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We currently have two of these saws at ChattLab, both very similar to theother.

Great for cutting and engraving many different types of flat surfaces.

The manual can be found here

• Never cut vinyl plastic on the laser cutter! Vinyl will release chlorine gas, which is fatally dangerous to humans, and will also corrosively destroy the lenses used in the laser cutter. Some plastics are OK to cut, but please ensure they do not contain vinyl. If you have any doubt, please seek guidance.
• Keep the lid shut on the laser cutter whenever it is operating. The laser emits light (some of it non-visible) at an intensity that is damaging to your eyes. The window in the lid will block damaging light from passing through.
• Please make sure that the water cooler and exhaust/air assist are on before operating the laser cutter.

• Do not run the laser at more than 85% power. Doing so significantly shortens the life of the laser tube (which is expensive). Similarly, you could frequently red line your car, running the engine at it's max RPM, but you wouldn't do so if you wanted your car to last a long time. Likewise, please do not run the laser near its maximum range. Keep it below 85% power.
• Design:
  • This laser cutter can accept designs from many different programs. Inkscape works well for designs containing both vectors and raster images.
  • Raster images work best if they are in black and white. The driver for the laser cutter will do only very basic conversion from color to a black and white. Image editing programs (such as Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)) are much better suited to the task and offer many more options.
  • Vectors should be solid colors. Different colors will be engrave/cut at different speeds and powers (to be set in the driver). (In inkscape, when an object is selected you can change the stroke color by shift-clicking a color at the bottom. The an empty fill color, gives the best representation of how your image will turn out.)
  • Ensure that all vector colors have 100% opaqueness, or they may not be imported into the driver.
  • When your work is ready to be engraved and cut, print it to the Full Spectrum Engineering Driver.
• Using the Full Spectrum Engineering Driver:
  • Engraving and cutting should be done in the following order:
    1. Raster engraving
    2. Vector engraving
    3. Inside and living hinge cuts
    4. Outside cuts
    • If outside cuts are done before other operations, your project may shift as it separates from the rest of your material, causing other cuts and engravings to be slightly off.

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