epilog m2 40 laser cutter engraver
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HUMAN & MACHINE SAFETY FIRST
- DO NOT OPERATE WHEN ALONE IN THE LAB
- DO NOT CONNECT IT TO ANY OTHER COMPUTER
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DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS BY YOURSELF - if you suspect the machine might not be operating at
- only use materials provided by the lab. if you do absolutely have to use your own materials - you absolutely must check with technician first.
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AIR EXHAUST & AIR ASSIST MUST BE ON BEFORE LASER OPERATION and let them run for 5 seconds after the job is done before opening the lid
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AIR EXHAUST & AIR ASSIST MUST BE ON BEFORE LASER OPERATION and let them run for 5 seconds after the job is done before opening the lid
-
AIR EXHAUST & AIR ASSIST MUST BE ON BEFORE LASER OPERATION and let them run for 5 seconds after the job is done before opening the lid
- NEVER EVER LEAVE MACHINE UNATTENDED DURING OPERATION. NOT EVEN FOR 5 SECONDS.
- NEVER EVER LEAVE MACHINE UNATTENDED DURING OPERATION. NOT EVEN FOR 5 SECONDS.
- NEVER EVER LEAVE MACHINE UNATTENDED DURING OPERATION. NOT EVEN FOR 5 SECONDS.
- NEVER EVER LEAVE MACHINE UNATTENDED DURING OPERATION. NOT EVEN FOR 5 SECONDS.
- NEVER EVER LEAVE MACHINE UNATTENDED DURING OPERATION. NOT EVEN FOR 5 SECONDS.
IN CASE OF FIRE
- hit the EMERGENCY STOP button
- shut down air assist and air exhaust
- hit the emergency door open/fire alarm located next to the door to G11
- RUN OUT SCREAMING FOR HELP
CO2-proccessable Materials:
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corrugated cardboard - very fast and cheap, incredibly useful for prototyping, but may well work in final designs
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wood / plywood / mdf - cutting sheets more than 3mm thick leaves heavily charred edge
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acrylic - ideal material for lasercutting
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delrin is great for mechanical designs
- polycarbonate
Fiber-processable Materials:
- metals - engraving / etching
- mainly for PCB fabrication
NON-PROCESSABLE MATERIALS
- PVC - releases very toxic Cholrine gas when burnt. Highly poisonous to humans and very corroding to the metal parts of the machine.
2D Design Software:
3D Design Software:
Useful Links:
Step-by-step refresher
- make sure laser bed is clean and empty
- turn on the laser
- wait for calibration/initialisation routine to complete
- bring the bed approximately to the desired height
- VERY CAREFULLY load your piece in
- mount the focusing tool
- close the lid - make sure both locks are engaged
- focus
- remove focusing tool
- from Adobe Illustrator send your print job by selecting "print"
- select correct printer - "Epilog Engraver"
- go to "Setup - > Preferences"
- adjust your settings (laser type, power, speed, dpi, frequency - refer to the spec sheets on the wall)
- change "Piece Size" to laser cutter bed size, which is 1000x700mm
- press ok and go back to print dialog
- press "Print"
- make sure the job arrived to the laser.
- turn on exhaust
- turn on air assist
- triple-check everything is on and focused and there's nothing obstructing laser head moving
- press "Go"
- WATCH THE JOB UNTIL COMPLETION
- once the job is done - wait 10 seconds before turning off exhaust and air assist to allow fumes to be properly removed
- open the machine and VERY CAREFULLY remove your pieces
- CLEAN THE WORKTABLE
Preparing your files for laser cutting / engraving
- files for cutting need to be in .svg / .dxf / .ai file formats
- bitmap images are used for engraving only
- vector lines for cutting must be 0.01pt stroke and infill set to NONE
- if cutting tiny parts (smaller than 10mm) that fall through the vector grid table - put tabs in place so they stay attached to the original piece. Removing / disassembling the table to retrieve the pieces is not allowed.
Design tips:
Epilog-suggested feeds&speeds (speed/power):
- cutting single-flute corrugated cardboard: 50/100
- cutting 200gsm paper - 100/100 - turn on "speed compensation"
- cutting 3mm acrylic: 10 / 100
- cutting 6mm acrylic: 3 /100
- cutting 10mm acrylic: 1 / 100
- cutting 3mm plywood: 20 / 100
- cutting 6mm plywood: 5 / 100
- cutting 3mm leather: 30 / 100
PCB Fabrication
- this 50W Fiber laser source is very capable of producing high-quality PCBs at 1200 dpi resolution
- the success of the outcome largely depends on how perfectly flat you get the board positioned
- even variations in copper layer thickness on the board may cause fabrication artefacts
Machine Specs:
- work area: 1016x711mm
- 75W CO2 laser source for cutting / engraving plastics/wood/paper/mdf/etc.
- 50W Fiber laser source for etching metals, i.e. PCB fabrication
Material Suppliers: