Thunder Nova Laser

General Information

The Nova 51 Thunder Laser can be found inside the Clean Room.

The Purpose of this page is to give a more in-depth look at the CO2 Laser.

If you have any issues with Clean Room equipment, the slack channels associated with this space include: #general, ##general, #shop-3d-printing, and #shop-laser.

Orientation

Laser Overview

Power Switch Panel

The main power switch is located on the right side of the machine about knee height. This is where the machine is powered on and communication with the laser takes place. Here are the functions of the panel.

Main Switch: Turns power on to laser for movement, communication and set up. This does not control the laser firing.

Laser Switch: Turns on laser power which includes water chiller, laser tube firing and air assist. If this is not on when you start your file the red light will be illuminated on the Machine Operation Status light located on the back top right of the machine.

Control Panel

The control panel is located on the right side of the machine. It controls all the functions of the laser including the following:

Reset: Moves the laser head back to it’s home position. (Make sure it’s path is clear of obstructions!)

Pulse: When held this will pulse the laser, used for laser alignments and ensure the laser is functioning.

Speed: Sets the traverse speed during manual operation. Should be 200mm/sec, please do not change! Also will change the speed during operation, you can change this.

File: This allows you to load files from the machine itself and run. In Lightburn you will send the file using wifi from the design computers to the machine. Pressing the file button will show your file to run.

Origin: This button will set the starting point of the laser, you can choose this in lightburn if you would like to use origin and where the origin is on your design.

Frame: Laser head will move to outline your design on the bed of the laser so you know exactly where it will create the design. Also helpful for aligning material not using the camera.

Start-Pause: This will run a file or pause an existing job. Useful if there is an issue you can correct during running of the job.

Esc: This will back out of a menu and is sometimes something you are asked to do after error of machine on main panel screen.

Enter: Confirm your selection in any menu.

Up and Down Arrows: Control the bed height of the machine.

Movement Arrows: Controls the laser head assembly position.

E-Stop

E-Stop immediately shuts off laser and power to the machine. Use in an emergency; use start/pause button or press reset to stop a job without taking down power.

Status Light

Green means ready for operation.
Red means in operation or failure to start. Review your setup if red light appears at start.

Air Assist

This panel shows what air assist is on during operation. The green lights glow, and can be pushed to test for air prior to running. High volume is used for line (cut) and low volume is used for fill (engrave)

Do not adjust needle valves below.

Water Chiller

The tube water chiller is controlled by the laser. It will automatically control the temperature to the tube. Operation is usually between 15-21C.

The fill level is on the back right side of the unit and the level should be somewhere in the green area. Check level prior to starting the machine for your scheduled time. If low, contact please report to our #shop-laser channel on Slack.

Honeycomb / Knife Bed

The honeycomb bed will be used for most applications. Items can be placed on the bed and fixtured using the tools located on the left side of the laser in the accessory storage.

Acrylic when cut can appear with marks, especially clear - this is the laser reflecting off of the honeycomb. To prevent that, you can remove the honeycomb to expose knife edges or use the stand offs in the accessory storage.

Laser Head Assembly

The laser head assembly is made up of several parts that provide focusing, air assist and the cutting and engraving beam.

Lense 3 (1) is located at the top and reflects the beam from the laser tube to the focusing lense.
The air assist (2) provides air to keep the lense clear during engraving as well as flame management during cutting operations.
The focusing lens tube (3) height is controlled by the brass knob (4) that adjust the focus.

Periodic removal of parts is necessary for cleaning and maintenance.

Pass-through and Clean-out Doors

The laser is equipped with a pass-through (above clean-out doors) to do larger material. This door is opened using the keys located in the storage accessory box on the left of the laser and there are two socket head cap screws that need to be removed inside the machine on the back side of the door.

Be careful when removing screws as the door will fall if unlocked.

Once removed you can slide a piece into the machine through the opening. Use an adjustable rolling stand from the shop for support.BEAMS CAN ESCAPE SO BE CAREFUL OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO YOUR EYES COULD HAPPEN!

Using the key provided in the accessory storage, open the lower doors and carefully lower. This will expose two rolling trays that catch debris from the cut. Remove all debris using the clean room vacuum.

Laser Tools

The laser tool caddy on the left side of the laser holds the tools you need for operation and daily maintenance of the machine.

The lowest tier holds the focusing guides, 6mm (standard) and 8mm (out of focus engraving). Keys to access the pass through and scrap trays is also included.

The second tier holds work holding options. The orange hold downs go into the honeycomb to secure materials. The pointed objects magnetically mount to the honeycomb for acrylic. Heavy duty magnets are included to secure lighter materials.

The top tier holds tools for layout and cleaning. Layout tools include marking tools for different materials, a 6’ tape measure for measuring your material, and a utility knife with blades for items that may not cut all the way through. The cleaning items under the acrylic include tools to remove the lenses, lens cleaner, q tip swabs, microfiber wipes and a set of tweezers.

The right front of the machine holds two centering scales. Centering scales make it easy to find the exact center of your material without math involved.

Please be courteous of the other members and return everything to its proper space after you are done with the machine.

What to (and not to) use in the CO2 Laser

Please see Laser Cutter Materials

On Lightburn, under the Library tab at the bottom of the screen, is a list of materials with sub folders that hold starting settings for some materials. Some have been tested and some have not - so it is always best to run the test material pattern on a scrap piece of the material you plan to run. Once you dial in a setting you are free to add that to the library under the appropriate material for future use.

Operating the Laser

Turn on the Main Switch and Laser Switch on the right side of the machine. Turn on the top, then the bottom switch.
If the laser head is not in the back left corner of the machine, press the red reset button on the laser control panel. If the head does not move to the rear left of the machine manually jog the head using the up and left arrows on the keypad. When it is fully back, press the origin button to set the home.
Open the lid of the laser to the full-up position.
Load material onto the honeycomb bed in the center of the machine. Align with rods or honeycomb if necessary.
Using the keypad on the right side of the laser to move the head over the material to set the laser focus.
- MAKE SURE TO LOWER THE LASER BED IF THE MATERIAL IS THICKER THAN ¼” OR THE BED IS RAISED HIGHER THAN THE FRAME AROUND THE HONEYCOMB.
Using the highest point of your material if it is not flat, carefully raise the bed until the material is slightly farther away from the nozzle than the thickness of the focus guide (the focus guide is 6mm thick)
- If your material has a bow or is not exactly flat it will affect the focus of the laser. This can cause issues with engraving and especially cutting through material properly. Use the 3D printed hold downs in areas where they won’t interfere with the laser head movement or if possible, cut your material smaller to remove the bow
Put the focus guide on your material under the nozzle and loosen the brass knob on the laser head assembly. Carefully lower the nozzle down to the top of the focus guide and tighten down the knob. Remove the guide and press reset to send the nozzle back to the home position in the back left of the machine. (MAKE SURE PATH TO HOME IS CLEAR!) The machine is now focused for the correct height of your material.
Thunder Laser 51/100 - Focusing the Laser

Lightburn - Job Origin

Lightburn official documentation: Coordinates and Origin

Open Lightburn on the computer.
Ensure the start from is set to user origin and choose where on your design you would like the job origin to be. Any corner, any edge - bottom left and center are two common starting points, but you may get creative when reusing scrap.
Create your design anywhere within the Lightburn grid design space.
Before sending to the machine ensure that your job origin is correctly selected, and the design shows the green dot of the origin in the correct part of your design.
- To make things easier, verify that "Cut Selected Graphics" and "Use Selected Origin" are enabled.
  Lightburn - Cut Selected Graphics section (Make sure both of these are enabled!)
Now that the file has been sent, return to the machine. Using either the keypad to move the laser head or moving the material to the laser head, align your chosen origin to the red dot.
When the laser dot is over your marked origin, press the origin button on the keypad of the machine.
Load your file, ensure everything looks correct on the screen and press frame to make sure your piece will fit in the designated area.
If your area fits, then you're ready to start the program.

Lightburn - Material Test

If it is a new material, open, resize and run the test material file located on the desktop at This PC/Desktop/Thunder Laser/Test Material Pattern.lbrn2 to determine your proper settings for fill and line.

Do not modify any cutting or engraving parameters. Size should be adjusted for the material used. We recommend deleting the material name present in the design and adding your own (before or after running the program).
You can use the engraving or cutting only projects if you don't require the full suite of material tests.
As mentioned before, the library tab in Lightburn contains both engraving and cutting presets for various materials. These may be a good resource if you're unable to run the material test. You really should just run your own tests though.

Lightburn - Fills, Lines and Layers

Up to 30 individual layers can be configured for different laser operations and settings therein. Colloquially, we use layers 2 and 3 (Red and Green) as our "default" Lines and Fills layers. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE LAYER 2 TO A FILL OPERATION, OR LAYER 3 TO A LINE OPERATION

Fill

Official Documentation: Fill Mode

The primary operation for engraving. Fills in the selected shape, line by line, with laser marks.

Highlight the areas to engrave and click on Layer 3 at the bottom of the screen.
Fill out the laser power, speed, and how many passes per your material test.
- Air Assist is toggled off for engraving (a small amount of air is still present to keep lens clear but will not impact your cut).

Line

Official Documentation: Line Mode

The primary operation for cutting (but can be used to engraved with appropriate power settings). Follows the profile of the selected shape.

Highlight the areas to cut and click on Layer 2 at the bottom of the screen.
Fill out the laser power, speed, and how many passes per your material test.
- Air assist should be enabled for line cutting unless under a special circumstance. Failure to set this correctly can start a fire.

Construction / Tool Layers

Official Documentation: Tool Layers

Sometimes you need construction lines or designs to ensure your design is aligned or sized properly. By clicking on these designs and putting them on the T1 or T2 layer they will not be active for the cut. This can also be used when doing multiple projects in one workspace where you can activate a certain design by moving to a fill or line layer and another design to a construction layer until you are ready to cut.

What to check before starting the job

Once you've finished creating your project in Lightburn (including setting all parts of your design to the appropriate Fill or Line layer), there are several things to verify before sending your project over to the machine, or starting the operation:

(Machine Side) Have you set focus correctly for your material?
(If using camera) Have you pressed the camera overlay button to ensure your material is where you think it is?
- - Is the laser head homed / origin set in the back left corner of the machine?
(If manually setting starting point) Is your head located at the material origin, and has origin been set?
(Lightburn) Is your power, speed, passes and air assist properly set up for each part of your design?
(Lightburn) Have you previewed your design using the preview button, and ensured you're engraving and cutting what you think you are?
(Lightburn) Are your engrave and cut steps in the correct order? Always engrave before cutting! Fills before lines!
(Physical) Is the green light lit?
(Physical) Is your water level in the green?

Sending off the job to the machine

If these are done, you are now ready to close the lid of the laser, and send the job to the laser, by pressing the SEND button.

It will prompt you to give your program a number (8 characters max).
If that named program already exists, it may ask if you want to overwrite it.
Sometimes, sending the file fails. Some reasons why:
- The Laser has 100 files on it already, and at least one must be cleared in the file menu.
- You've recently run a program, and you might need to hit escape and clear out the currently selected program on the laser cutter.
  - If that doesn't work, hitting escape a second time should reset the machine. It will travel back to your set origin point, so please keep that in mind!
    - If that doesn't work, turn it all off and back on again. Wait a few minutes for all the laser cutter systems to reboot and reconnect back to Lightburn. Why does it do this? Who knows!
Go to the laser, press the file button, choose the file you just sent and press enter.
Press the Start Button.
The red light on laser will go on and the head will move to the start position. A slight delay for the exhaust to start is present so be patient for the start of engraving.
The laser engraves and cuts your project. After completion wait until the main laser area has been evacuated of smoke and fumes, then open lid and remove your project.

What to do when you're done with your laser project

Move the laser head to the front center of the machine.
Lower the bed so the focus lens assembly can be removed.
Press down on the air fitting ring where the tube is inserted, and pul up on the tube to remove.
Loosen the brass knob while holding the lens assembly.
Carefully remove the lens assembly from the laser head.
Clean any soot from the outside of the lens assembly using a paper towel and water or IPA.
Carefully unscrew the cone end with the air fitting from the assembly to expose the focusing lens (preferably over the honeycomb bed).
Hold up the lens to a light and check if it's clear of smoke and debris. If it isn't, use the non-abrasive q tips and lens cleaner fluid from the laser tools stand, applying a minimal amount of pressure necessary to clear off the lens.
Reinstall cone end on the lens assembly.
Reinstall lens assembly into the laser head, and ensure it is installed as far as possible up into the laser head.
Push the air assist tube back into the fitting, while supporting the fitting and lens assembly.
Move the laser head to the back left corner using the keypad, and press origin when it is all the way back. Not doing this will cause the laser head to move back to your last set origin when the next user turns on the machine.
Clean up any debris inside the laser from your project. Ensure the honeycomb is clear for the next person.
Close the lid, and turn off the main switch and laser switch
Save your project in Lightburn, and then close Lightburn on the computer.

Tips from Tom

Projects may have soot from the engrave on them after lasering. It can be sanded if wood or wiped with a cleaner or isopropyl alcohol if a smooth liquid safe surface.
You can trace images in Lightburn by finding a picture online, paste in your design then go to Tools>Trace Image at the top of screen. You can adjust the trace by moving the two sliders to bring or remove definition. Some images are not high enough resolution to trace so find the highest resolution image you can.
You can create a vector image line engrave by simply designing your image and using the line tool at a lower power than you cut to just engrave. Due to the beam size it will be a very thin line. You can create a thicker line by defocusing the laser by bringing it farther away from the material then the focus tool requires. This also works for fill to get a darker engrave on wood but your image may not be as sharp.
For the life of the laser, always use 90% power or less. The test materials are set up to show you a good feed and speed to use. Slowing down is always preferable to more power for the life of the machine.
To not waste valuable material, always try to bring some extra of what you plan to laser and run the test file on that piece. This will show you the exact settings you want and takes just a few minutes to run.
Respect others time, if you have run into problems and are going to run over your time please look at the schedule and notify the next person. Better yet is to use the preview tool to see how long your design is going to take. End early and schedule another time if necessary.
Do not cut reflective material with the reflective side up and facing the laser assembly. The beam can reflect back into the head causing damage. Mirrors, mirrored acrylic, reflective cardstock, etc should be lasered from the back non reflective side.
If the machine is not operating as it should or you are unsure how exactly to run something, use the shop-lasers slack channel to reach out. If it is an emergency contact Tom Cook at 607-684-8937, text or call is fine.

Helpful Links

Thunder Laser Owners Group (Facebook)

List projects

General Information

List general information that can be found on this page, as well as what this page is for.

Beginner Project

General Information about project/its process:

This project will walk you through the creation of a snowman ornament made from plywood.

Machinery/Software's used: Lightburn, Thunder Laser

Materials Needed: Plywood

The average amount of time to complete the project:

Steps to complete the project:

Steps using Lightburn:

Open Lightburn
Create 3 circles, one large, medium, and small. Then place/overlap them with each other.
Click all three circles (Click one, then use the shift key to click the others, or click and drag a box over all three circles). On the left side of the screen there is an option to weld all selected shapes together, click it.
Now add 2 rectangles for the hat on top of the snowman. Make sure the top of the hat intersects with the bottom part of the hat.
Click the rectangles (Click one, then use the shift key to click the others, or click and drag a box over all three circles). On the left side of the screen there is an option to weld all selected shapes together, click it.
Add two oval eyes, and 3 circles for buttons onto the snowman.
Create a triangle for the nose. (Click, hold, and drag to create a curved line for the bottom of the triangle.) Do not close the nose, leave a little gap between it and the starting line.
Click on the nose, click edit in the upper part of the screen, click “Close path with tolerance”, and increase the threshold until the nose closes correctly.
Using the pen tool, draw a small smile on the snowman.
Click on the mouth you just drew. Click the outline button on the left-hand side.
Click, and delete the original drawn smile.
Create a scarf using the pen tool, do not close the shape
Click on the scarf, click edit, go to “Close path with tolerance”, and increase the threshold until the scarf closes itself.
Resize the scarf if needed and weld it to the snowman
Add the copied scarf and hat back to their spot
Add a circle near the top of the hat
Click the snowman, use the outline tool to create a small outline of the snowman
After running a test material, set your speed and power for each shape.

Steps for running it on the laser:

Check the water level for the Thunder Laser.
Turn on the machine, and turn on the laser.
Place plywood into the bed area, and secure it to the bed.
Run a test material.
Go to Lightburn, and click send.
Once secured, move your laser head over to the area you want to engrave, and click origin.
Click frame, If you like the size and If it doesn't run into anything, or over empty space, click start.
Stay beside the machine as it runs.
When the light goes from red to green, you can open the machine.

Cleaning the Machine:

Take your plywood, and design out of the machine.
Take the laser head off and clean it.
Reattach the laser head, and move the laser head to the back corner and click origin, then reset.
Vacuum out the area below the bed.

Intermediate Projects

General Information about project/its process:

Machinery Used:

Materials Needed:

Photo of end result:

The average amount of time to complete the project:

Steps to complete project:

Advanced Projects

Materials Needed:

Machinery Used:

Photo of end result:

The average amount of time to complete the project:

Steps to complete project: