Laser Cutter Instructions

Welcome to this short guide on using the EMS laser cutter.

Here is a quick list of steps. Feel free to improve photos and instructions to iron out omitted steps and to clarify the process.

Power On

• Switch on power by flipping the red power button on the power strip at the bottom of the machine
• Power on the computer by pressing the power button to the left of the black computer box below the laser cutter.

Calibrating Material Height

• Put in the material you want to cut.
• Make sure it is sitting on a supporting plate like honey comb. (Otherwise it will be too low and the probe will not be able to reach it.)
• Press Start/Stop button.
• Use the arrow keys to jog the laser head to the position you want to focus at.
• Press Auto Focus button.
• Press Start/Stop button to return to normal operation mode.

Creating an Inkscape Project to cut

• Draw your design in Inkscape using absolute measurements in mm. (It might work in inches but it is not tested at the moment. Just go metric baby!)
• Export your Inkscape design into DXF.
  • File ->
  • Save As... ->
  • Choose DXF format from the dropdown
  • Click save

Cutting a design using Autodesk AutoCAD

• Open Autodesk AutoCAD program. The icon is on the computer desktop.
• Open your design using the open icon in the left upper corner of AutoCAD
• Select your whole design with Ctrl-A
• Move your design so that it is in the position you want it at. Use the AutoCAD move tool.
• In the toolbar change the Object Color to Black
• Right below the Color selection change the Lineweight to 0.00mm
• Start the Plot... dialog either by clicking on the icon in the upper left corner of the window or by pressing Ctrl-P
• In the Paper Size drop down select Custom Size. Make sure the shown paper size is 25.0" x 18.0"
• Select Printer/plotter to be Mercury.pc3
• Deselect Plot scale -> Fit to Paper
• Select unit type mm
• Select Scale -> 1:1
• Press OK and the laser cutter will receive the file to plot and start plotting.
• You can choose to plot the same drawing once again by pressing the Start/Stop button.
• Before you cut another design or need to change something make sure to press the Del File button twice to delete the stored file in the machine.

Unsolved: I still don't know how to set the origin of the plot correctly. It seems somewhat arbitrary. :/

Note: You can adjust the pen settings of different object Colors in the Plot dialog -> Printer/plotter -> Properties... -> Custom properties... -> Pen

Power Off

• Shut down the computer
• Flip the power strip switch

Unanswered Questions and TODO

• Figure out how to set origin of a cut.
• Figure out how to laser cut directly from Inkscape, (it currently treats everything as raster plot not vector plot)
• Figure out if the Lasermaster tube is compatible with the laser
• If possible replace the lasertube for a newer/better one, the one in the machine is very weak.