TechShop – Laser Cutter

TechShop was fun. Learned how to operate the Laser Cutter for cutting, etching and scoring.

Classes:

Basic covered safety, equipment and basic technique. We learned how to use Corel Draw and the “printer” driver that sends instructions to the cutter. We learned how to start and stop jobs and signs to look for that might indicate a bad cut or a fire hazard. We also learned how to set the focus (AUTO FOCUS IS BAD). The class was 2 hours long and the instructor, Laura, answered tons of questions. Of particular interest was learning which materials work best with this laser.

Advanced was about an hour long. We covered a lot of Q&A as well as tips and tricks to make it easier to find the right settings (speed, power) for a given material.

The classes were great and the instructor was top notch.

Facilities:

The machine is an Epilog Helix Laser Cutter. It’s 45 watts. (Actually, there are two of them.)

The software is CorelDraw X3.