Laser Engraving Machine

The model of the Laser Engraving Machine located in Hackerspace.gr (Ampatiellou 11, 11144, Athens) is HQ-3020B. It is capable of cutting, engraving, and marking a number of different materials quickly and accurately when driven from CAD software such as CorelDraw and Inkscape.

Maintenance

Laser cutter mirrors and lens should be cleaned every time before startup and thoroughly one per month as instructed in this guide.

Once per 6 months the cooling liquid needs to be grained and replaced by new. The liquid is a mix of distilled water and anti-algae solution. With every cooling liquid replacement is also good to perform a cleaning of the cooling system following this guide

Material Information

Materials that can and cannot be laser-cut [1]

Settings

Material	Thickness (mm)	Operation	Power	Feed (mm/s)	Passes
Flexoid Oil Resistant Jointing sheet [2][3]	0.5	Cut	17	10	1
Flexoid Oil Resistant Jointing sheet [4][5]	0.8	Cut	20	10	1
TEMAFAST ECONOMY [6]	1	Cut	40	10	5
Plywood	3	Cut	30	10	2
Plywood	4	Cut	45	10	2
Plywood	Non dependent	Engrave	20	20	2
White glossy vinyl	0.24	Cut	7	20	1
Black matte vinyl	0.24	Cut	7	20	1
Acrylic (transparent)	4.5	Engrave	17	20	1
Leather (brown)	Non dependent	Engrave	10	20	2
MDF	2	Cut	70	10	1
MDF	2	Raster Engrave	15	200	1
Reflective tape (PVC/red)	0.36	Cut (adhesive on)	7	10	1

How to use it:

Download:

> Inkscape [7]

> K40 Whisperer [8]

To create your file:

> Open Inkscape

> Draw your design with lines

> Make colors in RGB (Blue to engrave, red to cut)

> Select correct Document Properties:

- UNITS must be all in MM

- RESIZE page to content

> Save as .svg file.

To cut your file:

> Connect computer and machine with USB cable

> Switch on the machine:

- Switch power on

- Switch light on

- Plug-in air - compressor

In K40 Whisperer:

( > Open K40 Whisperer )

> Initialize laser-cutter

> Open design file

> Adjust starting point and speed in K40 Whisperer

On the machine:

> Place your material inside (it must be no bigger than A4)

> Adjust power on machine

> Make test

> First engrave (BLUE) and then (CUT) by clicking "Vector Engrave" and "Vector Cut" in "K40 Whisperer".

Make sure temperature does not exceed 30 °C

> Switch off machine

> Clean up gently with vacuum cleaner

Useful links

> boxes.py [9]

> obrary [10]

Projects

> what is cosmos / τι είναι κόσμος

This text contains information copied or inspired from http://atxhackerspace.org .