SLQ Wiki facilities:fablab:equipment-cots:speedy300

Induction for Trotec Speedy 300 Laser Cutter Engraver

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 11:19:41 +0000

~~REVEAL~~

Induction for Trotec Speedy 300 Laser Cutter Engraver

~~HERO-IMAGE ~~ ~~HERO-SUBTITLE Speedy 300 Laser Cutter Engraver~~

The Trotec Speedy 300 is suitable for laser engraving and cutting of wood, plastics, leather, paper and many other materials. The materials we use in-house are plywood, acrylic, boxboard, polypropylene and paper.

Laser Induction

In this induction you will:

learn how to safely and efficiently use the Trotec Speedy 300 Laser
become familiar with the standard workflow for using the laser cutter using CorelDraw and Trotec Ruby software.
participate in a practical activity preparing artwork for cutting and etching on the laser
complete a online quiz to demonstrate your understanding of how to safety and efficiently operate the laser.

Speedy 300 Standard Workflow

Prep artwork for cutting etching in vector drawing program (CorelDraw)

STEP 1. Open CorelDraw

STEP 2. In the File menus select New from template

STEP 3. in the Template panel select my templates and open the Edge Standard S300 template

note the blue guides defining A3 materials and red, A2.

note the 16 RGB colours used for scheduling process in CAM software (JobControl) are loaded into colour pallet.

STEP 4. Import artwork by selecting import in the file menu.

STEP 5. Place your artwork in the top righthand corner ¹⁾

STEP 6. Change cutting paths to Hairline stroke weight and stroke colour to RGB255 red.

STEP 7. Save your new corel file onto your USB drive.

STEP 8. Select Print from the file menu

STEP 9. In the print panel ensure job is printer destination is set to Trotec Engraver v11.3.0

and click Preferences

and select the Default template and click the JobControl icon

Now click Apply first

and then Print

you will be prompted to give your job a name.

Prepping your job in the CAM software (JobControl)

STEP 1. After clicking Print in Corel Draw, the Job Control icon will flash in the Task Bar.

Click on the icon to open Job Control

STEP 2. Select your job in the Jobs panel

doing this should give you a preview of your artwork.

drag and place the job onto the Plate

it will come up looking like this

STEP 3. Click on the eye icon in the tool bar to show the paths in your job.

STEP 4. Next you can either

a/ Drag & align your job onto the laser head marker or		b/ Place the job into the top right corner of the plate and enter 2mm padding into the Job X & Y Coordinates

The Laser mark is not showing up in your display? The Laser is probably not switched on yet. Switch the Speedy 300 on in the upper back corner of the cab and close the class so the machine can run thru its startup (zeroing) sequence.

STEP 5. Select the material you are cutting from the Edge Material Folder in the tree structure.

In this case we are looking at the settings for 3mm corrugated cardboard.

Next check the Process that will run for each colour.

The default settings for Black is to Etch and Red is set to cut, check the power settings against laminated power settings table on laser computer desk.

Note that Black and Red are locked as default. See Fabrication Lab supervisor if you need to adjust these settings or add other colours/processes.

After you have done checked all these settings click Ok - Job Control is now ready to cut and etch your job

STEP 6. Now Select the part your want to cut and click the Calculate Update button to show the approximate Production Time (cutting and etching time) to ensure you have enough time to complete your job within your booking bracket.

Prep the Laser to Cut/Etch your Job

STEP 1. Check when the lens and mirror was last checked. if it was more that 2hours ask for the FL supervisor to check its clean and ready to cut efficiently.

A dirty lense or mirror affects the strength of the light cutting your work which will impact on the quality of your job.

STEP 2. Check that the Laser bed is clear of debris

Debris can catch fire!

and that the Honeycomb bed is located on its stops. [Photo]

STEP 3. Place material on honeycomb bed making sure it is located securely in the top left hand corner. [Photo]

STEP 4. Set focal height using calibration tool [Photo]

Place the Calibration tool on the laser head assembly

Using the Z Axis jog buttons gradually bring the honey comb bed up to touch the calibration tool

Lack of attention can result in a HEAD CRASH! at this point. Always take great care when adjusting the Z axis!

STEP 5. Replace calibration tool in its home and close the glass lid

The Calibration tool is a factory matched set with the lens. Loss of the calibration tool necessitates replacing this expensive optic component also.

SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PUT THIS BACK WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED USING IT

STEP 6. Ask FL Supervisor to check your settings.

Failure to have FL Supervisor check setting may result in the member's Booking privileges being suspended. See Laser Cutter Preflight Checks - Supervisor Check.

STEP 7. Push Enter to start job.

The Speedy 300 will etch black portions of the artwork first by default

. .

And then cut Hairline paths set to RGB red 255.

Monitor your job, do not walk away from the machine when job is running. if you need to move away, pause the job by pressing pause .

In event of fire, head crash or other catastrophic failure lift glass lid to abort job and call supervisor over immediately.

Any time that a job is aborted (lifting the glass lid) the machine may be out of zero. Always restart the laser after aborting a job to avoid causing a head crash.

If job is not progressing as expect or the machine is making a strange noise or excessive smoke pause job by pressing pause and call Supervisor over to assess.

Laser Cutter Preflight Checks - Supervisor Check

All the following items must be verified by Supervisor before commencing any job.

Mirror & Lense cleaned (within the last 2 hours) - verified by Supervisor
Starting position of laser is correct - verified by Supervisor
Bed is correctly seated - verified by Supervisor
Focus alignment - verified by Supervisor
All software cut settings - verified by Supervisor

          >  Material & Thickness

          > Power

          > Speed 
          
          > DPI/ Htz

          > Number of passes

          > Defocus length

          > Air Assist ON

¹⁾

this doesn't really matter any more but the top right-hand corner is tidy

Maintenance

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:46:11 +0000

Maintenance

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.

Daily Maintenance: OPEN

Check internal mirror and laser optics at open and clean if necessary
Check “Last Cleaned” plate on Atmos Extractor to ensure maintenance is up to date
Check that the machine was given general clean after last use
Record Date, Time & Initials on “Last Checked” plate

Daily Maintenance: Every 2 Hours of Operation

Check internal mirror and laser optics and clean if necessary
Check for excessive debris on Lens Cone and in bed
Check Lens retaining collar is screwed in tight
Record Date, Time & Initials on “Last Checked” plate
Wipe down inside of machine with baby wipes to get rid of dust

Daily Maintenance: CLOSE

Remove cutting bed and clean debris from under bed. Wipe down with baby cloth
Check and clean internal mirror and laser optics if required
Remove Lense collar and clean thread on collar and Laser head
Remove laser head nozzle and clean inside and out with baby wipes
Wipe exterior down with baby wipe
Power down Laser
Delete all old cut files from RayJet software
~~Clean up files from desktop.~~ not needed as edgeuser account refreshes on restart
Shut down laser computer
Put scrap pieces into scrap box

Weekly Maintenance

~~Clean mirrors inside side panel.~~ Not needed weekly - inspect only and clean if needed
Clean any debris from side housing
Scrub air-intake with toothbrush
Clean entire enclosure
Check bed alignment plate screws (on bottom of bed) - tighten if needed
Clean glass
Check/replace top foam filter and clean top of extractor
Photograph laser lens and note any damage in log

Lens and Mirror Cleaning and Inspection

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:

lens cleaning solution
lens cleaning tissue
a sheet of polypropelene or a clean cloth
The lense loupe - and/or your glasses :)

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.

Remove Lens and Mirror

Move bed to about 10cm below lens assembly
Turn off Laser or power down with the button on the front panel
Move the lens to about the centre of bed, place sheet of poly or clean cloth under lens
Loosen mirror nuts, remove and place upside-down on poly
Loosen lens holding nut (turn clockwise for 2 inch top-seated lens - counter-clockwise for 1.5inch bottom seated lens)
Remove lens by sliding straight out
Place lens carefully on poly or cloth

Inspect and Clean Mirror

blow off the mirror the squeezy blower
Check the surface of the mirror again
If necessary clean the mirror
1. Spray with cleaner
2. Put on gloves
3. tilt to wash away coarse soiling
4. Dab dry with a clean cloth
5. Spray again and wipe clean with a new damp cloth (spray cloth with cleaner)
6. if necessary dry with a clean cloth
7. Replace Mirror

Inspect and Clean Lens

blow off the mirror the squeezy blower
Check the surface of the lens again
If necessary clean the lens
1. Hold the lens assembly by its edge and spray
2. While holding the lens at an angle, flush both surfaces of the lens, to wash away coarse soiling
3. Put the lens on a clean lens cleaning tissue
4. Put on gloves
5. Spray some lens cleaning liquid on one side of the lens
6. Leave the liquid to take effect for approximately one minute
7. Gently wipe it away with lens cleaning tissues soaked with lens cleaning liquid
8. Dry this side of the lens with dry lens cleaning tissues and repeat the cleaning process on the other side of the lens
Examine the lens. If it is still soiled, repeat the cleaning process until the lens is clean
1. this process may have to be repeated - with baked on crud expect at least five cleaning cycles
Carefully insert the lens holder with lens into the working head
The side marked “top” is facing up. This is guaranteed by the design of the lens holder
Tighten the lens holder - turning counter-clockwise for a 2 inch (black) lens and clockwise for a 1.5 (red) lense

Laser Cutter Air Filter Maintenance

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.

Unlock top filter with large allan key from service kit
roll-up rockwool and place in garbage bag
Check filth level on filter liner (the cream coloured foam)
1. if there are visible beads of gunk, then discard into bin
wipe down internals of top filter
replace filter liner
tear off a section of rockwool, make a layer about 1 inch thick
lay rockwool on top of filter liner
close and lock top filter
update filter maintenance panel

Baseline Measurements for Filter

This is the base line measurement for the Atmos 500. Any time the filter components are changed refer to these settings.

Activated Carbon only 27%
Activated Carbon + (new) HEPA only 27-28 %
Activated Carbon + (new) HEPA + fiber filter 29 %
Activated Carbon + (new) HEPA + fiber filter + foam 34%

Laser Cutter / Engraver Materials and Settings (trotec Speedy 300)

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 12:05:25 +0000

Laser Cutter / Engraver Materials and Settings (trotec Speedy 300)

Where to get materials

We encourage users to make use of the materials that The Edge has tested and keep in stock for purchase on our laserlaser cutters.

We also recognize users will want to experiment with new exotic materials. Here at The Edge we love seeing people experiment. But we need to check that new materials are safe to cut. There are many materials which produce extremely harmful (potentially deadly) fumes when cut, and for that reason we are very cautious about the materials that can be used in our laser cutters.

Our Shop

We sell a supply of safe materials for laser through our shop which includes sheets of plywood, acrylic, polypropylene, cardboard, paper, veneer, rubber stamp, etc which are from known safe suppliers.

Buying known safe suppliers/ranges

You can also purchase materials but they must come from known safe product ranges/suppliers. Not all acrylic and plywood is created equal! Some known safe products/suppliers are listed below. If you wish to use these items in our laser cutter you will need to bring along your invoice for these so we can compare the item to this list.

Wood
- A/C Grade Hoop Pine Plywood from Plywood and Panel
- Various woods/verneers/plys from trotec
- Balsa sheets from Balsacentral
Acrylic sheets:
- The sheets must be acrylic or petg and not contain mirror/metal flakes. If in doubt, please contact us.
- Acrylics online
- trotec
100% silk fabrics
Natural, vegetable-tanned, leathers/suedes
Other materials are available through trotec, though not all of their materials are suitable to our specific laser cutters, so please contact us if you wish to use any from there.
PVA wood glue (Parafix or Selleys Indoor)

Bringing in new materials

Should you wish to cut something from outside these ranges you will need to get a MSDS for the product and submit it to us, along with a sample of the product so we can test it, in a process which is destructive to that sample. This process takes some time, and provides no guarantee that your item will be approved as safe for use. Please contact us if you would like to use materials that aren't purchased through us or from the list above.

Forbidden Materials

Some examples of forbidden materials (in our laser cutters) include:

ABS (produces canide gas)
PVC (produces chlorine gas)
MDF (the glues used to make these produce various toxic gasses)

Settings

Below you will find a table of approved materials and their settings for trotec Speedy 300 Laser Cutter/Engraver

Core Range

This is our core range of materials, we sell these onsite through our shop.

Material	Thickness	Process	Power	Speed	PPI/Hz	Passes	Z-Offset	Supplier/Link/Notes
Plastic, Acrylic	1.5mm	Cut	100	2	2000	1	-
Plastic, Acrylic	1.5mm	Engrave	80	70	500	1	4mm
Plastic, Acrylic	3mm	Cut	100	1	5000	1	-
Plastic, Acrylic	3mm	Engrave	80	70	500	1	4mm
Plastic, Acrylic	6mm	Cut	100	0.3	5000	1	-
Plastic, Acrylic	6mm	Engrave	80	70	500	1	4mm
Wood, Ply	4mm	Cut	100	1.2	1000	1	-	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine
Wood, Ply	4mm	Engrave	90	90	500	1	4mm	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine
Wood, Ply	6.9mm	Cut	100	0.4	1000	1	-	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine
Wood, Ply	6.9mm	Engrave & Greyscale	90	90	500	1	4mm	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine
Wood, Ply	6.9mm	Deep Engrave	70	40	1000	3	4mm	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine
Wood, Ply	6.9mm	Score Line	10	1	1000	1	4	Plywood and Panel, A/C Grade Hoop Pine

Exotics

These are materials we don't normally stock, but we may have a bit of, or you can purchase and bring in (please talk to us first as there is an approval process)

Material	Thickness	Process	Power	Speed	PPI/Hz	Passes	Z-Offset	Supplier/Link/Notes
Wood, Balsa	3mm	Cut	60	2	1000	1	-
Wood, Balsa	3mm	Engrave	30	90	500	1	4mm
Plastic, PETG	0.7mm	Cut	50	1.7	1000	1	-
Plastic, PETG	0.7mm	Score Line	50	2	1000	1	-
Plastic, Acrylic	4.5mm	Cut	100	0.8	5000	1	-
Plastic, Acrylic	4.5mm	Engrave	80	70	500	1	4mm
Plastic, Polypropylene	0.6mm	Cut	50	2	1000	1	-
Plastic, Polypropylene	0.6mm	Engrave	10	10	500	1	4mm
Paper	200-250gsm	Cut	7	1	1000	1	-
Paper	200-250gsm	Engrave	30	60	500	1	4mm
Cardboard, Corrugated	single ply 4mm	Cut	60	2	1000	1	-
Cardboard, Corrugated	single ply 4mm	Engrave	50	60	500	1	4mm
Rubber Stamp		Cut	95	0.4	5000	1	-	Trotech
Rubber Stamp		Engrave	95	14	500	1	4mm	Trotech

Downloads

Import Settings For Trotech Speedy 300

Trotec Speedy 300 Laser Cutter/Engraver

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 16:04:40 +0000

Trotec Speedy 300 Laser Cutter/Engraver

~~HERO-IMAGE ~~ ~~HERO-SUBTITLE Speedy 300 Laser Cutter/Engraver~~

The Trotec Speedy 300 is suitable for laser-engraving and cutting wood, plastics, leather, paper and many other materials. The materials we currently sell for laser use are plywood, acrylic (clear/black/white), polypropylene, and boxboard. In February 2022 we replaced the Trotec JobControl® software program that previously directed our lasers with Ruby, a new control program that is in active development by Trotec. Those of you who have prior experience with JobControl® will hopefully find Ruby easier to use. Unlike JobControl®, Ruby is both a laser program and a basic graphics drawing program. Ruby opens and runs within Microsoft Edge as its preferred browser. We expect that Ruby's functionality will expand as new versions are released by the developer.

Speedy 300 Laser Cutter/Engraver

TROTEC SPEEDY 300 LASER CUTTER/ENGRAVER
Inductions required	General induction, Laser cutter induction
Bookings	Required
Machine type	80W CO2
Commissioned	2020
Max. workpiece height	200 mm
Machine size (W x D x H)	1090 x 890 x 590mm
Weight	approx. 135 kgs
Technical Requirements	PC, power supply with 110-240 V
Max. sheet size	735 x 435mm, 6.5mm (material thickness)
Cutting Materials	acrylic (PMMA), polypropylene (PP), polyoxymethylene (POM), timber, cardboard, 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 in vector file format supported by Trotec Ruby (.svg, .cdr, .ai, etc.) in RGB.

The Trotec Speedy 300 is the professional version of the Trotec Rayjet 300, the previous laser operated by the Edge prior to 2020.

Laser induction can be found here

Speedy 300 Standard Workflow

1) Create your design in a vector drawing program. If you’re not sure how to do this, we have some wiki pages that might help! Vector Graphics talks about vector graphics generally and offers a range of options of software depending on your experience and needs. We often suggest Inkscape to people new to vectors as it’s free, open source, and very fully featured. We have put together some quick videos and a workshop you can read through online.

Regardless of the software you use be sure to:

a) Colour your lines and fills in your image according to whether you want each element cut thru, vector engraved, or raster engraved. The default colours are red, cyan, and black respectively, but don't worry about getting these colours precise. The important thing is that you differentiate your desired outcomes using different colours for easy group selection later in the Ruby software. Unlike with JobControl, you no longer need to meticulously set line weights for thru cuts or vector engraving prior to importing your file into Ruby. Once lines of any thickness are coloured red or cyan in Ruby, the software automatically understands these lines are to be cut thru or vector engraved.

Ruby is set to interpret black outlines and/or fill as standard raster engraving (approximately 0.3mm deep). Deeper raster engraving depths are programmed for most materials [blue for 0.5mm depth, green for 0.7mm depth, pink for 1.0mm depth (achieved with 2 passes)]. When raster engraving, line weight will matter (thin lines engrave thin, thick lines engrave thick).
You can raster engrave (but not cut!) black & white or greyscale pixel images/photos, but the results are hard to predict depending on the size of the image, the material, and even the parts of the material (e.g., grain pattern in wood). Expect to need to cut a few test pieces, and have plenty of extra material at hand.
Unlike in JobControl, Ruby recognises and executes any cuts within the boundary of a part before cutting and releasing that part from the sheet. There is no need to instruct the software to do this through the use of different line colours. Executing all cuts within the part boundary before releasing the part from the sheet provides for better cutting accuracy.
You can vector engrave lines, which is generally a lot quicker than raster engraving and is a great way to mark pieces (especially if you use a single line font line Inkscape’s Hershey Text). Vector engraving is basically a light cut into the surface. To do so set your lines to cyan.
By default Ruby will execute artwork in the following order: raster engraving in order of depth (shallow first, deepest last), vector engraving, then thru cuts. You can change this arrangement by dragging the tasks into a different order, but this is not recommended. All raster engraving set set to execute from the bottom (near side) of the sheet to the top (far side) of the sheet by default.

Laser cutter/engraver behaviour	R,G,B	Set up in vector file
Engraving images and gradients	n/a	use a Greyscale bitmap
Raster engraving (approx. 0.3mm deep)	0, 0, 0	Fill or stroke/outline of a thickness greater than 0.2 (smaller values won’t show up)
Vector engraving (shallow 'scoring', great for text/markings; much quicker than engraving)	0, 255, 255	Line weight not important
All thru cuts	255, 0, 0	Line weight not important
Deep raster engraving (approx. 0.5mm deep)	0, 255, 0	Fill or stroke/outline of a thickness greater than 0.2 (smaller values won’t show up)
Deeper raster engraving (approx. 0.7mm deep)	0, 153, 51	As per deep engrave
Still deeper raster engraving (2 passes; approx. 1.0mm deep)	0, 102, 51	As per deep engrave
All other lines (won't cut or engrave, but handy for alignment, layout, etc)	Any colour but those above	Line weight not important

b) Convert all your items to plain vectors (e.g., text and circle/rectangle/polygon shapes into plain vectors, to give yourself the best chance at a smooth import process.

Inkscape: Path>Object to Path
Adobe Illustrator: Type > Create Outlines
CorelDraw: select object with right mouse button and choose 'Convert to Outlines'

c) Combine all your lines/shapes of each colour into a single shape

Inkscape: Path>Combine
Adobe Illustrator: Object > Compound Path > Make
CorelDraw: select all elements and choose 'Combine'

2) Power up the laptop associated with the laser you intend to use and enter the default user name <edgeuser> and password <edgeuser>. The following laptops are linked to each laser:

Laptop #6 for use with Laser #1 (laser s/n S3-6690)
Laptop #4 for use with Laser #2 (laser s/n S3-6691)

Open Ruby by clicking on the icon in the tray at the bottom of the screen and log in with the user name <edgeuser> and password <EDGEuser_4101>. If you are prompted to change this password, do not do so, since all laser users must log-in using this account. The email address associated with the account appears in the upper right of the screen.

3) Switch on the laser. The power switch is located at the back left corner of the laser. The laser will initiate itself (ensure the top lid is closed so this will occur) and announce it is ready with a series of beeps. Ruby should proceed to indicate the laser’s serial number ④ and the focal length of the lens installed (typically 2.0” CO2).

4) Load your material. It is a good practice (although not absolutely necessary) to place your sheet so that it is hard against the rulers in the top left corner of the honeycomb tabletop. If you are cutting a lightweight material like paper or fabric, it may be best to remove the honeycomb tabletop and place your material directly on the vacuum table. The FL supervisor will assist you with this. If your material isn't sitting flat, discuss the ramifications of this with the FL supervisor before proceeding with your job.

5) Focus the laser. Using the X- and Y-axis arrows on the laser control panel, move the laser head out over your sheet of material. Hang the metal focussing tool on the laser head and raise the table (first quickly by holding, then slowly by quick pulsing) using the Z-axis up button on laser keypad until the focussing tool just touches on the surface of the material. Once focussing is complete replace the focussing tool back on the ledge where you found it. Each focussing tool is matched to an individual lens at the factory, and should never be swapped between lasers unless the lens is also switched. It follows that a misplaced or damaged focussing tool necessitates replacing an expensive lens also.

6) Import your file directly into Ruby. You no longer need to open your files in CorelDraw for 'printing' to the laser. Files can be opened by using the import command ② or dragging and dropping the file directly into the Ruby window. Once open in Ruby, the file appears as a ‘Design’. Ruby supports the direct import of the following file formats: *.cdr; *.pdf; *.svg; *.ai; *.png; *.jpg; *.jpeg; *.bmp; *.tsf; *.tld; *.tlj; *.zip. Despite this claim, anomalies sometimes occur with a particular file format. If you encounter a problem with one file format, try another.

When your artwork is imported, Ruby will organise the elements into 1 or more layers based on the number of colours Ruby recognises. If you have used exact RGB colours that match the program’s default colour assignments, Ruby will assign all red elements to be thru cuts, black elements to be raster engraved to a depth of 0.5mm, sky blue elements to be vector engraved, etc. Don’t worry if this doesn’t occur reliably. The important thing is that your artwork elements are differentiated by colour—any colour—so that Ruby knows to place them on different layers. If imported artwork element colours aren’t recognised, they will be placed in an ‘unassigned’ layer indicated by a which can be left unassigned or assigned to be cut or engraved as desired. Ruby makes it easy to assign what happens to each of these layers. To assign all elements on a given layer to be cut, simply select all elements on that layer and select the red colour from the palette using the left mouse button. Similarly, to assign all elements on another layer to raster engrave at an approximate depth of 0.3mm, select all elements on that layer and select the black colour from the palette using the left mouse button.

7) From the ‘Designs’ window, click on ‘Create Job’ to advance to the next window. The file is now designated as a job ⑦ and appears on a grid depicting the full capacity of the laser table ⑥. Always ensure that all of your artwork is located at least 2mm from the top and left edges to ensure the table rulers are not damaged by the laser. You can group select the artwork and drag it away from the edges as necessary. It is also a good idea to verify that your artwork is entirely contained on the sheet to be cut.

A default material (Cardboard, Corrugated, Single Ply) is automatically assigned ⑧ when a new job is created. Clicking on this material will expand the available options within the Materials List. Click on an alternate material to select it. The Materials List contains only materials that have been test cut and engraved at SLQ to date. If you intend to cut and/or engrave a new material not listed, you will need to first provide staff with a current SDS for this material. A staff member will then login with their administration privileges to create a new entry in the database, then test cut/engrave your material to establish its optimal parameters.

Adding ‘Effects’ to a job is a means to introduce a variety of engraving effects (for example, different engraving depths) without having to duplicate a material entry. The effects can be enabled/disabled as desired.

In ‘Job’ mode, Ruby provides nesting/array capability that can save both material and processing time. To pop-up the ‘Add Design’ window, double-click on the “>” to the right of a design on the left side of the screen.

Pressing Function+8 will place a marker in the location of the laser crosshairs. This marker can then be relocated by dragging with the mouse, or more precisely using the on-screen coordinates.

8) Seek a final check of your setup from the FL supervisor before pressing play or enter. Do not ever start the cut without having them check (even if you’re just cutting the same things again).

9) Start the job either by clicking the play button on the screen or pressing the enter button on the laser control panel. We prefer you start the job from the laser control panel, so you can react quickly to interrupt the job if a problem occurs. On the other hand, you also need to attend to the computer screen and await the message 'job ready' before hitting enter. This is because large jobs can take a while to spool. If you press the enter button before your job is ready, Ruby will proceed to engrave any previous job still in the queue—potentially spoiling a sheet of material.

Due to the very real danger of fire, you are required to monitor your job while the laser is cutting/engraving. If you need to step away from the laser, pause the job by pressing pause on the control panel. To continue the job from the point it was paused, press the pause button again. If you press enter, the job will recommence from the start.

The Atmos exhaust system will automatically start prior to the job commencing and will continue to run for a set time after the job has completed. Delay opening the top lid on the laser until all fumes have been extracted from the laser enclosure (approx. 30 seconds).

10) Remove your completed job from the laser enclosure. Once your job is complete and all fumes extracted from the laser enclosure, you can open the top lid to remove your parts. The laser head should have parked itself in the upper left-hand corner of the table. Prior to shifting your sheet and parts, verify that the laser has actually cut through the material. If not, you can run the cut program again if your sheet has not been moved. Note that the honeycomb tabletop is fragile, so take care not to damage the support structure when removing your parts.

11) You can position your job by moving the laser on the machine (using the red 4-way arrow buttons). Move the laser pointer to the top left of where you want your job to start on the machine (make sure it’s at least 5mm in from any edge). This should also move the crosshairs on the computer screen (if you can’t see the crosshairs, click the USB button at the bottom right and try again). Then on the computer click your job on the list on the right, and drag your drawing to snap it to the crosshairs.

Prep artwork for cutting etching in Vector Editor (Corel Draw)

STEP 1. Open Corel Draw

STEP 2. In the File menus select New from template

STEP 3. in the Template panel select my templates and open the Edge Standard S300 template

note the blue guides defining A3 materials and red, A2.

Prep the Laser to Cut/Etch your Job

STEP 1. Check when the lens and mirror was last checked. if it was more that 2hours ask for the FL supervisor to check its clean and ready to cut efficiently.

A dirty lens or mirror affects the strength of the light cutting your work which will impact on the quality of your job.

STEP 2. Check that the Laser bed is clear of debris

Debris can catch fire!

and that the Honeycomb bed is located on its stops. [Photo]

STEP 3. Place material on honeycomb bed making sure it is located securely in the top left hand corner. [Photo]

STEP 4. Set focal height using calibration tool [Photo]

Place the Calibration tool on the laser head assembly

Using the Z Axis jog buttons gradually bring the honey comb bed up to touch the calibration tool

Lack of attention can result in a HEAD CRASH! at this point. Always take great care when adjusting the Z axis!

STEP 5. Replace calibration tool in its home and close the glass lid

The Calibration tool is a factory matched set with the lens. Loss of the calibration tool necessitates replacing this expensive optic component also.

SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PUT THIS BACK WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED USING IT

STEP 6. Ask FL Supervisor to check your settings.

Failure to have FL Supervisor check setting may result in the member's Booking privileges being suspended. See Laser Cutter Preflight Checks - Supervisor Check.

Monitor your job, do not walk away from the machine when job is running. if you need to move away, pause the job by pressing pause .

In event of fire, head crash or other catastrophic failure lift glass lid to abort job and call supervisor over immediately.

Any time that a job is aborted (lifting the glass lid) the machine may be out of zero. Always restart the laser after aborting a job to avoid causing a head crash.

If job is not progressing as expect or the machine is making a strange noise or excessive smoke pause job by pressing pause and call Supervisor over to assess.

Laser Cutter Preflight Checks - Supervisor Check

All the following items must be verified by Supervisor before commencing any job.

Mirror & lens checked and cleaned if needed (within the last 2 hours) - verified by Supervisor
Honeycomb tabletop (if used) is correctly seated - verified by Supervisor
Lens is focussed - verified by Supervisor
Material on table corresponds to material selection on screen - verified by Supervisor
Workpiece presents no danger of laser head impact - verified by Supervisor

‘Interlock Open’ Message and Resolution

The Speedy 300 lasers are fitted with multiple magnetic safety interlocks which prevent the lasers from being operated if the side access panels have been removed, the front door left open, or the acrylic top lid has been raised. Moving the laser enclosures will sometimes result in misalignment of the interlocks on the side panels. The result will be the pop-up message ‘Interlock Open’ in Ruby, and the laser will not be ready to run. This issue is resolved by unlatching the side panel door with its corresponding hex key, allowing the panel to settle properly into position, then retightening the latch with the hex key. If the ‘interlock open’ message hasn’t dismissed, this procedure may need to be repeated. Your Supervisor must perform this task.

Resources

Corel templateedgestandardspeedy_.zip

Speedy 300 Laser Cutter Techniques

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 11:16:42 +0000

Speedy 300 Laser Cutter Techniques

How to deep etch and shallow etch same item

First way

Stub: greyscale bitmap

Second way

If you wish to you can run several passes of an etch to make a very deep cut, then you can run another (shallower) etch on top of/around it. We use this technique to make the captured nut slot for the general induction activity.

1. To do so you will need to set up your file as normal in Corel, except that where you want the deep etch make it a new colour, e.g teal example.

2. When you print from corel, select preferences>favourites and double click default to set up most of the profile as normal.

3. But then open the preferences again and go to the print tab, and under process options change the halftone setting to color. Then hit the JC button at the bottom to close that window

4. Hit apply, then print to open Job Control. This will import the file and recognize the teal engrave (else it will just appear grey when using just the defaults which is not what we want).

5. Now in Job Control, set up the first cut, which is just a teal engrave. Set all other colours to skip. You may also wish to slow the speed down for the teal engrave so it engraves deeply, else you can several cuts at full speed to deep etch it.

6. Once you have completed your deep etch to your desired depth, turn off the teal, and turn on the rest of the colours to complete your item.

How to make sure a cut will fit on a scrap

Stub: (trace contour with laser when connected)

Speedy 300 and Job Control Troubleshooting

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 17:14:51 +0000

Speedy 300 and Job Control Troubleshooting

This page is dedicated to logging and solutions specific to the Trotec Speedy300 and Job Control software running on Windows 10.

Speedy 300

Bed Location

Compared to the Rayjet bed, the addition of the vacuum function in the Speedy300 means more care need to be taken when replacing an aligning the cutting bed. Speedy 2 required the bed to be pulled firmly towards the user, not pushed up. Leaving the bed on Speedy 2 in the “dropped in” position would result in the laser shaving the top of the bed on the left hand side.

Software Issues

Windows 10 Print Spooling

On occasion the Speedy 1 PC stops sending jobs to the cutter. Stopping and restarting the print spooler solves this in the short term, but the real culprit is Windows Defender antivirus active protection scanning files as they are transfered to Job Control. Disabling the realtime scanning on the relevant Trotec folders seems to do the trick.

Job Control

On Speedy PC 1 - we had an issue where red lines wouldn't cut. Re-installing Job Control was the solution.

Corel Draw

Templates

We created new templates to cut on the Speedy300. Documents created from these templates had a persistent issue where the drawing area was misaligned with the print area by a few mm on the left hand side. This resulted in Job Control dropping those lines, consistent with what was presented in the print preview. Work around was to redraw the lines and cut, or create an offset. The solution was to use the old template.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Check these things	Solution
Cant get the laser head to move around the cab	maybe it wont move cause the laser is in standby mode?	hit the standby button on the Laser control panel
	maybe the machine got interrupted during its homing process?	make sure all the doors are shut including the glass lid
I hit print in correlDraw and gave it a name but my job isn't turning up in the Job Control que	maybe the there is not enough memory to spool a job and the print spooler has stalled	go to and delete oversized jobs
	maybe the os has updated again and the windows security firewall is inspecting print transfers between CorrelDraw and JobControl again
i've done all my settings in Job Control but my job wont print	Maybe JobControl is not connected to the laser	Click the usb connect icon