Laser Cut Gainesville Hackerspace Keychains
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Keychains are a great gift to give guests visiting the Hackerspace, and it is a great project to learn how to use the laser cutter. The GCode has already been created for a few different sizes of acrylic, so if you want to skip straight to cutting you can start with Premade Gcode Files .
Creating Toolpaths in CamBam
<Coming Soon>
Premade Gcode Files
GCode files have already been created for the following sizes of acrylic:
196mm x 156mm, 0.008" thickness. 15 count, 1h 20m cut time
Creates 15 keychains with Rulers Uses the (-3,-3)mm jig Acrylic:
- Cut 0.008" thick acrylic into a 196mm by 156mm sections
File locations:
- /machinekit/Desktop/Hackerspace Keychains/Ruler_15count_196x156mm_0pt008in_Engrave.nc
- /machinekit/Desktop/Hackerspace Keychains/Ruler_15count_196x156mm_0pt008in_Cut.nc
How to cut using the Laser Cutter
For more detailed steps, see K40_Laser_Cutter. Setting up the machine:
- Turn on power strips connected to the laser cutter
- Ensure water is flowing through pump below the cutter
- Turn on main motor power with the main red rocker switch on the cutter
- *Check that laser is off* by making sure the laser button is up
Insert Acrylic into Laser Cutter
- Insert the (-3,-3)mm Jig into the laser cutter
- Remove any film from both sides of the acrylic to be cut
- Insert the acrylic into the laser cutter, making sure to press the corner tight against the (-3,-3) jig.
Loading Gcode for Engrave Step
- Connect to the laser cutter by using VNC on a desktop (or laptop), and connecting to the IP Address of the laser (should be 192.168.1.16).
- Start linux CNC by clicking on the LinuxCNC icon on the desktop, and select *execute*
- Click the *folder* icon, and find the *_Engrave.nc file for your acrylic size
- Enable machine power in Linux CNC by clicking the yellow "Machine Power" icon in the top toolbar
- Home Laser Cutter by clicking the "Home All" button.
Starting Engrave Step
- Set the laser's power level to ~2.5mA, which is about 9 o'clock on the power knob. Adjust slightly if needed.
- Press laser engage button down to enable the laser. *Make sure you are wearing polycarbonate safety glasses from this point on*
- Click the "Run" button in LinuxCNC to start engraving.
Loading Gcode for Cut Step
- Once engraving is finished, load the cut step by clicking the *folder* icon, and find the *_Cut.nc file for your acrylic size