Laser Cutter

First, I am by no means a laser expert! The goal of this forum subject is to make a spot to document some of the regular maintenance that needs to happen.

I have just learned that the laser should be cleaned every 6 months. It is one our most beloved tools at the Makerspace and more use = more TLC.

Here's an in depth guide on how to deep clean the laser for those that need somewhere to start:

**Please do not attempt to power wash the honeycomb cover that sits on the bed as it may warp**

https://www.instructables.com/Deep-Cleaning-a-Laser-Cutter/

The last clean was done by Nicholas January 2024 (You are awesome!! Thank you 🙏🏻)

Any chance of a "basic maintenance class" happening?

Hi Dave,

Thanks for reaching out. Please note that due to us being 100% volunteer run this naturally affects our administrative capacity. We cannot guarantee a workshop like this unless someone willingly (and ideally enthusiastically) chooses to take it on. This thread is intended to help to start to document best practices to help take some of the tasks of maintaining the laser off of the volunteers who end up doing most of the work. The more we can take tasks like cleaning the laser off of people fixing the laser the more capacity we build to pass on knowledge. We have to walk before we can run and sharing the workload goes a long way for moral and sustainability. Thanks for understanding!

Severe Edit

I certainly understand that everyone at the makerspace is a volunteer, I was hoping to spread the weight of regular chores amongst more members. Maybe there's other things that can be shared instead

Hi David. Good to hear from you. I'm just editing a new laser 101 video right now. Much has changed. Laser maintenance would be a good subject to tackle next

Hi Grant;

I'm a new member and I just did the Laser 101 course. Very informative and well done!

Can you tell me what program I can use on my home computer to design projects, and what is the file extension used for the laser?

Thanks a lot.

You can use any software that can output a .DXF. Most of use use inkscape. It is free and fairly easy to use. Make sure your export units ar set to MM.

Thanks Nicholas.

I use Corel draw as I am not smart enough for Inkscape 🤣

Good news. I've installed a remote pause button for the laser.

Bad news. We need a new lens. The metal tab we had for removing the retaining ring is missing. The lens is scratched in a way that makes me think someone tried to clean it with a cotton swab without removing the lens first.

The laser still fires and cuts as expected for now.

There is water dripping from the back of the lasercutterfrom what seems toe is the chiller connection

Not sure what to do about it

That gives me an excuse to put longer hoses on the laser cutter. I'll do that today.