Equipment/LaserPro Mercury II

Basic Safety
This is far from an exhaustive list, but here are some extremely basic and fundamental safety tips:


 * Do not use the laser cutter before attending a safety induction
 * Never fire the laser with the cover open.
 * Never operate the laser without the Extractor unit (BOFA-AD400TS) running.
 * Never look at the laser directly. Reflections from the laser can permanently blind you. Even reflections off of a wall or material being cut can be incredibly dangerous.
 * Never leave the operating laser unattended.
 * Have a fire extinguisher on hand (CO2), and be able to kill power to the unit immediately in case of emergency.

Materials
The laser cutter has been tested with acrylic and laser-safe MDF so far, we've purchased this from Kitronik. If you want to try a new material (and it's not on the dangerous materials list) please let the Trustees know first.

Note: Do not clean acrylic with Alcohol (e.g Isopropanol)

Using the Laser Cutter (WORK IN PROGRESS)

 * 1) Turn the laser cutter on with the top switch
 * 2) Set the bed height as per training
 * 3) Manually home the print head
 * 4) Close lid
 * 5) Prepare the file as per the section below
 * 6) once file is set to the laser, press ???back?? is necessary (ie if still in menu to adjust bed height)
 * 7) Turn on the Extractor unit (BOFA-AD400TS)
 * 8) Press ???? to run
 * 9) When the job is complete, Turn off the Extractor and laser cutter and remove your material from the laser bed.

Preparing Files (WORK IN PROGRESS)

 * 1) Open the ???? software on the Windows XP machine next to the cutter.
 * 2) Open your file in JPG or DXF format.
 * 3) Position your cut in the bed
 * 4) For each layer in your design:
 * 5) Double click the layer and set the colour where black is cut first then red (eg use black for internal, that red to cut the outer last)
 * 6) File -Print- print preferences
 * 7) the default (black white) is good for cuts, set options for rasters/ stamp cutting accordingly??????
 * 8) Pen (tab)- Set the power and speed for each layer, note unlike the glass tubed lasers this one can be ran at 100% without damaging the laser.
 * 9) Once all layers have been set, click ???print??? to send the file to the laser cutter.

Troubleshooting
Q: The laser cutter froze part way through a job.

A: Power cycle the laser cutter, it should offer an option to resume from where it stopped?????