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The laser cutter we have is a ULS PLS6.150D laser. You can save some time and money by seting setting up your artwork on you your home computer and uploading the resulting .emf file into the laser cutter's computer. You can do this by downloading and installing the laser print driver on your home computer. The drivers are available for download here http://www.ulsinc.com/support/software-downloads. Pick UCP Installer and follow the prompts for a PLS 6.150D. You should add the two 50W CO2 laser sources to get more accurate cut time estimates under the systems tab. Next, you will print your artwork to the PLS 6.150D from your art software. Check that both lasers are selected. You then will click on the file folder icon located at the top middle of the main laser print dirver driver screen. A dialog box should appear. Use the export dto to save your file to a thumdrivethumb drive. When you get to the laser cutter computer open the laser print driver, click on the file folder icon and then import the .emf file. Click on the select button and you should be ready to run your file on the laser cutter.
The computer workstation in the 3-D printing room at Leesburg also has the laser printdriver print driver and CorelDRAW installed. You can follow the same process of printing to the print driver, saving the .emf file to a thumb drive and then inporting importing the file onto the laser computer. There is no charge for using the 3-D printing room computer workstation.
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The below information was copied from http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials and is also a good starting point on what materials can and cannot be cut.
Laser Calendar
Makersmiths Laser Cutter Book by emailing Book by logging into Makersmith.org and selecting Members Only Content and then Laser Calendar Reservations. If you have any issue just email us at: lasercutter@makersmiths.org
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| Material | DANGER! | Cause/Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride)/vinyl/pleather/artificial leather | Emits pure chlorine gas when cut! | Don't ever cut this material as it will ruin the optics, cause the metal of the machine to corrode, and ruin the motion control system. |
| Thick ( >1mm ) Polycarbonate/Lexan | Cut very poorly, discolor, catch fire | Polycarbonate is often found as flat, sheet material. The window of the laser cutter is made of Polycarbonate because polycarbonate strongly absorbs infrared radiation! This is the frequency of light the laser cutter uses to cut materials, so it is very ineffective at cutting polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a poor choice for laser cutting. |
| ABS | Emits cyanide gas and tends to melt | ABS does not cut well in a laser cutter. It tends to melt rather than vaporize , and has a higher chance of catching on fire and leaving behind melted gooey deposits on the vector cutting grid. It also does not engrave well (again, tends to melt). |
| HDPE/milk bottle plastic | Catches fire and melts | It melts. It gets gooey. Don't use it. |
| PolyStyrene Foam | Catches fire | It catches fire, it melts, and only thin pieces cut. This is the #1 material that causes laser fires!!! |
| PolyPropylene Foam | Catches fire | Like PolyStyrene, it melts, catches fire, and the melted drops continue to burn and turn into rock-hard drips and pebbles. |
| Fiberglass | Emits fumes | It's a mix of two materials that cant' be cut. Glass (etch, no cut) and epoxy resin (fumes) |
| Coated Carbon Fiber | Emits noxious fumes | A mix of two materials. Thin carbon fiber mat can be cut, with some fraying - but not when coated. |
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