Quick start Tutorial - Laser cutting with the Epilog Fusion M2

🔺 Read the safety instructions before use! 🔺 Fire hazard - never leave the laser cutter unattended!

Step	Action
1	Turn the machine ON →Main switch on the right side of the laser cutter. The machine runs its homing operation click an image to enlarge!
2	Load your material on the machine bed align it to the zero position on the Ruler (or any other coordinate corresponding to the settings/positions of your graphic set in the vector program). The material should be as flat as possible, if there are bends in the material the lasercutter might be out of focus in certain areas and the cutting power will decline.
3	Adjust the focus height: Use the focusing tool and attach it to the laser head. Select the focus in the laser cutter control panel and use the joystick (up and down direction) to change the distance of the laser head to the cutting table (stick to the left to switch the speed mode fast/slow). When the focus height is reached (slight touch of the focus tool on the inserted material), press the center of the joystick to set the z-zero position (to save the correct focus height). Remove the focus tool. Alternative: Use the autofocus option in the lasercutter software and enter the material thickness of your material used. For very thick materials where multiple passes are needed to cut through it may be beneficial to vary the focus height depending on the amount of passes. E.g.: If you are cutting 10 mm material and need 3 passes to cut through, start with the focus height on 10 mm, after the first pass set it to 6 mm and after the second to 2 mm. That way the focus will be always at an optimal height for cutting through the material without expanding the cutting borders too much.
4a	On the computer for the laser cutter control (the Mac mini right beside): Open Affinity Designer. Your lasercut job must be set up in Affinity Designer - it’s a vector graphic program!
4b	In the upper menu: click on “File”-> “new” and select “1000x700” (Laser bed size) or alternative “600x300”, a frequent material size.
4c	In Affinity Designer either import your SVG over “File”->”Place”->now choose your file and click on your work field to place the file. Alternatively -> create your own design right in Affinity Designer. Set the line strength on your vector graphic to 0.2 (under stroke) for vector cutting everything. →Way above can only get raster engraved! Note: to change the line width you must first select the object with all its lines (e.g. left click and move the mouse to create the selection window and select the object).
4d	Design ready to cut? Click on “File”->” Print” and select “Epilog Fusion” (usually already pre-selected).
4e	Click on “Range and Scale” -> “Document Layout” and choose “N-UP”. It's necessary to receive the right zero position
4f	Now click on “Print”. The print job is sent to a "handler program" that opens up. After a short time the Epilog app starts and takes over the print job
5	Open the “Epilog App” The Epilog app should now receive the "Print-job" Click on “Edit Settings” to do the laser cut settings.
5a	set the "Job Type" to "Vector" or alternatively "Combined" in case of dual operation of Vector cutting and raster engraving. (for engraving -> see the additional tutorial for "Engraving with the Laser Cutter"). Go in the settings table to “"Vector Settings" and set the Laser power and moving speed according to your material selection. For example, a combination for cutting 5mm acrylic glas can be: Power =100%, SPEED 4%. 6mm Acrylic glas works with a speed setting of 2%. For acrylics stronger than 1mm, it is rare that speed values above 10% are used on this device. For more information look at the empirical material settings table. in the line “Speed” set the moving speed for the laser beam.
5b	in the line "Power” set the power of the laser beam
5c	Go to “frequency” and set it to 100%.
5d	And the last setting: at “resolution” move the “DPI - resolution” slider back and forth and set it e.g. to 1200 dpi. confirm everything with “ok”. *This step is necessary due to a bug
6	Click on> “preview” (on the right-hand side of the program window). The cutting lines should now be displayed in red. Adjust the setting at the bottom right (via the slider) to set the threshold of the line thickness differentiation between cutting and engraving. (engravings are indicated in black but won't be processed in "vector cut" only mode).
7	Finally, click on “Print” to send the job to the cutter. The cutter receives the cut-job and indicates the reception on the small display of the machine (visible if the scollable menu is on the "job" position). You also get a processing time prediction (duration of the cut time) on that display.
8	Check that the buttons of the exhaust extraction system are showing green light! The extraction system is automatically controlled by the laser (remotely turned ON and OFF). it is important that the extraction system works properly while the laser is running - otherwise a focus lens damage will occur!
9	On the laser cutter press “Start" to run the laser cutting process for your file! Your cutting job starts immediately and is now running! You can now enjoy how the robotic laser machine brings your artwork into reality!
10	Finished? turn everything off! Go reverse in everything you turned on the extraction system turns off automatically after 3 minutes of post running leave everything just tidy! clean the focussing Lens daily with the lens cleaning liquid and a cotton swab!