Changes

=== Job Control & Laser Cutter ===

=== Job Control & Laser Cutter ===

Always make sure the material you are using is safe to use. There is an especially high risk when engraving plastics. Fumes from plastics can be toxic. Make sure you find the specific material you are using and check to see if it produces toxic fumes when burned. Never attempt to engrave PVC as it produces mustard gas.

Always make sure the material you are using is safe to use. There is an especially high risk when engraving plastics. Fumes from plastics can be toxic. Make sure you find the specific material you are using and check to see if it produces toxic fumes when burned. Never attempt to engrave PVC as it produces chlorine gas (the stuff they used in WWI).

Also be aware that the laser cutter is only able to cut successfully through up to 1/4" of wood. It will also char the wood. If you want to engrave wood that is over 1/4" thick, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure that you come with a pre-cut shape to engrave upon or have a plan for cutting out your engraving after.

Also be aware that the laser cutter is only able to cut successfully through up to 1" of wood. It will also char the wood. If you want to engrave wood that is over 1" thick, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure that you come with a pre-cut shape to engrave upon or have a plan for cutting out your engraving after.

Job Control lets you set up/create Material Profiles, change between the HoneyComb Table and the Rotary tool (mostly used for Hydroflasks), and choose a location to cut on your material.

Job Control lets you set up/create Material Profiles, change between the HoneyComb Table and the Rotary tool (mostly used for Hydroflasks), and choose a location to cut on your material.

[[File:Mitch5.jpg|center|thumb|1080x1080px]]

[[File:Mitch5.jpg|center|thumb|1080x1080px]]

Alright, now it’s time to focus the laser onto your material. On the left of the Laser Cutter, there is its filter with a similar color scheme that looks like its nephew. On top of that will be a piece of metal that is shown below. This mounts on the right side of the laser and sets the material a certain distance from the laser. Put your material in the top left of the Honeycomb Table, mount the metal piece on the right side of the laser, the begin raising the table. The moment the metal thing falls of from hitting your material, stop raising the table. Be sure to slow down toward the end of the process to assure the laser does not get too close to your material. You can then use the controls to put the laser at the top left of your material (assuming it is square). This keeps you and others from being idiots and wasting material.

Alright, now it’s time to focus the laser onto your material. On the left of the Laser Cutter, there is its filter with a similar color scheme that looks like its nephew. On top of that will be a piece of metal that is shown below, this is the focusing tool. This mounts on the right side of the laser and sets the material a certain distance from the laser. Put your material in the top left of the Honeycomb Table, mount the focusing tool on the right side of the laser, then begin raising the table. The moment the focusing tool falls of from hitting your material, stop raising the table. Be sure to slow down toward the end of the process to assure the laser does not get too close to your material. You can then use the controls to put the laser at the top left of your material (assuming it is square). This keeps you and others from being idiots and wasting material.

Double click/drag your design into the middle area and lock the top left corner of the design into the bottom right of the cursor. If the cursor is not already visible, be sure that the laser cutter is connected to Job Control via the USB symbol in the bottom right. You can click the Update in the bottom left to see the duration of the job, and now you are ready to click the Play button in the bottom right. For bigger jobs, the Laser Cutter will take a little bit of time to read the design. If it does not start immediately, don’t be scared. Just be supportive and it will begin shortly. If it does not start at all, ask for help from a worker.

Double click/drag your design into the middle area and lock the top left corner of the design into the bottom right of the cursor. If the cursor is not already visible, be sure that the laser cutter is connected to Job Control via the USB symbol in the bottom right. You can click the Update in the bottom left to see the duration of the job, and now you are ready to click the Play button in the bottom right. For bigger jobs, the Laser Cutter will take a little bit of time to read the design. If it does not start immediately, don’t be scared. Just be supportive and it will begin shortly. If it does not start at all, ask for help from a worker.

=== Cutting Parts from SolidWorks ===

=== Cutting Parts from SolidWorks ===

CorelDraw can also take a part from SolidWorks to be cut out, but it must must be saved as a DXF, not a SLDPRT.

CorelDraw can also take a part from SolidWorks to be cut out, but it must must be saved as a .dxf, not a SLDPRT.

Suppose you want to take this very, very sad valve plate below and cut it out of acrylic. If you save it as a DXF in the Isometric view, it will literally try to cut out that 2D form that you are looking at. To avoid this, orient the plate to the way you would want to see it cut out, and then save as a DXF. Just like this.

Suppose you want to take this very, very sad valve plate below and cut it out of acrylic. If you save it as a .dxf in the Isometric view, it will try to cut out that 2D form that you are looking at. To avoid this, orient the plate to the way you would want to see it cut out, and then save as a .dxf. Just like this.

[[File:Plate.jpg|center|thumb|1080x1080px]]Once you have saved this as a DXF, you can open it in CorelDraw, and follow the process above.

[[File:Plate.jpg|center|thumb|1080x1080px]]Once you have saved this as a .dxf, you can open it in CorelDraw, and follow the process above.

=== Video ===

=== Video ===