Laser

Our Laser

TSAS has a 100w Boss LS-1630 laser with a cutting capacity of 400 x 750mm or 15.75" x 29.50", with pass-through windows. This means that if your project is larger in one dimension (like a 25" wide surfboard), it will fit inside the machine—we'll just need to cut/engrave in multiple sections.

Materials

In general, if your material is 1/4" (6.35mm) or thinner, the information below applies. The machine is capable of cutting up to 3/5", but see Stallings before planning a project with very thick material.

Things it can cut

See ATX Hackerspace list for a more complete list

Wood: plywood, hardwood, MDF, cardboard, paper, cork
(Some) plastics: acrylic, delrin, mylar
Metal (engrave only)
Leather, cloth
Magnet sheet

Things it can engrave

All from the cut list—if it can be cut, it can be engraved.
Metal
Glass
Rock
Tile
Anodized aluminum

Things it can NOT cut or engrave

See ATX Hackerspace list for a more complete list]

Lexan (fire)
PVC (puts off chlorine gas)
Epoxy (fire)
Polystyrene or polypropylene foam (fire)
ABS (melts)

Material Resources

Creating a Project

Your project must be in one of the following vector file formats if you wish to cut through the material: .ai, .pdf, .dxf, .hpgl, .plt, .rd, .svg, or .tga. Check the vector page for more info if you aren't sure what that means. If you only wish to engrave, the machine will accept .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tif, or .tiff.

If you are on a desktop computer, your best choices for creating a vector design are Inkscape (free, open source) or Fusion 360 (free for our use). Stallings would love to walk you through either one.

If you are on a Chromebook, SketchUp has an excellent Chrome app, or Vectr, a free website that works well for tracing images.

Once you have your image, see Stallings to begin the cutting/engraving process.

Project Ideas/Downloads