Hatch Makerspace Laser Cutting Guide:

Maintenance
1. Cleaning grid box ALWAYS check before cutting
1. Debris is a FIRE HAZARD it can also contribute to smoke residue
on the bottom of your cutting piece.
2. The box will lift out of the laser cutter. Undo the green thumb screws
to remove the front of the box. Dump contents into the trash. Replace
the front of the box with the green screws.
3. When returning to the cutter, mating pins on the bottom of the box
should click into corresponding divots in the cutter. The box should be
level in the cutter.
2. Filter status ALWAYS check before cutting
1. If indicator on top of the air filter indicates not good please inform
Hatch volunteer. If the Hatch volunteer is not trained in filter
replacement, you will have to come back another day.
Basic Use
1. Log usage
1. There are forms under the laptop shelf by the cutter. Anyone who wants
to use the laser cutter must fill in this form, and have it approved by a
trained volunteer, BEFORE they are allowed to use the cutter.
2. Note the size of what youre cutting/engraving, how many copies youre
making, and how dense the cut/engrave pattern is.
3. You cannot cut excessively large jobs that hog the cutter or supplies. No
mass production.
2. Proper materials
1. Any material that contains vinyl is NOT ALLOWED in the cutter. It will
create dangerously toxic fumes.
2. Wood, corrugated cardboard, paper, acrylic sheets, leather are good
materials for the cutter. Double thick cardboard is difficult to cut, as is
acrylic more than thick. NOTHING more than thick.
3. The laser can etch only glass, some ceramics, specific rubbers
formulated for laser cutters, and specially treated metals. It can also cut
fabrics and engrave some thicker ones (like denim). However, these are
more specialized cases. Please consult the manual to check for the
specific material.
3. Turning on/off ALL MUST BE TURNED ON BEFORE any cutting or engraving
1. Laser cutter (side button)
2. Air filter (button on bottom side of box & electrical plug)
3. Air curtain (electrical plug)
4. Focus
1. Place the material to be cut on the grid box. It should lay flat, and not
overhang the grid.
2. The spring is on the beam inside the cutter. Free it from its latch so that it
dangles down. The spring should just touch the surface of the material if
it jams the box is too high and if it swings freely the box is too low.
3. To adjust the focus, press the Focus button on the laser cutter. Press
the up and down arrows to move the box up and down, until the tip of the
spring just touches the surface of the cutting material.

4. Hit Reset on the laser cutter, and make sure the spring is latched in
place on the beam.
5. To cut material between inch and inch thick consult the Cutting
Thick Material section as it has special requirements for the focus.
5. Print settings
1. Open the pdf file in Adobe Reader. Press the print button, or go through
the File menu.
2. If design is in center of page, make sure Auto Landscape/Portrait is
unselected.
3. Select the Properties button.
4. Check the manual for the speed and power settings for the type of
material. Engraving (rastering) and vector cutting settings are in different
columns
5. Enter the appropriate values into their labeled boxes in the properties
window. If the file has both cutting and engraving, make sure the
Combined radio button is selected.
6. Do NOT select Center Engraving unless you know what it is and how to
appropriately use it (read the full manual)
7. Hit Okay.
8. In the print preview window, verify the layout of the file to be
cut/engraved. If it is NOT in the proper location, hit PRINT, but DO NOT
touch the laser cutter yet follow the instruction under move location. If
the location is correct, hit PRINT, close the lid of the cutter, and follow
ACTUALLY CUTTING instructions
9. If you are not sure if the piece is in the write location, consult the Trace
Path instructions.
6. ACTUALLY CUTTING
1. Make sure the cutter, air filter, and air curtain are on. Make sure the
spring is latched. Make sure the lid of the cutter is closed. Make sure all
print settings power, speed, vector/raster/combined, and location are
correct.
2. GO - starts the job named on the display
3. STOP If you hit this while the laser is moving, it will stop the laser on far
left or far right of the current engraving line OR at the end of the current
vector line cut. Press GO to resume.
4. RESET If you stopped the cut, and dont want to resume, this will send
the laser back to home position.
5. If a job catches on fire, hit STOP. When the laser stops moving, use the
tongs to pick up the material, and carry it to the sink to douse.
6. NOTE: Opening/Closing lid
1. Opening lid during cutting will turn off the laser, but the carriage
will continue to move, causing gaps in the cut/engrave
7. After 1 cut:
1. To check if the laser cut all the way through, DONT MOVE THE
MATERIAL YET tap on the cut pieces with a finger and see if they
dislodge. If they dont, cut again Vector only
2. If the cut pieces are all cut cleanly, lift your piece out of the laser cutter.
Please empty any debris from the grid box when you are done cutting.

Thicker materials: 1/4" - 1/2"

1. To cut thicker materials, set the focus as above, and run the cut (in Combined
mode if there engraving). Do NOT change the location of where the piece will be
cut via the Epilog Manager.
2. WITHOUT moving the cut material, adjust the focus (Focus, up/down arrows,
Reset) so that the spring is compressed slightly by raising the box up by about
half the thickness of the cut piece.
3. Make sure the spring is latched in place. IF the job is CUT ONLY, you can close
the lid and hit Go again straight away. If there is etching in the file, open the pdf,
select print, go to properties, and make sure Vector is selected. (NOT
Combined)
4. Do NOT cut material that is more than thick!
5. acrylic can usually be cut in 2 passes without adjustment of the focus.
However, any double cut of acrylic may cause some slight warping/melting of the
edge. Any very thin parts, sharp points, or other very intricate edge patterns may
lose sharpness from a double pass.
Change the location of the cut
1. If you want to cut your design in a different location than where the pdf file shows
it in the print preview, do file->print, and then go to the desktop of the laptop.
2. Look for the icon of a blue square with a white E, or Epilog Manager in the start
menu and start it.
3. Go to Jobs tab, find your design, and double click to open it. Go the Preview tab
and select the pencil tool near the bottom left of the window. This will allow you to
grab your design and move it.
4. Do NOT put your design directly against the edge, and remember it must fit in the
12 x 16 constraints of the cutter.
5. When satisfied, click the save button. If you want to verify the location, follow the
instructions in To Test the Location of the Cut. Press the print button on the
main Epilog Manager window to send the job to the cutter.
To Test the Location of the Cut
1. Go to print properties in Adobe Reader or open your job up in Epilog Manager
and go to properties. Set both Raster Engraving and Vector Cutting to 0 power,
100 speed. Send the job to the printer.
2. Make sure the red laser pointer is on. If it is not, press the Red Dot button on
the cutter.
3. Press GO
4. The red dot pointer will trace the lasers path. Verify it goes where you want.
Once satisfied, you can go back to the laptop, change the vector and raster
settings to their material-specific values, and proceed as usual.
5. NOTE: you dont technically need to change the power to 0 you can just hit GO
on a normal job while the cutters lid is open it will trace the job without cutting
or engraving. However, it is easier to absentmindedly close the lid out of habit,
leading to cuts in undesired locations, so this isnt encouraged.
Disable X/Y, new origin
1. To focus in a different place advanced technique
1. Move, focus, hit RESET
2. To change home
1. If your board isn't square
2. Move, hit GO
3. Turn Red Dot on so you can see where it is

Troubleshooting, Tips & Tricks

1. Didn't cut all the way through
1. Poke at shape without moving material
2. Run job a second time
3. Increase power, decrease speed
1. Changing speed not noticeable in changes less than 20%
2. Changing power not noticeable in changes less than 10%
2. Engraved too deep / shallow
1. If you are engraving a gray scale image and it came out faint or unclear,
try increasing the contrast of your image. If its a deeply engraved, blobby
mess, try decreasing the contrast. The darker the color, the deeper the
engraving.
2. Too shallow increase power / decrease speed. Too deep decrease
power / increase speed.
3. Acrylic is best engraved slightly out of focus
3. Lots of smoke
1. If smoke builds up in the laser cutter while cutting, do not cut any
additional jobs until the problem is resolved.
2. Make sure the air filter is ON!
3. Check the filter gauge if it says bad, check the pre-filters. If the top prefilter is ready to be replaced, remove it and place a new one under the
remaining the pre-filter. Mark this on the calendar on the wall. Let the air
filter run for a bit, and see if the gauge moves back into the good zone.
4. If none of this resolves the problem POST ON SLACK and do not cut any
further jobs.
4. Burn marks on material
1. If there are smoke streaks on the top of your piece, or a grid pattern on
the bottom of the piece, try the following:
2. Clean out debris from the grid box.
3. Wood can be given a light sanding after cutting to remove the marks.
Acrylic can be covered in a single layer of masking tape prior to cutting on
one or both surfaces. For other materials, you can try putting a single
piece of paper under/on them.
4. Increase the speed and power of the cut.
5. Increase the speed, decrease the power, and cut via multiple passes.
5. Melting material
1. Some materials, especially acrylics, may come out with slightly
warped/melted edges, especially around fiddly bits.
2. NOTW: Multiple passes on acrylic will increase sloppiness of cut, do test
cuts on a piece of scrap material.
3. If the original cut through cleanly, try increasing the speed of the cut.
4. If that doesnt work, also increase the power.
6. Weird margins
1. If the piece is cutting in the location you want, try the following:
2. Make sure Auto portrait/landscape is NOT selected in the pdf print
menu.
3. Make sure Center Engraving is NOT selected in the print properties
menu.

4. Send to print, then open Epilog Manager. Go to jobs, double click on your
job, go to the Preview tab, and select the pencil in the bottom left corner
to move the object to your desired location.
5. Cut at 0% power with red pointer on to watch it trace cut path