Our laser cutter is a *Beambox Pro™*. A full description is given [on the manufacturer's web page](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000121176-Beambox-Pro-Guide). These are brief notes to help get started. # The machine Our machine is a [*Beambox Pro™*](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000121176-Beambox-Pro-Guide). The [full specifications are here](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/articles/9942179448591-1-4-Product-Specs). ## Dimensions Key dimensions include: | | | | | | ----------------------------: | :------------------------------------- | --- | --- | | **Laser Power** | 50W | | | | **Max cutting thickness** | up to about 10mm (material dependent) | | | | **Measured Max Working Area** | 597x373mm | | | | **"Convenient" Working Area** | 580x350mm | | | | **Working Depth** | 80mm | | | The "convenient" working area is the area in which a sheet will sit flat on the honeycomb workbed within the workbed frame. Larger sheets sit on one or more of the frame edges and may not have consistent focus across the entire surface. These sheets can be up to the "measured maximum", but careful placement is required when working close to the edges of the beam range. The "measured maximum" working area is the furthest extent that the beam can be driven using the manufacturer's software. ## Software The machine requires *Beam Studio* to run. This is supplied by the manufacturer, and you have three choices as to mode of running it: - The software is downloadable on to your Windows, Mac or Linux machine; - There are machines in the Space with it installed; or - There is a web version (for which you need to create a free account). - See [Software](#Software) below for more details. # Basic of laser cutters (Skip this bit if you've used a laser cutter before. Go straight to [Making it work](#Making%20it%20work)) ## How they work Laser cutters cut or engrave a suitable workpiece using a directed laser beam by heating the work in a controlled pattern. The heat either burns or evaporates the material, depending on the kind of material. Timber, cardboard & similar are burned while plastics are evaporated. The "controlled pattern" referred to above is derived from an image file. See [Vector and Raster images](#Vector%20and%20Raster%20images) below for details of these. In our *Beambox Pro* laser cutter, the laser beam is generated by a fixed 50W CO~2~ laser (in the back of the machine) which is directed by mirrors on a moving carriage. See [the Beambox description](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001360595-1-5-Laser-Engraving-Principle) for more details. The laser beam is too broad to heat things up without some intensification, so a lens focusses it on to the workpiece. The work can be adjusted up or down to match the focus of the beam. **Note** that this means the workpiece has to be something flat. The amount of heat applied to the work is determined by the power of the beam and how fast it is moving over the work (how long it heats a given spot). Both of these are controlled by [the software](#software) we use to drive the laser cutter. ## Vector and Raster images The laser cutter has two distinctly different modes of operation -- it can create fine, sharp lines or it can create shaded areas (with varied shading). The fine sharp lines are composed of ***vectors*** (thin straight lines). The shaded bits are ***raster*** areas, comparable to shading with a pencil, where you draw lots of parallel lines with slightly different intensities. As examples, engineering "blueprints" or CAD drawings are vector images, while photographs and TV screen images are raster images. In digital images (eg computer monitors) the raster lines are made up of dots called pixels, closely spaced so that they look continuous. Images stored in computer files reflect those differences -- CAD files (DXF and similar) and drawing package files (AI, SVG, etc) store vector images; photo and paint program files (JPG, PNG, etc) store raster images. To make things confusing, some file formats (in particular, PDF) can store both formats while some of the primarily vector formats can store embedded raster images and vice versa. The laser cutter software [(*Beam Studio*)](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000126835-Beam-Studio) will analyse the images files given to it and decide which mode to use for different parts of the image, but you need to be aware of the difference. For example, you will get sharp edges to lettering if it is in vector mode but the lines will be extremely fine and barely visible. Vector mode is used primarily for cutting and to create sharp edges on engraved patterns. \newline Raster mode is used to fill the lines in lettering and for greyscale images such as photos. See [the *Beam Studio* description of image formats](https://support.flux3dp.com/hc/en-us/articles/9909611043215-1-3-Bitmap-and-Vector-Formats) for more information. # Making it work Before you can use the laser cutter you need to: - Power it up. - The power switch is on the wall to the left of the laser cutter, beside the window. There is a sign above it to point it out. - Turn on the power point switch and check that you can hear the exhaust fan running. It's behind the laser cutter, in the middle of the ductwork that runs out the window. - Go through the startup process - Press the power switch on the laser cutter control panel (the round metal one). - Wait while it boots up. - When the display stabilises with a safety warning message, read the message and press the "Accept" button. - The machine is ready for use when the display shows a big **"Start"** message.  - Have access to the *Beam Studio* software. See header notes or [detailed notes below](#Software). - Have a suitable design file - Beam Studio works with vector and raster graphics -- vectors for lines and raster for fill and/or greyscale. - Beam Studio can create design files from scratch, but it's very limited. - You can download ready-to-burn design files from many sources, in either DXF or SVG format. - You can create your designs using a recognised graphics package, - either a 2D CAD program such as [LibreCAD](https://librecad.org/), - a graphical image package such as [Inkscape](https://inkscape.org/) or - an online alternative to either of those (there are many!) - (those listed above are both free -- there are also many commercial products as well) ## A tutorial If you'd like to try something, we provide [a basic laser cutter tutorial](A%20basic%20laser%20cutter%20tutorial.md) for you to try. We provide the design file and you can use some of our scrap MDF or acrylic material # Still to do... ## Software https://studio.flux3dp.com ## Safety ### Toxic fumes ### Fire ### Laser light ### Cleaning (Of debris, to minimise fire hazard)