Lab Safety Training

one of the requirewments was to: Complete your lab's safety training before using the laser cutter. Ensure you understand all safety protocols and procedures.

Safety Training Conducted

Before using the laser cutter, our team underwent comprehensive safety training to ensure we understood all necessary protocols and procedures. The training covered the following key points:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): We were instructed to always wear appropriate PPE, including safety goggles to protect our eyes from laser exposure and gloves to handle materials safely.
• Ventilation: Proper ventilation is crucial when operating a laser cutter to avoid inhaling harmful fumes. We ensured that the laser cutter was used in a well-ventilated area with an exhaust system in place.
• Material Safety: Not all materials are safe to cut with a laser cutter. We learned to identify and avoid materials that could release toxic fumes or cause fires, such as PVC and certain plastics.
• Fire Safety: We were trained on how to use a fire extinguisher and the importance of having one nearby. Additionally, we learned to never leave the laser cutter unattended while it is operating.
• Emergency Procedures: In case of an emergency, such as a fire or equipment malfunction, we were instructed to immediately turn off the laser cutter, evacuate the area, and contact emergency services if necessary.

Emergency Procedures

In the event of an emergency while operating the laser cutter, the following procedures should be followed:

• Turn Off the Laser Cutter: Immediately press the emergency stop button to shut down the laser cutter and prevent further damage or injury.
• Evacuate the Area: Quickly and calmly evacuate the area to ensure everyone's safety. Do not attempt to handle the situation alone if it is beyond your control.
• Contact Emergency Services: If the situation requires, call emergency services to report the incident and request assistance. Provide them with all necessary information, including the location and nature of the emergency.
• Use a Fire Extinguisher: If a fire occurs and it is safe to do so, use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Ensure you are familiar with the proper use of a fire extinguisher before attempting to use one.
• Report the Incident: After the situation is under control, report the incident to the appropriate authorities and document what happened. This will help prevent similar incidents in the future and improve safety protocols.

Laser Cutter Characterization

Analyze and document the following parameters of your laser cutter:

For this week's group assignment we used the Full Spectrum PS36 laser cutter. The machine has the following specifications;

• Carbon dioxide laser
• 90W laser power maximum output
• Auto focus
• 914x610mm Engraving area
• Uses RetinaEngrave v3.0 Software


• Focus

  Focus is a critical parameter in laser cutting that determines the depth and precision of the cut. The machine has an autofocus option, so for making sure focal height of the beam was correct, auto-focus was selected.

  

• Power And Speed

  We used a power-speed test file downloaded from this WEBSITE. The power settings ranged from 10 to 100, and the speed settings ranged from 20 to 100. This allowed us to analyze the relationship and impact that power and speed have on each other and on the cutting of the material. By systematically varying the power and speed, we were able to observe how different combinations affected the quality and precision of the cuts. This helped us determine the optimal settings for our laser cutter to achieve the best results for different materials.

  

  This test was made on PLYWOOD of thickness 4.9mm.

  

  The final cut board came out to be like this.

  

• Kerf

  The kerf is the width of the material removed by the laser beam during cutting. It is an important parameter to consider when designing parts and calculating tolerances. For determining Kerf we prepared 5 squares of 20x20mm in the RetinaEngrave software then cut them on a plywood of 4.9mm.

• Kerf Measurement Process

  To measure the kerf, we followed these steps:

  1. Design the Squares: We used Retina Engrave software to create a design consisting of five squares, each measuring 20x20 mm.
  2. Prepare the Laser Cutter and Cut: We set up the laser cutter by ensuring it was clean and properly calibrated. We also selected plywood of 4.9mm for cutting and placed it on the laser cutter bed, and cut it.
  
  3. Measure the Squares: Using a vernier caliper, we measured the actual dimensions of each cut square. We recorded the measurements and compared them to the intended dimensions.

  We did this by lining all the squares up and measured their total width. We got 98.6 mm. which is 1.4 mm less than it should be, given that 20 mm x 5 should be 100 mm.

  
  4. Calculate the Kerf: The kerf was determined by calculating the difference between the intended dimensions and the actual dimensions of the cut squares. This value represents the width of the material removed by the laser beam during cutting.

  We used the following formula to measure the Kerf

  (ExpectedWidth - ActualWidth) / NumSamples 

  So replacing that with our values we got the following, which is the Kerf:

  (100mm - 98.6mm) / 5 = 0.28mm