Thunder Laser
Laser Cutter and Engraver
Thunder Laser
Thunder Laser - Nova 35, 100W from ThunderLaserUSA.com
Bed size: 900mm x 600mm x 230mm (35.4” x 23.6”x 9.1”)
100 Watts of laser power from a CO2 laser at 10.64µ wavelength.
Cuts up to 3/4 inch material.
Materials which can be cut include:
- Thin Plywood
- Acrylic
- Paper, card stock, and poster board
- Vegetable tanned leather
- Craft foam
- Insulation board (the pink or green type with fire retardant)
Most of those can also be etched, meaning an image is burned into the surface. Other materials can be etched, but not cut, like glass, ceramics, or painted metal.
Materials which can not be cut include:
- Vinyl (including PVC, fake leather, Naugahyde, "Moleskin" notebooks, etc.) Watch this to see how to test for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqIU8yAobkc
- Poly-carbonate (it cuts but then melts back together or turns black)
- Metal (It can burn off the protective paint or anodized color, but the metal will not be affected.)
- Latex
- Styrene, styrofoam, (They tend to catch fire, and they also produce lots of sooty residue)
Also, some other materials produce excessive soot, smoke, or fine threads of molten plastic that can clog the exhaust system. The fan is very hard to clean. Please be aware of what your cut is producing!
Chart of Speeds and Power (Starting point settings. Materials vary, and the laser is weaker than when it was new. Lower speed or higher power will be needed.)
We have a rotary device for engraving mugs, glasses, water bottles, and other cylindrical things. It is the RotoBoss Jr. For instructions, see this document.
Access and Training
To coordinate users who want to use the Thunderlaser, we have a sign-up sheet online. Reserve your time there. If nobody is signed up and you come to use it, it is first-come, first served, but often members will let you do a quick cut. If you go to the sheet and the dates are wrong, simply change the stat date at the top and all the other dates will update. Use Monday as the first day so the chart runs until next Sunday. But be sure to delete old reservations from the previous week.
Access to the Laser Cutter requires training from a qualified member.
- Read the HackRVA Laser Cutter Basics
- Watch the Training Video Playlist.
- Watch the vinyl test video.
- Schedule a certification with a trainer by asking on the Thunderlaser channel on Slack. Anyone who has been certified to use the laser can train other members.
- Laser Certification Doc HackRVA Laser Training Certification.
Helpful Links
Thunder Laser video tutorials:
http://www.thunderlaser.com/video
More Thunder Laser information:
Thunder Laser Support
For reference, our exhaust fan is Hon&Guan HF-150PE. 382 CFM. It is vented through the wall to outside.
Lightburn documentation: https://github.com/LightBurnSoftware/Documentation/blob/master/README.md
Lightburn basics:
Walkthrough
Lightburn video tutorials:
https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/tutorials
A 30 day trial is available at
lightburnsoftware.com
You can buy Lightburn for your own laptop for $30 with our discount code. Ask on Slack. The price is for 1 year. After that, it still works, but it will not update as new versions are released. To set up your copy there is a folder on the desktop of the laser computer with screenshots of the device settings.
Advanced Techniques (ie comparing changing one variable, like Interval or Focus link):
www.thunderlaser.com/video/advanced-tutorial.html
Vector Graphics: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics
Image Formats: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_file_formats
Boxes - folding paper or cardboard: www.templatemaker.nl/
Gears:
Box finger joints: www.MakerCase.com
Boxes.py - wonderful box designs and more. Website and plugin www.festi.info/boxes.py
www.SVGNest.com - nests shapes for efficient cutting (Lightburn makes this efficient with use of "Arrange -> Nest Selected" feature, very neat!)
Maps: This site lets you create or use styles on Google Maps that can then be used to make files for topo-style maps and cut with the laser. https://snazzymaps.com/
A source of free files for laser cutting: Ameede
These are supplied at a site of a competitor to the ThunderLaser company that makes our system:
Epiloglaser.com “Sample Club”. Lots of practice projects.
www.epiloglaser.com/resources/sample-club.htm