Lasersaur

The Lasersaur has a bed size of 1220mm x 610mm with the power of a 100 watt laser output that gives it the ability to cut and engrave large sheets of material. Lasersaur is an open-source laser cutter with the ability to cut paper, card, plastic, wood and textiles at a high velocity and accuracy.

Lasersaur, Assembled at the Fab Lab, School of Architecture, University of Limerick in 2013 by Carlos Cámara, Stephen Bourke, Emmanuel Chomarat, David Grace, Weixang Huang, Peter Lawlor, Klest Pango, Michael McLaughlin & Javier Buron.

Preparing Files

• Open any 2D drafting software like Illustrator, Inkscape, Autocad or Draftsight (freeware).
• Draw your bed dimensions (1220mm x 610mm). Draw your required design/shape to be cut/engraved. It is good practice to make all lines continuous polylines.
• Put cut lines in one colour and engraving lines in another colour, this is how Lasersaur differentiates between different lines.
  • If you are using a CAD program, save your file (you may need to save file as an old version (~2004) so your svg software can read it).
  • Open your CAD file in a software like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape, both of which can produce compatible .svg files
• Save your drawing as a .svg file

Please follow this guide for setting up Inkscape to work with the Lasersaur.

Operating the Lasersaur

• Before using the machine, take note of the emergency stop button, the closest fire point, and fire extinguishers and the lab's fire safety procedure.
• Open the Lasersaur door and place the material, aligned to the top left of the bed.
• At the right hand side of the laser head, there is an adjustment screw, loosen to adjust the height of the lens. Using the spacer (approx. 12mm space with Lasersaur logo) hanging at the side of the machine - place this between the nozzle and your material. Tighten the laser head at this height. (See the above image)
• Close the door again.

• Turn on Laser with the switches marked UPS, ON/OFF, and EXTRACT.
• Open your web browser (Chrome is recommended for this purpose). Type lasersaur.local into your address bar. The Lasersaur App should appear in browser. (On first use, it can take a minute or two for your laptop to connect to Lasersaur App).
• Import your svg file. Pick layers you would like to cut and assign specific power to those layers - the first box is feedrate (mm/min) and the second box is power (%).
• Home the Lasersaur with the Home button in the App, and press Play to cut.
• Do not open Lasersaur without first stopping the cut process, or making sure on the App that the job is complete.
• When cutting is complete, remove your design and enjoy assembling!