Laser Cutting

LASER CUTTING 

5/11/2021

This week, we were introduced to laser cutting. As the name suggests, laser cutting is about using lasers to cut out any shapes or objects you want. Before we were able to use the laser cutter, we had to pass a competency test and develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). So, for this entry, I will be documenting our improved SOP after we had gone through the practical and my experience with laser cutting.

While going through the practical, we made necessary changes to the SOP that we felt was needed to guide us better for future laser cutting. Most of the changes we made were not about the actual laser cutter but about Corel-Draw as that is the more challenging area as there are many functions that might confuse inexperienced people like me. 😆😆

Figure 1: Standard Operating Procedure

As it's my first-time laser cutting, I was unsure of the speed, power, and frequency that I was supposed to use. Therefore, for my test cut, the power was too low and the piece could not come out. Thus, for a vector cut, it is better to use a LOWER speed with a HIGHER power, this will ensure that the laser fully cuts through the material. For engraving, a HIGHER speed but LOWER power will work as it only affects the surface of the material.

Improved SOP:

1. Turn on the compressor, fume extractor, and laser cutting machine.

2. Launch Corel-Draw on the computer and import DXF file design.

3.  Select an appropriate design for Vector cut or Engraving. Vector cut use [RED, hairline] and Engraving use [GREEN].

4. Press the Print option/Ctrl-P when done selecting design.

5. On the Epilog dashboard, turn on Auto-focus and Air-Assist.

6. Next, for each design, select the appropriate material and thickness. 

7. Press the Print Option again to send the file to the laser cutter.

8. CHECK the file name and estimated time to finish cutting.

9. Press GO once everything is set and it should begin cutting.

10. Wait for 1 minute to allow fumes to escape before opening the cover.

Here are some of the videos and pictures we took that day.

Figure 2: Laser Cutting Video

After some force, I was able to push out the acrylic that I laser cut during the Individual Competency Test.

Figure 3: Test piece

After the Competency test, we were given time to print out our parametric construction kits, after many trial and errors, we created this futuristic spaceship thing! 😂😂

Figure 4: Parametric contrusction kit

Reflection

Through this practical, we were exposed to laser cutting and the sky's the limit for laser cutting, there are so many possibilities and things you can do with laser cutting. However, we were very inexperienced and thus had to take things slow. This means that mistakes were bound to happen. One major mistake is that for 1 of the type of pieces, the slot for it was too long and so the other pieces could not fit. Also, it is our first time doing parametric constuction and we could not visualise what designs we could make with the pieces, together with the slot being too long, we could only manage to make the weird looking spaceship.

However, I will use this setbaack as an opportunity to improve and hopefully I will be able to use laser cutting successfully for any prototypes/designs and fully utilise the versatility of laser cutting with the knowledge I have gained from this practical.