Using the Epilog Legend 36EXT Laser

Giorgos Nikoleris

2007

Parts made in our laser

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Specifications

• Maximum Engraving Area: 900 X 600 mm

• Maximum Material Thickness: 300 mm (350mm)

• Effect: 60W CO2 laser

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Materials

Engrave:            

Wood, Acrylic, Glass, Plastic Coated Metal, Anodized Aluminum, Ceramic, Delrin, Leather, Marble, Granite, Matte Board, Melamine, Paper, Pressboard, Rubber, Wood Veneer, Fiberglass, Circuit Boards, Stainless Steel, Painted Metal, Cork, Corian, Cloth, Mylar, Tile  

Cut:            

Wood, Acrylic, Plastic, Delrin, Cloth, Leather, Matte Board, Paper, Mylar, Pressboard, Rubber, Wood Veneer, Fiberglass, Cork, Melamine, Corian  

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Cutting of non-metals

• Melt shearing– Thermoplastics: (Nylon, Polystyrene, …)

• Vaporization– Acrylic: BEST CHOICE, perfect cut edges – Polyacetal (large volumes of gaseous

formaldehyde)

• Chemical degradation– Thermoset polymers, cellulosic material,

rubber, epoxy resins• Cellulosic material: 2000 °C

– PVC: Dangerous !! Highly toxic HCl fumes

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Laser process

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Cutting wood or other grained material

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Lowering the table before focusing

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Auto Focus

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The Printer Preferences window

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Table of line weight that will Raster engrave at a given resolution

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Table of line weight that will Vector Cut at a given resolution

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Summary

• Use always 600dpi• Use line weight 0.025mm to

cut• Use line weight greater than

0.175mm to engrave• Or if you are doing something very special consult the

tables …• Note: Check for hidden lines

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Raster engraving

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Piece size

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Top-down and bottom-up engraving

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Center Engraving

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Center Engraving

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Image Dithering

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Clipart Modes: Standard, Brighten and Low Res

Photograph Modes: Floyd Steinberg, Jarvis and Stucki

Image Dithering

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Vector Cut Settings

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Creating a Perforation using low Frequency

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Advanced Properties

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3D mode

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Stamp Settings

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Color Mapping

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Multiple passes

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The Operator Panel

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Air assist

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Cone style air assist

Lifting the table

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The Rotary Option

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Leveling the surface

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Pin Table

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Advanced Combined Work

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Safety Rules

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• NEVER let the laser system operate if it will be unattended.

• KEEP the area around the machine clean and free of clutter, combustible materials, explosives, or volatile solvents such as acetone, alcohol, or gasoline.

• ALWAYS keep a properly maintained and inspected fire extinguisher on hand.

• ALWAYS use air assist when vector cutting.• BE CAREFUL! when vector cutting. Many materials have

the potential to burst suddenly into flames – even materials that may be very familiar to the user. Always monitor the machine when it is operating.

• KEEP YOUR LASER SYSTEM CLEAN – A build up of cutting and engraving reside and debris is dangerous and can create a fire hazard in its own right. Keep your laser system clean and free of debris. Regularly remove the vector grid to clean any small pieces that have fallen through the grid.

Acrylic - Tips & Tricks • In principle it is very easy to cut acrylic. Generally speaking, the maximum laser output is set

and the speed is adjusted so that the material is cut through. High-quality cutting results, however, can only be achieved with carefully selected parameters. At slow speeds, the cut edges achieved are rather more polished. However, if cutting is too slow, the resulting cut is wide and extends outwards towards the bottom. However, this also depends on the point of focus and the focal length used. Use a focal length of 2.5 inch for thicknesses between 3 and 8 mm, for thicker materials the focal length set should be 5 inch. The focus should not lie on the surface but approximately a third of the way inside the material. Striation increases with speeds that are too high. The gas flow should be set as low as possible to achieve the best possible quality. However, a higher gas flow allows faster cutting speeds.

• The acrylic used is also very important. Acrylic may be cast or extruded. Cast acrylic is excellently suited to laser cutting. With extruded acrylic, the cut edges become milky after cutting due to the stresses released. It is also important to achieve clean adjustment of the beam since the cut edges are not vertical if there is any astigmatism and exhibit different angles depending on the direction of displacement. Therefore, the selection of a laser source with good beam quality is particularly crucial.

• Also, it is particularly important to prevent reflections of the laser beam as far as possible since they cause visible unevenness in the cut edges. For this reason, the material may not lie completely flat on the processing surface. Use a special cutting table for this purpose. As a result the beam will barely be reflected and you will get clean-cut edges.

• It is also important to remove the protective film prior to processing.• Caution: Never operate the laser without supervision as acrylic tends to burn and create

flames!

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