Pre-purchase Laser Questions

[Felicia Lovelett]

Hi,

I joined this forum because it seems to be a great place to get real information about laser cutters. I have read many of the older posts.

I hope to purchase a laser cutter (probably an Epilog or Universal) in the fall. I teach computer graphics and am an artist in love with cool technology.

I will be mainly using a laser to cut layered fabric for embroidery applique, but also expect to be cutting many layered paper, chipboard and thin woods. Plastic or metal cutting would be very unlikely. I may need a vacuum table because of the extremely thin materials that I will be routinely cutting. My designs are very intricate and will require careful registration.

My main questions concern power requirements, venting and siting requirements. Will everything (laser, air-assist, compressors, fans and other accessories) run off of a 20A circuit?

I have eliminated one possible location in my home studio because the space shares some air with living areas. Although the laser cutter will be vented directly to the outside, I have wondered how much smoke and fumes it will produce. One of the two possible cutter locations is an unheated mudroom (it rarely freezes). Would the lack of heat be a problem for the cutter?

These very basic questions are not really covered by sales reps and product literature. I thought it would be better to ask laser cutter owners.

Thanks,

Felicia

[Larry Bratton]

Felicia:
You are ahead of the game by having a knowledge of graphics. That's a big part of the learning curve.

Metal cutting is for sure highly unlikely as CO2 lasers in low power ranges won't cut metal at all.
15 amps would be OK, but more would be better I am sure. My Epilog is running off 220v and the air assist pump and exhaust is 110v. My machine is an EXT so the specs may be different for other models. Suggest you check with the mfg.

My machine produces little offensive smoke or fumes with the exhaust system on.
It is not good for machines to be operated in un-conditioned spaces. Excessive heat, over 90 degrees while operating can void an Epilog warranty. Cold, may not have too much effect, but it is possible. Optimum efficiency would be in a climate controlled space.
Good luck with your purchase.

[Dee Gallo]

Felicia, welcome to the Creek! I'm especially happy to see another artist here - can't wait to see what you make!

It would help if you posted your location, but I can tell you I considered putting my laser in an unheated/uninsulated building but changed my mind. There are issues like 1) a lot of times people have to "warm up" their lasers to get them to fire correctly if they get cold, 2) condensation can ruin parts and affect optics and 3) I didn't want to leave my computer out in those conditions either.

But I live in the extreme north, so your situation might be completely different.

If your exhaust system is done well, you should not have any fumes or smoke in your room. Make sure you have air assist set up for all cutting.

cheers, dee

[Richard Rumancik]

. . . One of the two possible cutter locations is an unheated mudroom (it rarely freezes). Would the lack of heat be a problem for the cutter?

Yes, it would be a problem - you can keep your room cool when you are not working but you certainly should not let it freeze. You will have to heat it in some manner. You probably need at least 60's F to work comfortably but I still would not let it go less than maybe 50 F when you are away. Check the mfr spec for "operating temperature range" and see what they say.

If you turn it on at cold temperatures there is a good chance that you could damage the tube or electronics, or at least reduce their life.

I would not run a compressor on the same outlet/breaker as my laser. If you have no choice then get a very good TVSS (transient voltage surge suppressor) in front of the laser. Or heavy duty rack-mount battery backup. (Both of these are good to have regardless.)

You say that your designs will require "careful registration". I assume you mean that the embroidery is done on the fabric and you are cutting the outline? I would suggest that you figure out exactly how you will be doing the registration so that you are not disappointed later. A lot of the products made by members does not need very accurate registration, and the manufacturers might not be able to help much in this respect. You may need some clever fixturing; the good thing is that you can make some of it yourself (with the laser, of course.) So you may need to do a bit of work in this area to work out a strategy.

[Martin Reynolds]

If your material lies flat, you won't really need a vacuum table. Your only problem will be if the cut pieces fly around because of the exhaust air, which you can turn down.

You will only need a 30W laser - get a larger bed with lower power, so you can easily cut large or many pieces. The motion system can't move a more powerful laser fast enough.

The laser will generate a decent amount of heat, which will heat a small room. A 20A circuit will run a laser and an airbrush compressor, and maybe an exhaust fan. But a PC on the same circuit is asking for trouble.

I wouldn't worry about a cold room as much as I would a room that attracts spiders, or might cause condensation on optical parts.

Shared air is not too much of a problem. I use magnetic rubber to close the vent holes on my laser when not in use. I have a pot grower's air cleaner for bad days. The bigger issue is exhaust air coming back into the house. Also, the blower moves a lot of air, which can make the house hot or cold rather quickly.

I have a blast gate on the laser hose so I can adjust the air volume. The installation is a panel in a sliding window, has been temporary for almost 3 years.

My blower sits outside, under a small table to keep the worst of the elements off. I control it with an x-10 switch. It uses an external power socket on a different circuit.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I can not run my Laser and exhaust fan on the same circuit. Keep in mind that the Exhaust fan will pull up to 10 times its running current when it starts.

I run my Laser, Compressor all on separate circuits. With a slow blow 20A breaker I could run the Exhaust and laser on the same circuit but it would be pushing it.

Another consideration is noise. The laser will make an awful amount of noise. Originally I was going to have my laser very close to my computer. But now its as far away as I can get it due to the noise. With an Epilog its very easy to have the laser a distance away from the computer with a Universal you cant cause they are tied to the USB and you can only have a certain length of cable.

You wont be cutting any metal so you can take that off your list completely. Also you make sure you take the kinds of fabric to your dealer so you can see how they cut. Some fabrics cut better than others.

Having your exahust blower outside will also help with the noise. I have mine mounted in one of those plastic deck benches.

[Felicia Lovelett]

Thanks for everyone's input: this narrows down my laser's new home to the walk-out space in the basement (heated/cooled). There is plenty of extra power down there and the room is next the embroidery machine/fabric studio.

The main problem will be clearing a work area: this should motivate me to re-organize the space. It's long overdue...

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

I cut layered fabric for embroidery applique from time to time, and have used both the honeycomb table and the regular table.
For applique I really did not see any difference. On my ULS I sometimes have to slow the exhaust down in areas, I use a sheet of magnetic material to just block of parts of the exhaust in the machine if I only want to block part of the exhaust. Or all the exhaust with the blast gate, but that is only when I have worked with some very small scraps, or cut out really small parts that the exhaust want to take all the way out. And yes, the exhaust has grabbed finished material and sucked it out. I have a screen on my blower before it leaves the room so I can retreive parts, which happened a lot in the beginning, and still once in a while now. This is all going to depand on how strang your exhaust is, and is managable.

It is nice having the laser and the Embroidery close together, I just recently started to use the same computer for both, so I can take my applique back and forth between the embroidery software and my laser very easily. I planned on try to send my outlines straight from my embroidery software to the laser soon, maybe now I will even try it today yet.

Good luck and welcome to the creek.