Step by step
Set up a machine you have just plugged in
A machine that is connected, knows its own size, and has cut its first part.
Before you start
Somebody in front of a laser for the first time.
- The machine powered on, with water and extraction running.
- A USB cable or a network cable.
- A piece of scrap.
Connect it
Power the laser on and plug it in. The software looks for it and shows what it found; pick it and the status dot goes solid.
Nothing else in this list works until that dot is solid, so do not move on while it is still searching.
Tell it the size of the bed and where zero is
The software needs the bed size, how many heads the machine has, and which corner the machine measures from. Those three decide where every part lands.
The origin corner is the one it drives to when it homes. Get it wrong and everything cuts mirrored or off the sheet.
Learn which layer actually cuts
Every layer has a switch that decides whether it goes to the machine at all. A drawing can look complete on screen and send half of itself.
This is the single most common surprise for a new operator, and it is worth two minutes now rather than one ruined sheet later.
Frame it before you cut it
Framing walks the head around the outside of the job with the laser off. It is the only way to know where the part will land before it lands there.
Watch the head, not the screen. If it runs off the material, move the job and frame again.
Cut something small
A 20 mm square on scrap. It proves the connection, the bed size, the origin corner, the layer and the focus in one go.
Measure it. If a 20 mm square comes out 20 mm, the machine and the software agree and you can trust the rest.
How to know it worked
- The status dot is solid, not searching.
- Framing walks a rectangle around where you expect the part.
- A 20 mm test square measures 20 mm.
When it goes wrong
4The machine does not appear.
Check it is powered and the cable is in. On USB, try the other port; on a network, check the machine and the computer are on the same one.
It cuts mirrored.
The origin corner in the profile is not the corner the machine actually homes to.
Half the drawing did not cut.
A layer had its output switched off. It is the most common one.
The square measures 19.6 mm.
That is the machine's own geometry. Run the axis calibration and it is corrected on every job afterwards.