Laser Cutting

 Cutting with the laser cutter at Quelab.

1) Turn the laser cutter on.  The water cooler goes on automatically, but it might be a good idea to see if it's red light is on.  Wait for about 10 minutes for the water to run through the whole machine.

SOFTWARE

2) Import image into software

3) There is a "Size" icon to the left for scaling image.  Insert the dimensions in centimeters millimeters in the X and Y boxes.

4) In the upper right...for linoleum:

Speed 150

Power 80

(ignore Scan Gap)

5) Save as .ECP file (which is proprietary machine language file)

6)  Hit "Download" button at the lower right corner of screen. The following dialog box will show up:

7) "Del all" to delete all files in the system

8) " Download CFG"  sends configuration instructions to the laser cutter

9)  "Download current"  sends your file to the laser cutter

10)  Laser/Simulate...which will let you know if the file works, and how much time it will take to cut

LASER CUTTER

• Move X and Y axis...will speed up...and CRASH INTO THE SIDES

FOCUS laser cutter with rectangular block

• Hit Z to move CARRIAGE up or down...DO NOT CRASH

Hit "Datum" to automatically focus  (the menu has to be in the Z axis)

Hit "Test" to outline laser cut area...from where the laser cutter is positioned...check flashing red light dot

Hit blower button on the wall

Hit Air Assist button on the side of the laser cutter

Hit START

Pause pauses...Stop stops the whole process

PROJECTS

November 21, 2021:

I laser one of my drawings into a 6 x 6 inch square of linoleum:

• Engrave
• Speed 85
• Power 200
• 1 hour and 25 minutes

The digital file (left)

the laser cut linoleum (right)

The laser barely singed the linoleum, even at this slow speed.  However all the little speckles in the background seem to have been burnt out, which is probably a good thing (since they are hard to eliminate in the digital file).

November 22, 2021:

I laser one of my drawings (001) into a 6 x 6 inch square of linoleum:

• Engrave
• Speed 200
• Power 80
• 51 minutes 16 seconds

Dusty

immediately after the cut

This is a shallow cut, way more than singed.

I washed the dust off this cut and the linoleum texture stayed intact.  This was not the case when I washed off a previous linoleum cut, which had more relief (speed 150, power 80) -- all the little dots fell off then.

This image has lots of little dots, as it was created as a halftone essentially.  When the cut is deeper, the small dots are higher, and fall off easier with pressure.  Someone recommended that I cut in low relief to avoid the problem of the dots falling off.

Now the question is whether this will print.  I suspect that it will print on a letter press, but I'm wondering if it will print with our Tortilla Press.

November 23, 2021

I laser one of my drawings (004) into a 5 x 5 inch square of linoleum:

• Engrave
• Speed 175
• Power 80
• 41 minutes 10 seconds

This cut was deeper but still somewhat shallow.  When I washed the linoleum plate however, some of the little dots came off in the lower left hand corner.  I was rubbing them a bit.

Maybe if I spray a urethane on it the dots will solidify enough to make a tortilla print with this linoleum.

November 24, 2021

Cutting stencils out of newsprint:

• Cut
• Speed 50
• Power 20
• ~1.5 minutes

Cutting stencils into newsprint

This worked nicely.  We can use the newsprint stencils for silk screening.