This machine uses a laser that burns through the material. The more powerful the laser, the more materials it can cut. Our laser beam is 0.3mm diameter and is 60W (watts) of power, this means it can cut really fancy shapes and patterns. The axis the laser works on are X & Y. In industry lasers are used to cut through metal but their power is KW (1000’s of watts). In school, our laser is not that powerful but it will cut through acrylic really well and leave a good quality finish. We generally use 3mm thick acrylic as the cutting time is fairly quick and intricate designs can be cut out. We occasionally use 5mm thick acrylic but the cutting times are fairly long. The laser can also engrave aluminium and cut through special Birch plywood but only up to 9mm thick, it is really slow and the edge of the wood is burnt and needs a lot of sanding to make it right. To set up the machine you need to: 1)Turn the machine on at the back. 2)Let the machine run through it’s start up routine. 3)Open the guard and place the material in the top left hand corner. 4)Move the laser head over the material and press the button ‘Auto-focus’ 5)Once the laser probe has registered the thickness of material, press back 6)The laser is controlled by Corel Draw, cuts with the colours Red for the outside shape, Red of any inner shapes and Blue to engrave lines. 7)Go to file, Print, select Laser and then Properties. 8)In the menu, Set Blue and Red to 100% power and 1.2% speed for 3mm acrylic. 9)Click OK and OK and the file will be sent to the printer, you will see the file name in the control panel. 10)Turn on the extraction (otherwise the laser will not fire) and press start. 11)Your part will be cut out, wait until the beep as sounded to open the guard and take your parts out. 25W Laser Cutter Questions to answer: 1) How does the Laser cutter cut through materials? 2) What is the most generally used material on the laser cutter? 3) Why is 5mm acrylic not cut that often on the machine? 4) What axis does the CNC laser cutter work on? 5) How many steps are their involved in setting up the CNC laser cutter? 6) What are the two main colours used in laser cutting? 7) What is the diameter of the laser beam? 8) What happens if you do no turn on the extractor? Now you have an idea about the laser cutter, turn your answers into a section on the CNC page in your portfolio. Also add a screenshot of your design in the corel draw software and a photo of using the laser cutter.

This machine uses up to eight different tools to machine round and hexagonal bar into different shapes. The maximum size we use is 35mm diameter as this is the size that fits into the chuck. On this machine we can turn three different materials: Mild Steel Bar (Round and hexagonal) - Grade En1a Aluminium – Free cutting grade Nylon Generally, you would draw your turned part on Denford’s own CAM software (VR turning) to draw the part accurately. Once the part is drawn, in 2D, a 3D rendering can be used to check the part for a realistic view of the part. The drawing is then sent through to the simulation section where you choose your material and this generates the G&M codes that will tell the CNC machine what to do. You watch a simulation of how the machine will turn your part and during this simulation, it will check for any machining errors. Sometimes, what you draw cannot be machined exactly as you want, but the send simulation shows exactly how the part will look. The axis the CNC lathe works on are X & Z. Once the part has been simulated we : 1)Turn on the CNC Lathe. 2)Open the guard and place the material into the chuck. 3)Use the software to Autohome the tool turret. 4)Use the digital calipers to set the distance sticking out from the chuck to two decimal places. 5)Type that measurement into the software. 6)Tell the software to machine, the machine moves to within 30mm of the end of the bar sticking out. 7)If this is not the case we abort, if it is the case we press the green button and machine our part. If we are machining Mild Steel, we need to use coolant to keep the part from over-heating and reduce tool wear. Otherwise we ‘dry’ cut without coolant. Questions to answer: 1) What are the three materials you can machine on the CNC lathe? 2) What axis does the CNC lathe work on? 3) What are the two codes called that control the CNC lathe? 4) What happens once you have drawn the 2D version of your part? 5) Why is it important to watch the simulation of the machining? 6) How many steps are there for setting up the actual CNC lathe? 7) What is the basic safe rule of lathe machining? 8) Why is coolant used on En1a Mild steel coolant? Now you have an idea about the CNC lathe, turn your answers into a section on the CNC page in your portfolio. Also add a screenshot of your design in the VR turning software (ask Mr Smith for this) and a photo of using the CNC lathe. Denford CNC Lathe

This is a fantastic machine that prints out an exact replica of what you have drawn in 3D CAD (Autodesk Inventor). Our machine uses PLA (plastic) and support material. The process works on melting the PLA to produce the part on a print pend. The 3D CAD part needs saving as a.STL file which stands for Steroligraphy. Once this has been done the.STL file can be loaded up into the print software and imported. Once imported, the part will be added to the pack so a number of parts can be printed off at any one time. The only downside to this process is that it is not cheap and it can take hours to print a decent sized part off. To use this machine you would: 1)Turn the machine on and let it warm up to temperature and auto setup. 2)Add SLT file to Markerbot virtual print bed software to follow set up 3)Press print on the 3D printing software. 4)Leave the machine to print overnight or through the day. 6)Take off part off printer printer bed and take off raft and supports with pliers Makerbot Mini – 3D Printer Questions to answer: 1) What materials does the machine use? 2) Which material is the support material? 3) How do you get rid of the support material? 4) What is the name of the file needed from Autodesk Inventor 3D CAD? 5) How many steps are their involved in operating the 3D Printer? 6) How many parts could be added onto the tray to be printed at any one time? 7) What is the cost of running the 3D Printer? 8) How long does it take to print off a part? Now you have an idea about the 3D Printer, turn your answers into a section on the CNC page in your portfolio. Also add a screenshot of your design in the Makerbot software (ask Mr Smith for this) and a photo of using the 3D printer.