Syracuse Architecture Technology

Semester hours: M-F, 10 am - 6 pm

The school has two Universal Laser Systems X-660 laser cutters with single 50 watt lasers and a third PLS 675 with a 60 watt laser. They are located in Room 011 of Slocum Hall, around the corner from the Plotting Room. The laser cutters are run by trained operators, and the room is open only when an operator is present. Only operators are allowed to run the laser cutters.

Cost
The cost to have material cut is $0.15 per minute. Students must supply their own approved material (see below). Fees will be deducted from the student's lab printing account within 48 hours after the cut(s). This may result in the printing account having a negative balance, preventing printing until more funds are added. Negative balances at the end of the semester will be charged against the student's bursar account. To obtain a detailed cost breakdown of the performed cuts, please email Chuck (crsavage@syr.edu). *** For money saving tips, please see the section Autocad Important Tips below.

Turnaround Time
Please allow 24-48 HOURS for completion of your work. Every effort will be made to finish sooner, but long queues or large jobs can cause delays. Normally, work is cut in the order it is received; however, unusually large or time consuming jobs may be delayed to prevent one person's job from tying up the machines for an extended period of time. Finished work will be placed on the shelves in Room 012.

How to Submit Your Files for Cutting
Architecture students can have materials cut on the laser cutters by dropping off files and materials with an operator. ONLY work related to architecture courses will be cut--no personal, non-architecture material. Your material must fit on the 18"x32" laser cutter bed--if it is too large, you must trim it down to size PRIOR to dropping it off--the operator will not trim oversized material for you. A trimming device is mounted on the wall in Room 012.

Students must supply their own materials. Bring your files on a USB memory stick or cdrom to the room when it is open and the operator will copy them to the computer. Your files must use the template discussed below.

In order to protect against accidental charging of incorrect accounts, students may not drop off work on behalf of others. Students must show their SU ID when dropping off work. The operator will verify that the student has a valid lab account prior to accepting work.

Laser Cutter Template
All work MUST be submitted as AutoCAD dwg files using the AutoCAD laser cutter template. The template file can be downloaded here or obtained by logging onto a lab computer and looking in the Resource drive (Drive letter R) in the ‘Laser Cutter Template’ folder. AutoCAD files can be saved in 2010 or earlier dwg formats.

The template provides a pre-defined bounding box that matches the laser cutter bed dimensions (18" x 32"). You can copy the bounding box as many times as you want in the same file; this way you won't need to have multiple files. The template provides layer colors pre-set for cut, score, fold and skip (the score color will occur before cut).

Cut = blue - laser completely penetrates material
Score = red - laser makes shallow cut
Fold = yellow - laser makes deeper cut to allow natural folding
Skip = white - laser does not cut

The template also provides a space for you to specify the material used, your contact info, and notes you wish to convey to the laser cutter operator. If there are problems when cutting your work, operators need an easy way to reach you, or your work will be put on hold. Operators will not accept work that does not use this template!

Make sure that submitted files have your last name or lab username as part of the filename. This will help prevent mixups with other students' files. See extra tips in the box to the right.

Acceptable materials
- Chipboard - up to 1/8" - with charred edges
- Museum board - up to 1/8" (black, brown, grey) - cuts nicely
- Museum board - up to 1/8" (white, off-white) - with charred edges
- Corrugated cardboard - up to 1/8"
- Basswood - up to 1/8" - heavily charred edges and orange surface if not protected with paper masking
- Plexiglas, Lucite, Acrylic - up to 1/4" thick

Prohibited materials
Lexan, PVC, styrene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, vinyl, glass, foam core, metal, and any material not listed above. Prohibited materials could melt on the laser bed or release toxic gas. Plastics can release carcinogens such as benzene.

The SU Bookstore sells chipboard and acrylic. Please note, the bookstore also sells material that looks like acrylic but is made of pvc and styrene, which is not allowed on the laser cutter.

Vector vs Raster Cuts
Only vector cuts are allowed, no raster cutting (it is too time-consuming). When choosing fonts in AutoCAD, make sure to use ONLY VECTOR fonts (which have a small TT symbol next to the names). Raster fonts take forever to cut and will not be cut.

AutoCAD Important Tip
Following this tip will REDUCE the time it takes to cut your model, saving you money.
1) OVERKILL
Before dropping off your AutoCAD DWG file, make sure to use the OVERKILL command on it. This will remove duplicate lines and combine line and arc segments that overlap. If your file has lines on top of lines, it can result in a much slower cutting time, or excessive charring of the edges. From the AutoCAD command line, type overkill, or from the menus, click Express, Modify, Delete Duplicate. Don't save over your original file in case something goes wrong.

Refund Process
Refunds for the laser time cost will be granted only if the laser malfunctions or the model is accidentally broken by an operator. Material costs are not reimbursed under any circumstance.

The school is not responsible for failed jobs, material damaged by the machine, jobs not finished before your deadline, or models left in the room after they have finished.

Questions
If you have questions about use of the laser cutters, please drop by the laser cutter room to speak with operator Gary Cote, or contact us.