Quick Start Guide - Laser Cutting

This is a restricted use machine. You must be specifically trained before using this equipment. Review the self-directed learning information on this page and book in for in-person training with a member of technical staff.

The laser cutter will cut flat sheet material very effectively, it's just a case of telling the machine the correct settings and running with it.

Make sure you ask a member of technical staff to show you how to use the machine - don't use it for the first time without asking.

1 - Get a File

You will need a flat, 2D file to use with the laser cutter. You can either draw this directly in Adobe Illustrator, or you can export it from software such as Fusion 360 or Solidworks.

• Exporting drawings as DXF files from Solidworks
• Exporting faces as DXF files from Solidworks
• Exporting sketches as a DXF file from Autodesk Fusion 360

If you're happy and comfortable drawing straight in Illustrator that's fine, but you if you need help with the software take a look at this quick intro video.

• Adobe Illustrator for Beginners: Get Started in 10 Minutes

2 - Open the File in Illustrator

Open Adobe Illustrator, and sign in when prompted. If you need to create an account, use your University email address for a free Creative Cloud licence while you are at the University.

Importing DXF files

It's important to make sure your files are imported at the correct scale - by default Illustrator will try to scale them into points rather than millimetres. This issue trips up a significant number of people when they start using the laser cutter.

• Importing DXF files into Illustrator

3 - Select Your Material

Make the most of the material available - that means using offcuts wherever possible before cutting into a fresh sheet. Material is expensive, so we need to get the most out of it. The offcuts rack is on the left of the material shelf.

Use the Artboard tool to set the size of the canvas in Illustrator to the size of your offcut or material sheet.

• Create artboards on the canvas using the Artboard tool

4 - Prepare For Cutting

There are a few steps to make sure your parts are ready for cutting.

Colour coding

The laser can cut different lines at different speeds and powers, depending on what you set the stroke colour to. For example, you could have all black lines cut all the way through, and all red lines to be a light mark or an engrave.

Make sure that the colours you choose are all the same - don't have two or three slightly different reds! Refer to the hexadecimal colour codes in the colour swatch window to make sure.

Material Nesting

Good use of material through nesting.

Don't waste material. Make sure your designs are nested appropriately, and you are making the best use of the (expensive) material.

Where possible use offcuts, even if it means cutting over several jobs.

• Material Nesting