Laser cutter safe operating procedure
General safety
- Let an instructor know you a planning to use the laser cutter. An instructor must be present in the lab any time you are using the machine.
- Questions are the most important safety tool. If you have any questions about how to use the laser cutter or anything else in the lab, ask them before you start.
- To operate any machine safely, you must be alive, awake, alert, and enthusiastic. If you are sleepy or intoxicated, come back another time when you are up to the task.
- If anything out of the ordinary happens during your cut, stop the machine and notify an instructor immediately. Do not attempt to fix the cutter yourself.
- Cut only the approved materials listed on this page. Talk to an instructor if you make significant changes to the settings in the material library.
Fire safety
The most important part of fire safety happens before you begin your cut.
- Never cut an unidentified material or an unapproved material.
- Make sure the bed is clean before you load your stock. Debris from previous operations can cause or accelerate a fire.
- The work area around the laser cutter should be free of clutter. There must be nothing flammable in the vicinity of the cutter.
- Thin stock, lots of close-together cuts, coated stock (including paper or tape), dirty or poorly focused optics, and improper cutting speed increase the chance of fire. Verify all of these things before you start.
- Ensure that the exhaust damper is open before you start your job. Stop the machine immediately and notify an instructor if you notice anything wrong with the exhaust system.
- You must remain at the cutter for the entire duration of your cutting or engraving operation. Plan ahead. The cutter calculates and displays the duration of each job. If you cannot stay until the job finishes, don't start it.
No matter how careful you are, a fire can start at any time during a laser machining operation — no matter what kind of stock you are cutting. Small fires are easy to deal with — you can blow them out like a candle. Large fires are another matter. A large fire is a small fire plus time. This is why it is essential that you pay close attention to the machine during the entire cutting operation. If a fire starts, don't panic. But act promptly. Put out the fire while it is small.
It takes three things to sustain a fire: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Once a fire starts in the laser cutter, you can't do much about the fuel. Removing the head and oxygen will put it out.
If a fire starts:
- Remove the heat source: press the stop button on the touchscreen. Use the up button to move the cutting head out of the way.
- Do not turn the laser cutter off. This will prevent you from moving the cutting head out of the way.
- Most fires go out after you stop the cut. In some cases, the fire may generate enough heat to sustain itself even after the cut has stopped.
- Moving the cutter will give you a clear view of the stock to assess the situation, provide a clear path for taking further action, if needed, and protect the cutting head.
- Reduce available oxygen: close the exhaust damper.
- If there is still a small flame after the previous steps (the size of a candle flame), open the lid and blow it out like a candle.
- If the flame is larger than a candle flame or you cannot blow it out and it is safe to do so, smother the fire by placing the piece of acrylic kept next to the cutter on top of your stock.
- If the previous steps do not extinguish the fire, pull the fire alarm. Alert the instructor on duty immediately. If it is safe to do so, the instructor may attempt to put out the fire with the fire extinguisher.
Always alert the instructor on duty if a fire starts. The instructor will help rectify the problem that caused the fire by changing some combination material, cutting parameters, or cut program.
Eye safety
The laser cutter has interlocks that turn off the beam when the lid is open. Never attempt to override the safety interlocks.
