Laser accessory Power Tailpower strip.

===Hints===
====Installing turnkey lazor plugin on OS X====
# Install inkscape
# Clone the github repo [https://github.com/TurnkeyTyranny/laser-gcode-exporter-inkscape-plugin Turnkey lazor plugin]
#Copy turnkeylaser.inx and turnkeylaser.py from the repo into the extensions folder of inkscape (need to right click on inkscape and choose "show package contents". Contents/Resources/Share/Inkscape/extensions)
# Install pillow (updated version of PIL) e.g. from terminal 'pip install pillow'
# Start inkscape, turnkey laser exporter will be under Extensions->Export

===Tooling===

===Materials and settings===

For thin cardstock (Astrobrights premium cardstock 80lb (216g/m²) from Staples) P20, Feed=2000, ppm=40 works well

===Resources===
This is needed to make the G-code for the laser:
[https://github.com/TurnkeyTyranny/laser-gcode-exporter-inkscape-plugin Turnkey lazor plugin]

This is a template that will help with aligning workpieces in the laser bed:
[[:File:Default Inkscape setup for Hack Manhattan.svg]]

Old template:
[[:File:HM_K40_Template.svg]]
(Note: I needed to move the horizontal blue lines up by 20px to get the corner of this to match up with the actual cutter. The upper left corner of the template is the corner of the cutter closest to where it goes when you zero it)

This is a file that will help you determine what settings should be used for a given material:
[[:File:LaserMaterialTest.svg]]

This program directly sends the gcode to the ramps board and avoids having glitches during rasters:
[http://www.pronterface.com/ pronterface]

Tips on working in Inkscape:
[https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Laser_cutter/Inkscape Inkscape Tips]( The only part that is applicable is Section 2.1 )

If pronterface in os x gives an "[ERROR] Failed to set power settings" error try using the March 2014 build instead of the Feb 2015

===Material Settings===

'''Please use 75 as the max power setting'''

If you successfully laser something that is not listed below, or which is listed as having been cut on other than the Hack Manhattan K-40 laser, please add your settings to this table.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Material !! Layer name !! Purpose !! Comments!! Member
|-
! PAPER
|-
| 6-ply Railroad Board || 10[feed=200,ppm=35] || Cut || Do two passes - still needs a bit of tuning, maybe do less power + 3 passes? || Wesley
|-
| 6-ply Railroad Board || 10[feed=300] || Engrave || Burns a brown line - Use it to test your layout || Charlie
|-
| Cardstock || 20[feed=200,ppm=40] || Cut || Unknown source - needs verification || Charlie
|-
| Pasteboard || || || ||
|-
| 3mm Cardboard || 75[feed=2000,ppm=40] || Cut || Fast cutting of cardboard cutouts || Konstantin
|-
| 3mm Cardboard || 12[feed=3000,ppm=30] || Engrave || Fast Raster of cardboard text and labels || Konstantin
|-
! WOOD
|-
| 3mm Masonite || 75[feed=400,ppm=40] || Cut || It is slow enough to cut that crap || Konstantin
|-
| 3mm Basswood || ##[feed=###,ppm=##] || Cut || settings to be determined || Charlie
|-
| 3mm Basswood || ##[feed=###,ppm=##] || Engrave || settings to be determined || Charlie
|-
| 2.74mm Luan (lauan) Plywood || 20[feed=400,ppm=5] || Engrave || etched a broad line || Waldo
|-
| 2.74mm Luan (lauan) Plywood || 20[feed=3000,ppm=5] || Engrave || etched wood lightly || citybadger
|-
! LEATHER
|-
| 1.4mm Leather || 30[feed=800,ppm=40] || Cut || || citybadger
|-
| 1.4mm Leather || 10[feed=800,ppm=40] || Deep stitching groove or deep engrave || A wide enough groove to be useful would require multiple adjacent passes || citybadger
|-
| 1.4mm Leather || 5[feed=800,ppm=40] || Lighly engrave || || citybadger
|-
! FABRIC
|-
! PLASTIC
|-
| 3mm Clear Acrylic || 35 [feed=300,ppm=25] || Cut || || citybadger
|-
| 3mm Clear Acrylic || 60 [feed=100,ppm=30] || Rough Cut || Two passes of this worked to quickly cut through, but melted the edges a bit || Wesley
|-
| 3mm Tinted Acrylic || # [feed=###,ppm=####] || Cut || settings to be determined || Charlie
|-
| 3mm Colored Acrylic || 24 [feed=300] || Cut || settings to be determined || unknown
|-
| Any Thickness Acrylic || # [feed=###] || Engrave || 30[feed=100] on a 50w lase || [http://lasercuttinglab.com lasercuttinglab.com]
|-
| 3mm Colored Delrin || # [feed=###,ppm=####] || Cut || my memory is it has to be cut quickly or the kerf will fuse behing the laser || Charlie
|-
! OTHER
|}

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Laser Operations