Laser Cutter Session One

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Dennis selected a piece of hard maple for me to practice with. We began by sending it through the planer several times to ensure a smooth, flat surface. Normally, wood type would be cut out of a super hard wood for durability. But this was just to practice.

Then to the Laser Cutter, where I learned that there are three numeric settings used to control the laser beam The "experimentation" I was going to do would occur here. The first number is a percentage of full power, the second number is a percentage of full speed, and the third was a unit equivalent to dpi for the beam. The combination of these settings determined the precision and depth of the cut/engraving.

Because creating type utilizes the engraving function, this was a slow process, as the Laser Cutter works linearly, the wood was engraved line by line (similar in action to an inkjet printer).

I had time for five trials in total.

NO. 1 only outline test (88, 3, 80)
NO. 2 FIRE FIRE (88, 3, 80)
NO. 3 FIRE FIRE (85, 10, 150)
NO. 4 a bit shallow (30, 20, 150)
NO. 5 the best yet, still shallow, minor singeing (40, 20, 150)



Session Two will kickoff at 9 am. I also want to make a new file to cut, and ask about metals.