The possibilities of lasercutting:
Acrylic is the most dangerous material to laser cut due to the density and amount of fumes that escape from the material when cutting.
Therefore if you are cutting acrylic you must only cut for about 10-15 minutes at a time and take regular breaks to get fresh air.
The most important rule when using the laser cutter is that you are not allowed to leave the machine unattended whilst it is cutting your work, you are however, able to pause the machine and then leave the room.
The amount of time that the lasercutter takes is dependent on the size of the project, obviously, larger pieces of work or more intricate pieces of work will take longer than a smaller more simple design.
Materials that the laser cutter cannot cut are metals (especially very dense ones).
Glass as it will only crack under high levels of heat.
Reflectice materials - The beam of light (laser) will not be absorbed but instead reflected in different directions. One exception of this rule however is the use of mirrored acrylic, this material has a dull side, which if left facing up toward the laser can be used as safely as other usable materials. However as you are flipping the piece over to make use of the dull side, you will also need to flip your design as the machine will be cutting it backwards.
Whilst using the machine:
It is impossible for the laser to work whilst the lid is open, there are 3 safety catches which present this from happening. There are slits in the front and back of the machine so that larger stock, such as rolls of material can continiously be fed through.
The way the laser works is through the use of mirriors, A beam of light (laser) is directed down the side of the machine which is then coaxed through the laser nozzle through clever use of mirrors. Furthermore there is a lens in the laser nozzle that concentrates the laser to one small point.
How to use the Lasercutter:
Turn the black screw on the laser nozzle half a turn anti clock wise to manipulate the laser.
Fix the distance between the laser and your stock by placing a 12mm ontop of your stock and then position the nozzle so it is touching the top of the block.
Turn the black screw 1/2 a turn clockwise to tighten it.
you should always use a 12mm block of wood no matter what the material.
Shut the lid.
On the control panel:
Move the laser nozzle using the arrow keys to the bottom right corner of your stock and the top right. when you get to each place press the enter key.
Using the Ethos software, set up what parts of your work you want cutting in the different finishes.
Cut through - seperate shapes.
Engrave - scratches the outline.
Kiss cut - gentle engrave.
Raster - Internal space is scratched away.
However the laser does not recognise 'fill' therefore, you must create the illusion of a fill, by filling the shape with a sequence of close lines.
The computer/laser needs to know what material you are using.
Output - Material manager - set up - material - select correct material.
Output - material mananger - check you have selected the correct material - cut design.
The only time that the laser stops, when the lid is closed, is when the piece is finished.
When inputting text always expand it and outline as Ethos doesn't pick up/carry over text.
Best to use illustrator files, the lines/vectors in illustrator will translate as lines in ethos.
Live traces images.
Open a blank document.
Laser effects file/format.
Insert the image you want, select it go to object properties and tick engrave box.
Below is a small test piece that I made at the induction factoring all 4 laser cut cutting options, cut through, emboss, kiss cut and rastor.
Friday 18th october.
Today I booked an hours lasercutting session, just to gain some personal experience from the session as a student using the equipment.
I took a simple design to laser cut as it was only for testing purposes that compromised both text and image. The design I used is pictured below.
Turn the black screw on the laser nozzle half a turn anti clock wise to manipulate the laser.
Fix the distance between the laser and your stock by placing a 12mm ontop of your stock and then position the nozzle so it is touching the top of the block.
Turn the black screw 1/2 a turn clockwise to tighten it.
you should always use a 12mm block of wood no matter what the material.
Shut the lid.
On the control panel:
Move the laser nozzle using the arrow keys to the bottom right corner of your stock and the top right. when you get to each place press the enter key.
Using the Ethos software, set up what parts of your work you want cutting in the different finishes.
Cut through - seperate shapes.
Engrave - scratches the outline.
Kiss cut - gentle engrave.
Raster - Internal space is scratched away.
However the laser does not recognise 'fill' therefore, you must create the illusion of a fill, by filling the shape with a sequence of close lines.
The computer/laser needs to know what material you are using.
Output - Material manager - set up - material - select correct material.
Output - material mananger - check you have selected the correct material - cut design.
The only time that the laser stops, when the lid is closed, is when the piece is finished.
When inputting text always expand it and outline as Ethos doesn't pick up/carry over text.
Best to use illustrator files, the lines/vectors in illustrator will translate as lines in ethos.
Live traces images.
Open a blank document.
Laser effects file/format.
Insert the image you want, select it go to object properties and tick engrave box.
Below is a small test piece that I made at the induction factoring all 4 laser cut cutting options, cut through, emboss, kiss cut and rastor.
Friday 18th october.
Today I booked an hours lasercutting session, just to gain some personal experience from the session as a student using the equipment.
I took a simple design to laser cut as it was only for testing purposes that compromised both text and image. The design I used is pictured below.
I followed the instructions above, making sure to alter the distance between material and laser etc for a successful cut. The first material that I cut out with the laser was a simple black card. Card is an easy material to use for laser cutting as it is thin and therefore produces clean cuts and lines.
I then decided that I would laser cut the design into a stronger material so that I could use it as a stencil for Lasercut embossing. The material that was suggested to me that was available for immediate use and would be successful for embossing was Bendy plywood. However a material they suggested that would be more inexpensive but just as successful was grey board. A sister material of mount board but less compactible, you do however have to source this yourself as it is not available to buy at the laser cut workshop.
As I was going to use this as a frame for embossing, I had to remember to flip my design in illustrator so that it printed backwards.
I took the laser cut I had done down to vernon street to experiment with the hydraulic nipping press. I varied the amount of pressure, packing (amount of newsprint or blanket) and stock.
I found that embossing with this material (bendy plywood) was most successful when using newsprint or tissue paper as the packing. More so when used in high volumes, as the larger the amount of news print, the more the stock used (mostly cartridge paper) would mould into the frame, thus making a stronger emboss. The more tissue paper I added, the stronger and more successful my embossing became. When I solely used the blanket to pack the nipping press, my stock barely received any indentation from the frame.
Other factors that I found improved the accuracy of the emboss was the amount of pressure applied in the nipping press. It was recommended to use between 4000 and 6000 psi by the technicians, and so I pushed towards the higher end. I also found that the more pressure applied by the press, the clearer the emboss. Therefore on my most successful emboss the pressure was around the 6000 mark.
Another element that changed how clear the emboss looked was the counters within the letters, as I had selected cut through for all the sections including the type on my design, I lost the counters. This affected how clear the text on the design would be read once embossed. However I did manage to salvage some of the counters and found that when I added these into the press the text became more readable.
A good way to ensure that you don't loose the counters Is to create a frame that will invert the design and cause a deboss, by cutting around the letters instead of cutting them out, you will save the counters, as seen below.
I didn't notice a massive difference when changing the stock, partly because I only worked with paper, and all the paper types I tried were similar to one another. I want to go back and try using some more types of stock such as some corrugated card, or watercolour paper, as these are more elastic and could receive a greater impression from embossing. I felt that there was only slight differences when changing the colours of stock. Through personal preference, I enjoyed how soft and clean the embossing looked on the white stock, however I felt that on the coloured (I tried a couple of shades of blue) that there were bigger shadows created therefore making the text looked clearer. I found that it was harder to see the emboss when pressed onto black stock as it was hard to locate the shadows from the raised text on the black paper.
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