Tools/laser

Pirahna 1060 Laser Cutter

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This tool requires induction

Owing to it's dangerous nature, delicate nature, or expense, this tool requires that you be inducted on it's proper handling before use.

Introduction

The laser cutter is one of our most heavily used tools, it's a 90W CO2 laser system with a 1000mm x 600mm bed. At the moment we limit the power output of the laser to 68W in order to extend the life of the laser tube as that's the most expensive consumable part of the laser system. At this setting it's able to cut a variety of materials including Acrylic (up to 12mm thick), MDF (up to 12mm thick) and Plywood (up to 15mm thick) and can be used to make a huge range of items from light fitting to jigsaws. Owing to it's expense and delicacy the laser cutter requires members to have an induction before they can use it.

Current Status

Date	Status	Comment
17th February 2019	Functional at 75% Power	The laser is limited to 75% power output to extend the life of the tube, this is intended to be permanent

Laser Troubleshooting

Here's some common issues that crop up on the laser and how to fix them

Symptom	Cause	Fix
RDWorks is coming up in hieroglyphics	Usually means it has managed to crash, and had defaulted back to it's out of the box setup - which is Chinese!	To reset it, go to the Help Menu - then to the Language and pick English.
RDWorks isn't talking to the laser	RDWorks has crashed and defaulted back to it's out of the box setup	At the bottom right, press the what looks like a button, where it says "USB: Auto" then change it to "web", and an IP address of 172.16.0.100
RDWorks isn't talking to the laser	RDWorks version 8 or later has been installed	The laser will not work with any version of RDWorks after version 7, make sure you're running the right one
Bed won't rise high enough	The head has been knocked and moved upwards, preventing it from focusing properly on thin sheets	To fix it home the laser both in the XY and the Z modes, place the 6mm focus block under the head while at the home position, and then turn the knurled ring on the red tube to release the head, make sure to be holding it so it doesn't drop out! Set the head height so that it's just touching the focus block while in that position and tighten up the knurled ring again, you'll now have the head in the proper focus position and can cut using normal procedure.

Old wiki content

The machine is now limited by the controller to 75% power which is just over 25mA. This means the current dial can be left set all the way to the top for consistent output. Any power level set in RDWorks > 75% will just get reduced to 75% rather than scaled by the controller.

LARGE LASER CUTTER NOTES:

Checklist - Startup:

1) Water Chiller ON ***

2) Power ON (green round button) on front panel

3) 4 Switches on side (only switch laser on whilst editing in RDWORKS 7)

   

water should alarm if low, if alarm sounds, check the water level gauge on rear of chiller unit. Top up with de-ionised water only ignore button image on switches - press upper part of button for 'on' position'* Laser Default Position:

Press home, then press top arrow and enter (laser head will move to default far top right)

Lift lid, place sheet on laser bed

Reset arrows to position probe over top right of sheet, head over gap in slat.There is a slim black finger behind the laser head which actually sets the height. Make sure that is over your material as well.

Thickness 10 /15mm?

Software:

Turn on Rdworks 7 (free) - (Please note if downloading software at home, untick ‘enable feeding’)

Notes:

Import file, 'dxf' or 'ai' (from Illustrator and other graphic apps)

For Example:

Autocad save as R12 dxf

Inkscape (0.48) outputs DXF R14

or draw in Rdworks 7

Please note if possible it is useful to layer these effectively in the cad package to save time in Rdworks at rlab.

Colours are layers, select cut, dot or scan (used for engraving) or none (no cut mode)

Double click for options menu, edit…

‘Handle>cut optimise’

Reorders cuts, eg. 'Element 1', Element 2' etc.

Set out properties

If you want to do multiple cuts of same object, you can 'array' these and also add gaps in between the objects to avoid any overlaps

Path optimised* unticked - do not use ‘Go scale’ - check area of 'cut'

Ready to cut

Turn the other switches on, eg. fan, light, etc.

Warning: Do not look through the gap between the laser lid and the bed ** Press 'start' - make sure it is running okay, get ready to press ES if need be.

Once job is complete

Leave it shut until fumes gone.

Lift lid, remove work.

Turn off the switches

Clean the laser bed with the vacuum adjacent to the laser

documentation The output to turn on the laser power supply is a 0-3.6 V and the shortest pulse is 270 us

Planned Upgrades

Parts and upgrades that are planned/Budgeted/Purchased for in the near future

Either reinstate head mounted aiming laser, or add coaxial sighting laser
Add dynamic auto-focus system apparently supported by controller
Create long-focus lens system for deeper cutting
Add auto-aim control laser

Pirahna 1060 Caretakers

Inductions

The following people are able to provide inductions on the Pirahna 1060

Name/Contact	Notes
Tony-S

Maintainers

These are the people who look after and repair the Pirahna 1060, they're the ones to contact if there's any problems with it

Name	Notes
Steve-R	In reading around 50% of the time, fast response if in reading
Richard-I
Rupert-E

Recent Changes

If you make any non-trivial changes to the Pirahna 1060 or perform maintenance please note it here, delete records older than 1 yr

Optical Path clean and re-aligned, tube is starting to show signs of age, at next re-aligment carefully check beam roundness at all points. Stever (talk) 07:57, 17 February 2019 (UTC)
The entire optical path has been thoroughly cleaned and re-aligned. Stever (talk) 17:43, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
Ethernet port has been relocated to the back panel and fitted with industrial connector Stever (talk) 18:06, 14 November 2018 (UTC)
3 redundant switches on the right side of the laser have been removed and blanked off, sockets on the back of the laser are now permanently live. Stever (talk) 11:25, 22 October 2018 (UTC)
Current control dial has been relocated to inside the laser and locked at maximum since it wasn't being used and provided an opportunity for things to go wrong if mis-set Stever (talk) 16:16, 21 October 2018 (UTC)
PC power supply went "pop" and blew fuse - Thorough cleaning restored function. Stever (talk) 07:10, 21 September 2018 (UTC)