Full Spectrum 40W Laser Cutter Up and Running!

At the Red Bull Creation this year, i3Detroit won a 40W Full Spectrum Generation 5 Hobby Laser with a 16″ x 12″ bed.

This prize was awarded to i3Detroit as the Team Choice award prize.

After much design work, purchasing, and duct installation, we now have the machine up and running in the Fab Lab. Wiki page for the machine.

We will be having training classes on the machine in the coming weeks, so watch this space and our mailing list for information.

One of the first things we cut on it was a new door placard for the Fab Lab, as it still had all the vinyl from its previous life as a chemistry lab.

Designing the sign in Inkscape:

Halftone raster engrave settings in RetinaEngrave, the control software cum Windows print driver:

Vector engrave and cut settings:

Finished product (~40 minutes of laser time, 90% of which was raster):

Installed on door:

Our ventilation system really sucks!