New to me Laser Engraver

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drgon47

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Just bought a ULS Laser Engraver Model 1720C.

 
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You should be able to get your peps cut out with that shouldn't you? That would be so amazing if it did!
 
It is pretty easy to put a pep into a laser cutter. If it works like the CO2 Epilogue laser they have at the TechShop, it'll take a corel (I think that's the program) raster/vector file. You just need to go from Pep -> pdf -> corel vector.
It's easy to do the cuts, adding the numbers and fold lines is a bit harder. You either use a regular printer on the cardstock first, and do a few test runs with the targeting laser on to make sure the cuts line up with the printed lines, and then do a vector cut with JUST the outer lines (no folds, no numbers). Alternatively (and cooler) you put the pdf into corel as a raster image, and then vector trace the outside of the pieces, then it will etch the numbers and fold lines, and vector cut the outer lines. It all depends on how your laser works, though. Awesome catch, those things are crazy cool. The three at the TechShop are booked all day every day.
 
Yeah, laser cut pepakura is definitely on the list to try out soon. More immediately I want to try and make some stencils. The laser lens we have is good for .003", so I should be able to make some nice stencils for my Carter helmet.
 
If you use the laser cutter correctly, paper is just fine. You have to watch it for a "just in case" but wood and cardboard are the main things that get laser cut at the TechShop I go to.

A common practice is to lay a piece of damp newspaper over the thing being cut, as it absorbs the excess heat (which is what will cause a fire), but you have to make sure it's not so wet as to soak the cardstock.
 
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