The Rayjet 300, supplied by Trotec1) is suitable for laser engraving and cutting of wood, plastics, leather, paper and many other materials. The materials we use in-house are ply, acrylic, polypropelene and paper.
TROTEC RAYJET 300 LASER CUTTER | |
---|---|
Inductions required | General induction, Laser cutter induction |
Bookings | Required |
Machine type | 80W CO2 (Educational version) |
Commissioned | 2015 |
Max. workpiece height | 200 mm |
Machine size (W x D x H) | 1090 x 890 x 590 mm |
Weight | approx. 135 kgs |
Technical Requirements | PC, power supply with 110-240 V |
Max. dimensions | 735mmx435, 6.5mm (material thickness) |
Cutting Materials | Plastics (acrylic, polypropylene, polyoxymethylene), Timber, Carboard, Paper, Leather, Textiles |
Approved materials only. Seek approval from FL Supervisor to use alternate materials prior to booking. | |
Available materials | Various materials are available to purchase in the Fabrication Lab Shop |
Job Layout & File Input | Design files are imported via USB Drive and must be of vector file format supported by Corel Draw (.svg, .cdr, .ai, etc.) in RGB. |
The Rayjet 300 is an education version of the Speedy 300. It is difficult to find a direct comparison in the literature but anecdotal research 2) yields:
Other than these points they appear to be functionally and physically very similar. The biggest issue with the Rayjet is the lack of Job Control software, which requires the laser be addressed as a printer.
Material | Abbreviation | Trade name | ||
Acrylics | ||||
Poly(methyl methacrylate) | PMMA | Plexiglas®, Perspex® Altuglas® | Acrylite® | |
Plastics | ||||
Polyamide | PA | Nylon® | ||
Polyoxymethylene | POM | Delrin® | ||
Polyester | PES | Thermolite®, Polarguard® | ||
Polyethylene terephthalate | PET | Mylar® | ||
Polyimide | PI | Kapton® | ||
Polystyrene | PS | |||
Polymethyl-methacrylate | PMMA | Plexiglas® | ||
Polycarbonate | PC | Lexan®, Makrolon® | ||
Polypropylene | PP | |||
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene co-polymerisate | ABS | |||
Polyethylene | PE | |||
Polyurethane | PUR | Neopren® | ||
Other Materials | ||||
Glass (etching only) | ||||
Natural & some synthetic Leather | ||||
Metals (etching only) Including - Aluminium, Carbide, Coated metals, Cobalt, Gold, Silver, Steel, Chrome, Copper, Platinum, Tin, Brass, Zinc, Titanium & Eloxal. | ||||
Paper & Cardboard | ||||
Rubbers | ||||
Natural and some synthetic rubbers, Microporous foam and Silicone Rubber | ||||
Natural stone - Granite Ceramic Marble Slate Pebble | ||||
Textiles - Polyester, Lace, Fleece, Silk, Cotton, Felt, Aramid, Synthetic & technical textiles | ||||
Wood and timber – Veneers , solid timbers, balsa and some MDF and Plywoods |
http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Materials/Pages/Material-Overview.aspx on 9 May 2016.
~~REVEAL~~
Material | Engraving | Cutting | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power | Speed | Air Assist | Power | Speed | Air Assist | Passes | ||
Plastic | Acrylic 1.5 mm experimental | No | 100 | 4.5 | Yes | 1 | ||
Plastic | Acrylic 3 mm | 60 | 80 | No | 100 | 1.7 | Yes | 1 |
Plastic | Acrylic 4.5mm | 60 | 80 | Yes | 100 | 1.2 | Yes | 1 |
Plastic | Acrylic 6mm | 50 | 50 | No | 100 | 1.7 | Yes | 2 |
Plastic | Acrylic 6mm experimental | 50 | 50 | No | 100 | 1.1 | Yes | 1 |
Plastic | Polyproplene (0.6mm) | 10 | 2 | Yes | 25 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Paper-80gsm (regular paper) | 11 | 100 | No | 11 | 5 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Paper- 350 gsm | 11 | 5 | No | 25 | 5 | No | 1 |
Paper & Card | Paper- 200 gsm | No | 100 | 1.5 | No | 1 | ||
Paper & Card | Cardboard-650gsm *Single Ply 3mm Natural /White | 45 | 100 | Yes | 25 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Corrugated Card Single Ply 2.5mm (Pizza Box) | 11 | 30 | Yes | 25 | 3 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Corrugated Card Double Ply 6mm | 40 | 100 | Yes | 40 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Craft Cardboard Dense natural board 3mm | 70 | 100 | Yes | 75 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Paper & Card | Craft Cardboard Dense natural board 1.5 mm | 11 | 20 | Yes | 50 | 8 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Plywood 4mm | 80 | 95 | Yes | 85 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Plywood 6mm | 80 | 95 | Yes | 100 | 2 | Yes | 2 |
Wood | Wooden Veneer 1mm | 11 | 20 | Yes | 50 | 8 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Fleece Back Veneer | 17 | 20 | Yes | 50 | 6 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Balsa Wood 1.5 mm | 40 | 100 | Yes | 30 | 4 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Balsa Wood 3 mm | 40 | 100 | Yes | 30 | 3 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Balsa Wood 5mm | 40 | 100 | Yes | 30 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
Wood | Camphor Laurel 12mm experimental | Yes | 100 | 2 | Yes | 7 | ||
Leather | Bovine, natural 5-6mm | 65 | 80 | Yes | 100 | 1 | Yes | 1 |
Leather | Bovine, black 2.5mm | Yes | 65 | 1 | Yes | 1 | ||
Silicone | Black 0.5mm | 20 | 4 | Yes | 40 | 4 | Yes | 1 |
Silicone foam | White 2.0mm | Yes | 100 | 2.4 | Yes | 1 | ||
Silk | White 40momies | Yes | 14 | 7 | Yes | 1 |
</datatables>
The Edge standard checks for the Rayjet 300.
When using text on the laser you will usually be stuck with a large quantity of engraving. For example, if every part of a kit of workshop material that needs to be mass-produced requires text, it will take a lot of time.
After some research I've found that there are a few fonts that are suitable to use. This means that when we convert to outline in illustrator, instead of creating multiple lines (one outer and one inner), it will only create a single line which makes it a lot more convenient.
Here is a link to a list of fonts that work well. Remember to remove any fill before converting!
CamBam Stick Fonts (Scroll down for download link and examples)
These are by no means perfect and most of the fonts have symbols missing. I recommend #4 as it seems to have most of the features.
Also - Inkscape now has built-in support for hershey text - an engraving font generator.
Another way to speed up engraving (and even cutting) is to lower the DPI in the print preferences. Laser regular Paul Morris showed me the results reducing the DPI down from 500 to 125 DPI. Reducing the DPI by 1/4 reduced the engrave time.
Results shown below
He also did a low resolution cut, pictured below
the example on the left is at 500 DPI (default). The example to the right is at 125 DPI
While we have had issues with the stock plywood for the laser warping, the last batch we had was off the charts (10mm off true on an A2 piece of plywood). This warpage puts the laser out of focus and participants don't want to pay for it.
This week we experimented with clamping the plywood down with Nylon Nuts and Bolts, pictured below
We fed the bolts ( with a metal spring washer) up through the honeycomb and clamped the timber down with the corner of the nut. When I get around to it I'll make some acrylic washers/ clamps to grab the timber in a more secure way. The timber popped up when it was cut but at least it was cut etched and then flat.
Here are The Edge Laser cutter maintenance routines. There is a regular schedule, but maintenance is only carried out when required. The tasks below are based on the maintenance established when we first took delivery of the Laser and have been sourced from the Trello Fab Lab Equipment Logs.
The RayJet lens is the most delicate part of the machine. It has a relatively soft Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) Lens, which is vulnerable to scratches from cleaning with dust on the lens, scraping, drop or thermal shock. Trotec Lenses are manufactured by http://www.iiviinfrared.com/, which as of 11/2021 is down. However there is a web archive of theircleaning handling page here
For a comprehensive overview of cleaning a ZnSe lens, check out the ULO Optics cleaning page.
The RayJet can take ether 1.5 inch or 2 inch lenses. We have been supplied with two types of lens - one fits on top of the lens holding nut (2 inch lens - black ), the other below (1.5 inch lens -red). The current lens is a 2 inch top mounted.
The mirror located in the lens housing is much more robust, but still requires delicate handling.
Before you start
You will need:
Cleaning Lens and Mirror
This procedure is adapted from the officialtrotec manual
Never use a cleaning tissue twice. Dust accumulated in the cleaning tissue could scratch the lens surface.
How often should this be done? Maintenance of the Atmos500 is essential to keep fumes and particulates from the Fabrication Lab air. The top filter is augmented by a thin layer of rockwool insulation, which is the regular consumable for the filter.
Before you start
Always wear gloves and a respirator type mask. Collect a bin liner from the cleaning store.
This is the base line measurement for the Atmos 500. Any time the filter components are changed refer to these settings.
All materials need to be tested to make sure they are safe to use in The Edge's Laser Cutter. Different materials can cause damage to the equipment and can be hazardous to the health and safety of the operator and other people in the Fabrication Lab.
All participants completing a Laser induction are informed of the Edge's policy that all new materials need to be approved before use in the Laser.
Users of the Laser can apply 14 days in advance to use a new material and are asked to provide a sample of the material and MSDS sheets pertaining to the material and any other treatments applied to the material.
The Latest version of the Guidelines for Laser Material Testing is always available on the wiki and is included below, along with the list of materials that Trotec recommend, and a list of compounds that are filtered readily by the extractor.
One of the compounds of concern is Formaldehyde which is found in a range of building materials (e.g. plywood, MDF) . The document below gives a good explanation of this issue and is provided on the website of our ply supplier.
http://revolutionwoodpanels.com.au/products/plywood/product/20/cd-pine-plywood.html
http://www.ewp.asn.au/library/downloads/ewpaa_formaldehyde_emmisions.pdf
Premium Glitter Flake Acrylic
(Kaleidoscope Glitter Sheet)
Technical Data
Glitter acrylic can be cut, drilled, routed, laser cut, glued, formed, hot stamped, and silk screened like any other standard acrylic sheet. It is also ideal in applications that require other acrylic products to be used in combination with the Glitter without the need for mechanical fasteners or complex adhesives.
Suede
Test Date 13 Aug 2016 Test Completed By Mick Byrne.
Suede is a material recommended by Trotech so approved the app to use this completed tests on the laser.
The first test (Far Right) was etched at the same settings as Balsa 40% power 95% speed- this was too much (sooty and could not see the gradation in the contrast bar. 2nd test (Far left) was 20% power 95% speed 3rd test (top) was 27% power 95% speed - I'd recomend somewhere between these last 2 settings
Plybrace F27 hardwood structural ply
-
Test Date 15 Aug 2016 Test Completed By Mick Byrne. A bunnings product name was provided by applicant and from there an MSDS was sourced for this material. This product is also certified as low Formaldehyde.
http://www.dashwoodtimber.co.nz/downloads/Structural_Plywood_Properties_&_Applications_Manual_March_2008.pdf5)
http://www.ewp.asn.au/library/downloads/ewpaa_formaldehyde_emmisions.pdf6)
Slate
Test Date 28 Feb 2019 Test Completed By P. Gullberg.
This material can only be engraved ,not cut using the Rayjet. Settings come directly from Trotec's website.
The bitmap gradient and title test were engraved using error diffusion. The Rayjet struggles with the deeper engravings which end up looking like the more shallow engravings. The Engrave settings text is engraved using the Trotec recommended settings. Smoke levels were average.
Engraving: 60% power 100% Speed
Japanese Polyester
Test Date Aug 2016
PETG
Copper wire test passed and OK'd for laser
Peter Musk Nov 2017
Acrylic Felt
Sourced from Spotlight.
Tested (copper wire) on 15/11/17
Smoky but passed for laser cutting.
Peter Musk
Silicone Rubber 0.5mm Test Date 22 Aug 2017 Test Completed By Mick Byrne. Silicon Rubber is a material recommended for cutting on the Trotec Website. After a few cuts we arrived at the following settings
Etching 20% Power 4% Speed
Cutting 40% Power 4% Speed
The aim of this document is to provide a guideline for the testing of the cutting and etching of new materials in the Edge’s Trotec 100w CO2 Laser Cutter.
Most of the tools in The Edge Fabrication Lab have been acquired with the intention of making these available to the public so members of our community can experiment with a range of fabrication technologies.
There is also an acknowledgement that members of the public and staff will want to experiment using different materials in equipment like The Edge’s Laser Cutter.
This section outlines a process to manage the risks of health hazards and damage to equipment that could occur from cutting/ etching different materials in the Laser cutter. These are guideline only and as such, do not cover all eventualities.
When testing new materials using the laser cutter extreme caution should be used.
Management of The Edge also reserves the right to the ban the cutting / etching of certain materials found to reduce the efficiency of the machine.
The following Flowchart describes the process an authorized supervisor can undertake to assess a new material for approval to be cut/ etched on the Edge’s Laser cutter.
THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS ARE KNOWN TO BE HAZARDOUS AND CANNONT BE CUT
- Needs sentence here about whether test is passed when chlorine is or is not present
Sections 3, 4 and 5 above all say 'perform the test again from Step 8, but there is no Step 8 - re-write needed
As with normal operation, the laser cutter must always be monitored during operation in case of smoke, fire or flare up
Harvard Fab Lab, n.d. Laser Training Checklist, Retrieved 27 May 2015 from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1198394.files/training_checklist_LASER.pdf
David A. Katz, Identification of Polymers ©1998 Retrived 31 Aug 2015 http://www.chymist.com/polymers.html
The Atmos 500 uses a three stage process to remove airborne contaminants. The first stage filters large particles, the second and activated carbon bed, the third is a HEPA filter (small particles).
Of the three the activated carbon stage is the most important for removing smells and potentially toxic out-gasses caused by the laser cutting process, and is most critical to the operation of the fabrication lab.
While most organic compounds will adsorb on activated carbon to some degree, the adsorption process is most effective on higher molecular weight and high boiling point compounds. Compounds having a molecular weight over 50 and a boiling point greater than 50 degrees centigrade are good candidates for adsorption 7)
These charts are adapted from More information about the Regeneration of Active Carbon - Lenntech
<datatables>
2,4-D | Deisopropyltatrazine | Linuron |
Alachlor | Desethylatrazine | Malathion |
Aldrin | Demeton-O | MCPA |
Anthracene | Di-n-butylphthalate | Mecoprop |
Atrazine | 1,2-Dichlorobenzene | Metazachlor |
Azinphos-ethyl | 1,3-Dichlorobenzene | 2-Methyl benzenamine |
Bentazone | 1,4-Dichlorobenzene | Methyl naphthalene |
Biphenil | 2,4-Dichlorocresol | 2-Methylbutane |
2,2-Bipyridine | 2,5-Dichlorophenol | Monuron |
Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)Phthalate | 3,6-Dichlorophenol | Napthalene |
Bromacil | 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy | Nitrobenzene |
Bromodichloromethane | Dieldrin | m-Nitrophenol |
p-Bromophenol | Diethylphthalate | o-Nitrophenol |
Butylbenzene | 2,4-Dinitrocresol | p-Nitrophenol |
Calcium Hypochloryte | 2,4-Dinitrotoluene | Ozone |
Carbofuran | 2,6-Dinitrotoluene | Parathion |
Chlorine | Diuron | Pentachlorophenol |
Chlorine dioxide | Endosulfan | Propazine |
Chlorobenzene | Endrin | Simazine |
4-Chloro-2-nitrotoluene | Ethylbenzene | Terbutryn |
2-Chlorophenol | Hezachlorobenzene | Tetrachloroethylene |
Chlorotoluene | Hezachlorobutadiene | Triclopyr |
Chrysene | Hexane | 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene |
m-Cresol | Isodrin | m-Xylene |
Cyanazine | Isooctane | o-Xylene |
Cyclohexane | Isoproturon | p-Xylene |
DDT | Lindane | 2,4-Xylenol |
</datatables>
Aniline | Dibromo-3-chloropropane | 1-Pentanol |
Benzene | Dibromochloromethane | Phenol |
Benzyl alcohol | 1,1-Dichloroethylene | Phenylalanine |
Benzoic acid | cis-1,2- Dichloroethylene | o-Phthalic acid |
Bis(2-chloroethyl) ether | trans-1,2- Dichloroethylene | Styrene |
Bromodichloromethane | 1,2-Dichloropropane | 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane |
Bromoform | Ethylene | Toluene |
Carbon tetrachloride | Hydroquinone | 1,1,1-Trichloroethane |
1-Chloropropane | Methyl Isobutyl Ketone | Trichloroethylene |
Chlorotoluron | 4-Methylbenzenamine | Vinyl acetate |
For these chemicals active carbon is only effective in certain cases.
Acetic acid | Dimethoate | Methionine |
Acrylamide | Ethyl acetate | Methyl-tert-butyl ether |
Chloroethane | Ethyl ether | Methyl ethyl ketone |
Chloroform | Freon 11 | Pyridine |
1,1-Dichloroethane | Freon 113 | 1,1,2-Trichloroethane |
1,2-Dichloroethane | Freon 12 | Vinyl chloride |
1,3-Dichloropropene | Glyphosate | |
Dikegulac | Imazypur |
However it may be viable in certain cases such as for low flow or concentrations.
Acetone | Methylene chloride |
Acetonitrile | 1-Propanol |
Acrylonitrile | Propionitrile |
Dimethylformaldehyde | Propylene |
1,4-Dioxane | Tetrahydrofuran |
Isopropyl alcohol | Urea |
Methyl chloride |
Factors that influence the performance of active carbon in air
1) source: Wastewater Engineering; Metcalf & Eddy; third edition; 1991; page 317|
Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/library/adsorption/adsorption.htm#ixzz4880i9cJh
This area is for known issues with the Laser Cutter and how to solve them.
Problem: Circles being cut on the laser are not round but rather a slight oval shape. It is usually easier to spot on smaller circles.
Solution: Make sure the lens and mirror have been cleaned properly and that the lens has been fastened. If this doesn't solve the problem the cause is most likely buildup of debris on the track the lens sits on. If there is any resistance when sliding the lens down the track there is most likely a buildup. To remove the buildup use an angled awl together with a wet wipe wrapped over it and slide it up and down the track. you can also use cotton-tip buds but will most likely need something sharp to get all the way to the back. Rinse and repeat until the lens slides in and out smoothly
Problem: Problem here
Solution: Solution here