Laser Room

The Laser Room is one of the rooms at North Forge.

Room precautions

Safety

Hazards: fumes, fire, noise, lacerations.
Wear hearing protection when the exhaust fan is on, as it's loud enough to cause hearing damage.
Check the debris tray before and after. Debris buildup can cause a fire as the laser cuts through the workpiece and enters the debris tray.
Do not cut unknown or unapproved materials. If the material is not on the approved list, ask for permission on Slack.
Heat can build up when doing multiple passes on wood, causing the material to ignite. If you're cutting thick wood and it doesn't go through in three passes, stop.
Do not cut multiple layers of fabric, paper, cardboard, etc at one time. The increased air between the layers can increase the risk of fire.
Note when cutting lightweight materials like fabric or paper: any cutouts produced can be blown around by the air support and exhaust; if they pass between the lens and the material they can cause a fire or blow out the lens.
Always use a vector grid when cutting all the way through.
Don't wear loose hair, clothing, jewellery, etc. as they can become entangled in the belts.

Running lasers unattended

Due to risk of fire, do not leave the lasers running unattended. You must be close to the lasers and able to respond quickly in case of emergency. In particular, pay close attention to the laser when it is running in vector mode as the fire risk is greatly increased compared to vector mode.

Interlocked enclosures and laser classification

Never circumvent the interlocked enclosures on our laser cutters
Our laser cutters all contain lasers that would be considered Class 4 and subject to significant training and restrictions.
The laser cutters implement an interlocked safety enclosure that shuts off the laser if the enclosure is opened. This reclassifies the machines to a Class 1 laser for the purpose of the actual cutting laser that is interlocked.
However, the laser cutters end up being Class 2 laser because of the red dot pointer laser that can operate even with the lid open.

Housekeeping

When using Big Blue, Little Blue, and Big Red: Clean the lens before the start of your session. Monitor the lens throughout - cutting messy materials like rubber may require recleaning. Note that Big Red has one extra mirror that needs to be cleaned in addition to the one in the head.
When using Giant Blue, check the lens frequently for debris buildup and clean as required.
Always use a lens tissue when cleaning the lens - bare Q-tips are mildly abrasive and wear away at the coatings on the lens
Break down waste before bagging (pieces should be smaller than 6" x 6"). Blunt any sharp edges so they don't break the bag.

for all	that is a bigger garbage issue... see Todo

The Blue Laser Room vacuum is located by Big Red for your use.

List of tools

The Laser Room contains the following tools:

List of PCs

The Laser Room contains the following PCs:

Big Blue Laser PC (software: CorelDraw)
Giant Blue Laser PC (software: CorelDraw)
Helix and Big Red Laser PC (software: CorelDraw)

List of Training Sessions

The following Training Sessions are available for this room

Training Session	Trainer(s)	Cost	Duration	Tool(s)
Basic Laser Epilog Training	John Hache	$68.25	120	Big Blue Laser • Little Blue Laser (Epilog Helix 8000)
Big Red Laser Training	John Hache			Big Red Laser
Giant Blue Laser Training	John Hache	$31.50	60	Giant Blue Laser
Laser Rotary Attachment Training	John Hache