IDLAB Application Note #1 Instructions on how to use the laser engravers for stencil production. By Julien C & Jose D - 05/07/2018Contact Information: Juliend@hawaii.edu & jduron@hawaii.edu

Before starting it is recommended that - Read on what is possible usable material for this laser engraver before application.- Read the manual on How to use the Rayjet GUI which are in the server or the physical manual; which are

located in the red box right next to the laser engravor for the maintenance instruction and safety procedure.

- Try to avoid looking at the laser during the print! It’s Awesome to see the laser head in action but not good for your eyes.

You will need…- Metal panel Approximately 12x12x1/32”. - Bottle of squirt bottle. (This could be tap water)- Roll of 0.005”~ 0.007” thick Mylar Sheet- Rayjet Laser Engravers- Computer with the Rayjet software are installed (Laptop is located near the printer already)- Forcing jig. (Metal piece are typically located in the draws under the 3D printer)- PDF with your stencil frame and the PCB Pastemask layer (This is not an instruction on how to design this.)

1) Find the roll of the Mylar sheet (typically located back of the Matt’s desk) cut the side it with the scissors to the approximate side desired for the stencil. This entail slightly bigger than the stencil in question… so good size are approximately 1inch on the both side bigger than the actual print to provide room in the . Please don’t waste these Mylar by cutting excess amount.

2) Now that the Mylar is cut in sizes, the grab to the metal panel. Typically, it is located under the laser printer or on top of small Frigidaire refrigerators where we keep our solder paste.

3) Clean the surface with a brush to remove previously melted Mylar from surface of the metal panel. Apply of water to surface of the metal and place the Mylar sheet over the puddles and squeegee out the water while placing the Mylar to the corner to the edge of the metal sheet. During this process, try to remove as much air bubble that is trap under the sheet.

4) Wipe down any excessive liquid on the surface of the sheet and its surrounding with a disposable paper towel.

The final product of your effort should look like this. The mylar’s corner are matching the left corner of the sheet metal and there is very little to not air bubble present between metal panel.

6) Now place the metal panel with the Mylar into the laser engravers. Leave the laser engraver’s lid open

7) Turn on the power strips. This will turn on the laser engraver and the external fan. Be sure to check if the fan is operating.

8) The next step is adjusting the focus on the laser. The focus jig that is located in the drawer under the TAZ 3D printer on the right drawers. Place the Focusing jig to the lip of the arm of the laser head as shown in the image and make sure that jig is suspended on the arm over the Mylar sheet. Gently increase the z axis using the control on the right top of the engravers and incremented until the laser beds lightly knocks the jig off of the lips. Now they are in focus. This process can be done through the computer as long as you are using the same metal panel as seen previously in the document. (See Additional Note #1 for the instructon)

9) You may now close the lid of the laser engravers.

Now, we moving on to the laptop.10) Open the Stencil PDF in the Adobe reader.

11) Note File > Print…

12) Select “property” under the print’s window to open the configuration’s window for the Rayjet printer.

13) Under the Material tab you can set up the power setting. There is sub tabs under the material that determine the intensity and the speed of the laser head based on the color of the in the pdf. Currently we have red as a cutting (vectors: following lines) and the black as raster (Common back and forth Row by Row top to bottom print). It is recommended that for the cut profile to reduce the power (30-50%) and for the raster to higher power (70-100%). The image shows the profile setting used by this example.

Engrave Profile Setting Tab View Cut Profile Setting Tab View

Always enable air assist and DISABLE AUTO FOCUS!!!!!!

You can leave the material Selection as standard and the thickness as 2 mm

14) Under the setting tab, you can leave most of them as it is. Engraving direction must be pointed down. The resolution selection depending on the Stencil’s pdf, so input them accordingly.

After the setting is set, the press the play button to upload your configuration to rayjet printer and to take you back to the print window screen.

15) Now press print and wait till the print is done and the laser head are no longer moving.

16) Open the lid and remove the metal sheet from the laser. Finally remove the cut Mylar sheet from the surface of the metal backing. The Completed product are shown in the image below

Additional Note#1 You can change the z axis by opening the Rayjet Mini-Manager at the corner of the windows

After double clicking, this GUI will arise. There should be three tabs, click Laser. If the laser is turn on, you can manually input the z position from the laser tabs. Set this values 13.78 mm