Quick start Tutorial - Laser Engraving with the Epilog Fusion M2

Step

Action 

1

Turn the machine ON

→Main switch on the right side of the laser cutter.

• The machine runs its
  homing operation

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).

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.

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 or pixelgraphic file (e.g. a JPEG)

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.

• in case you want to engrave from a vector graphic: Set the line strength on your vector graphic to more then 0.2 points (under stroke) to make the lines "engraveable", or alternatively set the line strength to zero and work only with infills for engraving.
• 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).
• alternative - the pixelgraphic: in case you want to engrave a pixelgraphic - just place it where you want, scale it if necessary and go on with the following steps.

4d

Design ready?

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 settings.

5a

set the "Job Type" to "Engrave"

or alternatively "Combined" in case of dual
operation of Vector cutting and raster engraving.

(for cutting-> see the other tutorial for "Cutting with the Laser Cutter").

Go in the settings table to “"Raster Settings" and

set the Laser power and moving speed

according to your material selection.

For example, a combination for engraving wood can be: Laser power =70%, laser speed 40%.

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, cutting paths in red but won't be processed in "Engraving" only mode).

7

Finally,

click on “Print”

to send the job to the cutter.

The cutter receives the 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 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!

10

On the laser cutter press “Start" to run the laser process for your file!

Your laser job starts immediately and is now running!

You can now enjoy how the robotic laser machine brings your artwork into reality!

11

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!