Owner`s manual

iii. The Vect operation will only cut thin lines. Fat lines or filled areas will be ignored
for a Vect operation.
iv. Rast will raster/engrave fat lines and filled areas. It also will try to raster/engrave
any thin lines in that color.
I usually use only Rast for engraving only and Vect for cutting only and use separate
colors for engraving and cutting to keep these operations separate.
8. Engraving will produce a rough surface. Don‘t expect to engrave a filled polygon and end up with a
smooth finish within the polygon. Engraving also takes quite a bit of time.
a. For raster/engraving acrylic with no masking required to avoid fogging, try 10 percent
power at 50 percent speed.
b. Masking - When engraving, the heat and effluent gases produced might cause discoloration
and/or distortion to un-engraved surfaces nearby. Use the protective film or masking tape
over these areas to protect un-engraved areas. Burned masking tape itself can cause
discoloration, so experiment. To help smooth (melt) an already-engraved area, print the
same image but at 50 percent power and 50 percent speed and ~0.5‖ out of focus (further
away). For vector marking (engraving thin lines) acrylic with no masking required, try less
than 50 percent power at 35 percent speed and experiment.
c. For some reason, the laser cutter might not engrave small areas. Specifying less than 200
dpi might help. Starting on a larger engraved area might help.
9. Cutting/Engraving recommendations: 2‖ FL lens, starting points only, all at 1000 dpi—
Most plastic material can be purchased at TAP Plastics, 12021 Northup Way, Bellevue.
Light vector engraving of Delrin, acrylic or polycarbonate: power 20 percent, speed 60
percent.
CUTTING, suggested starting values (Note ‗P‘ = Power, ‗S‘ = Speed)
a. 0.125‖ Delrin: P=100, S=2.
b. 0.25‖ Delrin: P=100, S=1.3.
c. 0.517‖ Delrin: P=100, S=0.5. Try to focus ~0.2‖ below the top surface. It might take two
passes. Watch for dim blue flames that don’t automatically extinguish! Don‘t repeat a
cut until the previous cut has cooled.
i. For cuts that leave thin walls/pieces (<1/8‖), trim the vectors into multiple pieces
and colors so one side of cut is executed after the other to enable cooling in between.
Cutting too close in time and distance can cause severe deformation.
ii. Make sure all cuts are done so previous passes have time to cool. You can
implement an effective delay by cutting a different color line with 0.5 power and 0.5
speed.
d. 0.046‖ acrylic: P=100, S=7.
e. 0.114‖ acrylic: P=100, S=2.
f. 0.232‖ acrylic: P=100, S=1.4.
g. 0.440‖ acrylic: P=100, S=1.0.
h. 0.022‖ polycarbonate: P=100, S=30.
i. 0.116‖ polycarbonate: P=100, S=2. Leave protective film on until after cutting to reduce
yellowing of the surface near the cut.
j. 0.133‖ styrene: P=100, S=2. Expect slightly yellow edges.
k. 0.11‖ rubber: P=100, S=1.5. Wash thoroughly afterward to remove black, sooty residue.