DigiLab Induction

Re touch on the basics from the Site Induction; eg: facilities, emergency procedures etc.

Demonstrate where the locations of SOPs are hand tools are in this area. Location of craft cupboard, and stationary.

Remind inductees that the space is staffed by volunteers and while they are here to help, they also are not expected to do your projects and jobs for you and are allowed to refuse to help when unreasonable requests are made.

Re-iterate cost of use for this area. Members will only have to pay material costs, but causal users will have to pay their entry fee plus any additional fees to use the machines and material.

• The laser cutter has a $5.00 service fee for all casual users
• The 3D Printers are set to 25c per gram, to be paid by members and users.
• There is laser cutter material on site that can be purchased for use.

All payments to be made at the front desk.

The laser cutter is powered via standard mains power. The laser itself is powered by a laser tube housed in the back of the machine. The laser passes from the tube and bounces off the mirrors which direct it down through the lens, through the nozzle and onto the workpiece.

The gantry which controls the position of the laser moves along the X and Y axis. This is controlled by the laser cutter during operation and can be manually moved and set when not running a job. The bed can be moved up and down. This is done manually by the user in conjunction with the levelling tool when setting up your workpiece.

The laser cutter has three main processes. These are cutting, etching and vector etching. Examples and settings for these are displayed on the wall, next to the extraction unit.

The manual control panel is located on the top right of the machine. There are a fair few buttons but the only ones that are of use is the target button (standby), pause button, bed raise and lower buttons (black with red arrows), and the laser cutter position control buttons (red with black arrows).

The target button will put the machine into standby mode. This is useful if not being actively used. The pause button will pause the job currently running. Keep in mind that it will pause at the end of the current line if cutting or the end of the current etch. The raise and lower buttons are what you use to adjust and level the bed to the material. The laser cutter position control is used to position the laser cutter head.

As the laser is basically burning its way through the material when cutting and etching, all materials used in the laser cutter are at risk of setting on fire. Therefore the machine MUST be supervised at all times while a job is active.

The laser cutter and extraction unit are both medium noise level machines, meaning that they do create a vast amount of sound when in operation but can be spoken over.

The lid of the machine is glass, meaning that you can see the laser while in operation. This however is safe to view as the glass is fitted with tint rated for the machine's laser. It's tempered glass but we still ask you to be careful when opening and closing as there still is a risk of shattering. Also be aware of pinch points when opening and closing the lid.

Keep your hands away from the gantry when moving the laser head via the controls. Also make sure there are no obstructions as any obstruction has the potential to severely damage the gantry.

As this is a enclosed machine, no PPE is required for operation.

There are a vast amount of materials that can be cut on the laser cutter although there are some limitations. The laser cutter is capable of cutting papers, cardboard, leather, felt, fabric, plywood, softwoods, MDF, plastic sheets such as acrylic, and any of the trotec specific materials. We cannot cut cut PVC or anything containing vinyl. No metals can be cut, but anodized aluminium can be lightly etched. The maximum bed size is 720mm x 420mm. The laser can successfully cut materials that size or smaller. It will not fit materials beyond that maximum measurement. The maximum thicknesses dependant on the material. MDF and acrylic up to 9mm thick can be cut.

There is a time limit on jobs during open hours. The time limit is capped at a 20 minute maximum. The job cutter software will tell how long your job will take in the preview window.

Show how the laser moves (gantry via 4 arrows and bed via up and down arrows on control panel). Demonstrate how to focus, emphasis on where the focussing jig lives.

Quickly show how to draw up a file (Illustrator or CorelDraw):

• Show the three processes of cutting, etching and vector etching.
• Explain how to send the file, using ‘File’ > ‘Print’.
• Explain artboards and ‘Minimize to job size’.

Explain the materials database, emphasising that they should not change settings, but copy one under their own name if they want to customise it.

Show various aspects of Trotec Job Control.

Where files go into the queue.

How to load a file into the work area.

How to view files (little ‘eyeball’ icon).

Show the time estimation on the left hand side.

How to move the laser head around, and then snap files into that point.

Run the file, and remind them of waiting for the extractor to turn off before opening the cabinet to retrieve their pieces.

Remind them to ask a volunteer for help if their material is not cutting correctly. The lens probably needs cleaning!