Description

1. What is a laser cutter?

Laser cutters are CNC (computer driven) fabrication that use a laser to cut a variety of materials. The type of materials a particular laser can cut are dictated by its power (measured in Watts) and type (diode, gas tube, etc). Most laser cutters operate like large desktop printers or plotters, but move a set of optics that focuses the laser onto the material around instead of an ink cartridge or pen. By varying the speed at which the focused laser is moved around the material, and the intensity of that laser, laser cutters are able to work with a range of materials and thicknesses without burning it. A laser cutter “cuts” by using a focused beam of laser light to vaporize the sheet material. It’s an ablative manufacturing process, which means that it works by removing material (in this case, by burning it up).

2. What can you do with a laser cutter?

This course will be focusing on non-industrial CO2 lasers, below 500 Watts because they offer the broadest range of materials and lowest price. These machines will allow you to use digital files used to print posters on paper to work with a broad range of of materials. The general rule of thumb for CO2 is that the laser can work with any material you can burn with a match (there are exceptions, but this is a good starting point when considering a new material). Most natural materials like woods, papers, leathers, and fabrics are fine, but metals and glass cannot be cut. Acrylic or Plexiglass as it is also known cuts wonderfully, but other plastics may contain poisonous chemicals or react poorly to the laser’s heat making them unsuitable.

Cut

On materials the laser can vaporize completely, the machine’s power and speed can be adjusted so that the focused beams cuts all the way through the material. This can be used to create custom shapes and holes in materials up to about 20mm (¾”) thick, depending on the material and laser.

etch

On materials the laser can vaporize completely or partially (such as glass, anodized aluminum, and stone), the machine can be adjusted to remove some of the material, etching away the top layer. On materials the laser can fully vaporize, the depth of the etch can be adjusted to achieve very deep engravings. On materials the laser can only partially vaporize, the etches remain on the surface. Etching is a great way to add custom graphics and text to your designs.

marking compound

On some metals that the laser is unable to vaporize at all marking compound can be used to achieve effects similar to surface etching, but in black. The ceramic marking compound is first applied to the metal surface, and then the laser is used to “bake” the ceramic, marking in black. Marking compound works well with steels, irons, brass and other metals, and is great for adding custom graphics and text to items and components.

Process Overview

A standard laser cutting project consists of 5 simple steps:

1. identify what you would like to make - the first step in any laser cutting project is figuring out what you’re going to be making. Laser cutting is great for making personalized gifts, marketing and promotional materials like keychains and signage, or product design, but the applications are only limited by your files.
2. material selection
3. file creation - once you’ve decided on what to make, you’ll want to decide on what type of laser cut file you plan on using.
4. submit laser job
   1. verify file
   2. quote
   3. cut file
5. assembly and post-processing
   
   • Broad Range of Workflows Available to Generate Files - Although laser cutting can be used in very advanced ways, it’s 2 dimensional nature means that it’s very easy to generate files that can be converted to a laser compatible format.
   • Broad Range of Material Options - compared to additive forms of digital fabrication like 3D printing, laser cutters allow you to work with a broader range of materials, at a lower cost. Laser cutting can be used to create everything from wedding invitations and leather bags to furniture and architectural models.
   • Low Cost and Accessible - Laser cutting is a low cost, and accessible form of digital fabrication. It’s much cheaper to produce large laser cut objects when compared to 3D printing.
   • CO2 Lasers Cannot Cut Metals, Glass, Stone - One limitation is that most lasers cannot cut hard materials like metals and glass, but laser cutting can still be used to prototype and test your designs in lower cost materials like acrylic and baltic birch. When the design is finalized, the same files you created for laser cutting will work for the industrial processes used to these materials.
   • Some Synthetic Materials are Unsafe to Lasercut - Certain synthetic materials that contain chlorine like vinyls and fibreglass cannot be safely cut using a laser because of the poisonous chemicals they release. Always be sure to check with the material supplier to ensure it is laser safe.
   • Laser Cutters Only Remove Material - Laser etching only “prints” in values or shades of the original material, because the laser is not adding any inks or dyes, it print in colour.

• strengths
• limitations

Terminology

• CO2 Laser
• Adobe Illustrator
  • Artboard
  • Hairline
  • Raster
  • RGB
  • Vector
  • Color Mode

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Task

Share your response to "What materials do you want to work with?"

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Continue to Lesson 2 - Introductory Project - Laser-cut Business Card »