Where Are We?

After you start your laser cutting badge you can find the Ruby Laser cutters in the James N Kirby Makerspace and the MCIC Makerspace

Before you come in to cut please be aware that there are two kinds of laser cutter in the makerspaces.

• Trotec Speedy 400; Bed size: 1000*600mm
• Trotec Speedy 360; Bed size: 800*500mm

You are also expected to provide materials to laser cut, You can either bring in your own or purchase laser cuttable materials from our shop in the Kirby Makerspace.
If you bring in your own materials be aware that some materials are not allowed in the laser cutters see here for a list of banned laser materials.

Trotec Ruby is the software we use to send files to the laser cutters. Ruby can be accessed through an online portal that we have to log in to use.

The Ruby portal is bookmarked on the computers and the login details are stored on the desktop of the laser cutter computers, as well as printed out and labelled next to the computers.

Each laser cutter has its own unique login, and files or material settings are not shared between lasers.

How To
After we log into Ruby we will start on the Manage page to upload our design.

We can either Drag and Drop in our file, or click on the import file button and select our file to upload.

For optimal results we recommend using a .svg file type, however ruby will accept any of the following;

*.dxf; *.svg; *.pdf; *.ai; *.png; *.jpg; *.jpeg; *.bmp; *.tsf; *.tld; *.tlj; *.zip; *.cdr;

Be careful when importing .dxf file types as Ruby will often change the scale on import

Common Mistakes

• Exporting your design at the incorrect scale - double check your scale is 1:1 before you export pdfs!
• Exporting the wrong layers - Make sure your design is not on a hidden layer when exporting .ai files!

Helpful links

• How to export to .dxf from SolidWorks or Fusion 360
• Other CAD tips/tricks

How To
The design page is where we can make small adjustments to our designs as well as assign colours to our paths in order for our lasers to perform the correct functions.

Any Parts of your design you'd like to be Cut need to be on the Red or Pink layer and need to be a Path or line.
Any parts of your design you'd like to be Engraved need to be on the Black layer and they need to be a Fill or solid shape.

After we change our colours click on Fit to Design then Create Job to send your file to the prepare page

Common Mistakes

• Wrong scale - double check the scale of your job before sending to check it's come out at the right size!
• Check Engravings - If you want a part of your design to be engraved it has to be on the black layer and a filled shape

How To

To prepare our job for the laser cutter first we have to position our job on the bed, to help us do this we can use the red laser positioning dot as a guide.

Next we select our Material, make sure you have the correct material thickness selected. If you cannot find an existing setting for your material ask a staff member for help.

Before sending your job ensure Inner Geometry is First, Skip Overlapping Cutlines is On, and Geometry Optimization is on.

Once you have done all these steps you may Queue your job to add it to the next in the list for the laser, or Push To Laser to put your job at the top of the list and run it immediately.

Common Mistakes

• Not positioning the job correctly on top of our material
• Selecting the wrong material
• Using the wrong colours

Helpful links

• Guide to banned materials on the laser cutters
• Check out our shop prices here

How to Control the Laser Cutter

First open up the lid of the laser and place your material on the bed,

ensure that it is laid flat, and do not use any material that is too warped.

To help your material lay flat on the bed you may use some masking tape to tape it down.

Next to focus the laser on your material Use the Auto-Focus feature by pressing the Z - Up and Z - Down buttons at the same time.

Every time you put in a new material you will need to refocus the laser, and if your material is not flat the auto focus will not work correctly.

While the auto-focus is running keep an eye on the laser, if there is an issue and there is a risk of a collusion with the laser on your material - press the stop button immediately.

Next your job should appear on the screen next to the laser run it by pressing the play button.

Note
The laser will not run unless the lid is closed

Check that "Anchor point to laser" is turned off

If your job is not appearing on the screen you may have selected "QUEUE" instead of "PUSH TO LASER". In this case you can manually select your job from the queue using the laser panel.

Safety When using the Laser Cutters

Never leave the laser cutter unattended

The laser cutters are a huge safety risk and jobs should always be watched.

In case of fire stop Immediately and call a staff member for help

There are water spray bottles and fire extinguishers nearby to control fire hazards. Always alert a staff member in the case of a fire even if you think it's under control. There is a risk of damage to persons and equipment and a staff member will need to reassess the lasers.

Laser Collision Risk

To protect the laser never leave objects that could collide with the laser head on the bed of the laser, and make sure your material is flat.

Grinding your gears

If you're in need of any gears for your robotic arm or want more torque out of your small hobby DC motors, use this Gear Generator to create laser cut gears!