Hardware
RANGER III 600×380 24″x15″ Laser Desktop
- Precision: 0.01mm , resolution: 0.05mm
- Y axis travel: 380mm
- Speed: 600mm/s for X during engraving
- Woodcutting: up to 1/2 inch
- Support: AI, SVG, PDF, DXF, PLT, DST, DSB, UD5, BMP, JIF, JPG, PNG etc
- Application supported: CorelDRAW, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Inkscape, and more
https://lightobject.com/ranger-iii-600×380-24×15-laser-desktop
Software
The software used for the Ranger laser is LaserCAD, its a free software for PC. A few of the computers in the workroom have LaserCAD installed. The native file format for LaserCAD is pwj5. You can design for the laser in Adobe Illustrator, Corel, Canva, Affinity or any other graphic design program. Save as SVG or DXF.
Power
The laser machine has multiple on/off switches on the bottom right side.
- Big red is the emergency, twist to reset to on
- Power for the laser tube in the red rocker switch
- Silver circle button is machine power.
- There is a master power switch at the very back right.
- Be sure the coolant unit, next to the computer is on. (Laser wont run without it)
- Be sure the laser exhaust is venting correctly.
Select your Material
This machine can cut wood, acrylic, fabric, paper, felt, cork and other similar materials. See lists on the page about the Universal laser for details on what materials you can cut. Place your material on the bed. Note that the bed is not always in a consistent location, that’s why you will set the origin or 0,0 later.
The size of the laser bed is about 16 x 24 inches.
Set the Z-index of the laser
If Z (height) of the laser to the material is not set the laser will not cut as expected. Use the pre-cut piece of metal to focus the Z. Move the bed using the Z button up, closer to the laser, then move it down incrementally until you can just barely move the metal spacer under it. DO NOT push the bed up and crunch the laser with the spacer piece go high then slowly make the gap bigger. Be sure you set the Z-index on top of the material you will cut.
Import or Open your design
Click the File menu and select “Import” option or click the system tool bar icon to find the file saving category. This software support files with the following suffix: AI, DXF, PLT, DST, DSB, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, MNG, ICO, TIF, TGA, PCX, JBG, JB2, JBC, PGX, RAS, PNM, SKA, and RAW.
The native file format is .jpw5 – DO save your file in that format so that you can print it again and don’t need to go through all the settings.
Check out this user manual: https://bosslaser.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Download-HP-LaserCAD-Manual.pdf
Cut Settings
Always test your materials before you run the job. Know that if you test cut settings at the top left, where the laser is most powerful it will be slightly less powerful at the bottom right.
The program lets you select objects and sort by color. Each color uses different cut settings. The parameters are:
- Cut – burns all the way through the material separating it.
- Engrave – goes right to left to top to bottom back at forth burning an image into the material.
- Engrave and Cut – burns an image or design and then traces a line around it to give a smooth edge.
- Power – the intensity of the laser, from 1% to 100%
- Speed – set in Millimeters per Second
- CUT: Up to 380mm/s for cut
- ENGRAVE: Up to 600mm/s
Color Settings
You can set the mode, speed and power per color and arrange layers in the order in which you want them to cut. Engrave first, cut last.
Common Cut Parameters for Our Materials
Copied from Pines Peak Library District (Source)
| 75 watt Epilog Helix Suggested Material Settings | ||
| Material | DPI/Freq. | Speed & Power |
| Acrylic | ||
| Photo Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 40p |
| Text/Clipart Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 60p |
| Text/Clipart Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 55p |
| Cutting 1/8” (3 mm) | 5000 f | 25s 100p |
| Cutting 1/4” (6 mm) | 5000 f | 15s 100p |
| Cutting 3/8” (9.5 mm) | 5000 f | 5s 100p |
| Cutting Note: Adjusting the standard focus distance so it is closer to the lens by about .030” (.762 mm) will produce better edge quality on 1/4” acrylic and thicker. Two passes may produce better results and allow for cutting through thicker materials. There are two types of acrylic: cast is better for engraving (creates a frosted look when engraved) and extruded acrylics are better for smooth-edged cutting. | ||
| Alumamark | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 20p |
| Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 10p |
| Anodized Aluminum | ||
| Photos/Clipart | 300 DPI | 90s 35p |
| Photos/Clipart | 600 DPI | 90s 30p |
| Text | 600 DPI | 90s 40p |
| We find when engraving anodized aluminum, text appears best at 600 DPI, but photos and clipart can be engraved with great detail down to 300 DPI. | ||
| Cork | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 30p |
| Cutting | 500 f | 25s 30p |
| Cotton | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 10p |
| Denim | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 15p |
| Fleece | ||
| Engraving | 150 DPI | 90s 15p |
| Cutting | 2500 f | 25s 5p |
| When engraving fabric, try changing the graphic to 80% gray and use the Jarvis dithering pattern for the best results. Every fabric you are cutting will need to have adjusted settings – find a small swatch of the fabric you can test first. | ||
| Glass | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 35s 100p |
| When etching glass, try changing the graphic to 80% gray before engraving and using the Jarvis dithering pattern. You can also diffuse heat by covering the glass with a thin sheet of dish soap. | ||
| Leather | ||
| Photo Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 20p |
| Text/Clipart Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 30p |
| Cutting 1/8” (3 mm) | 500 f | 30s 60p |
| Mat Board | ||
| Engraving | 400 DPI | 70s 60p |
| Cutting | 500 f | 20s 30p |
| Bottom-up engraving is suggested for mat board etching. | ||
| Marble | ||
| Photo Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 35p |
| Text Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 45p |
| Every marble is very different for settings. Start low and increase the power with a second run if you haven’t used that marble before. | ||
| Painted Brass | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 25p |
| Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 20p |
| Plastics | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 20p |
| These settings work well with many plastics, including plastic phones and covers. Even one color plastics can achieve a great look when engraved. | ||
| Plastic (2 Layer Engraveable) | ||
| Engraving | 300 DPI | 90s 60p |
| Engraving | 600 DPI | 90s 50p |
| Cutting 1/8” (3 mm) | 5000 f | 30s 70p |
| Rubber Stamps | ||
| Engraving | 400 DPI | 50s 100p |
| Engraving | 600 DPI | 60s 100p |
| Cutting | 100 f | 40s 100p |
| Stainless Steel w/Cermark | ||
| Engraving | 600 DPI | 45s 100p |
| Twill | ||
| Cutting | 2500 f | 50s 25p |
| Wood | ||
| Photo Engraving | 600 DPI | 60s 100p |
| Clipart/Text Engraving | 600 DPI | 50s 100p |
| Clipart/Text Engraving | 300 DPI | 45s 100p |
| Deep Engraving | 600 DPI | 30s 100p |
| Thin Veneer | 500 f | 30s 9p |
| Cutting 1/8” (3 mm) | 500 f | 45s 100p |
| Cutting 1/4” (6 mm) | 500 f | 25s 100p |
| Cutting 3/8” (9.5 mm) | 500 f | 12s 100p |
| When cutting wood, multiple passes may allow cutting of thicker materials. You can readjust the focus between passes down to the center point of the cut for the best results. | ||