Rhino file Setup

There are a number of ways to send information to the laser cutter; this tutorial is intentionally non-inclusive.
This tutorial is meant as a reference for trained users, and provides a step by step process based on Rhino CAD software.

Note: We have been on Rhino 7 to send jobs to the laser cutters; new software may allow us to print correctly from Rhino 8. We will keep shop users updated as we determine whether its printing glitches can be overriden by the new Epilog software.

There are many different ways to generate vector drawings (or pixelated images). Rhino will import nearly anything; this tutorial describes using Rhino to set up and send cut jobs. There are few alternatives installed on these computers, for their health, so please import into Rhino and ask for help if you're unfamiliar with it. Also keep in mind that importing geometry can bring in settings that appear differently here, like object properties affecting layer color, and which may take a little more time to identify if they interfere with print setup.

Open Rhino and import, open, or start a new file - make sure your units are consistent from drawing to plotting!

Drawings should be formatted to fit into a 36x24 inch bounding box that represents the physical dimensions of the laser bed. It is not possible to cut materials with larger dimensions than 36x24 in.

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Layers and Their Settings Are Important

Before setting up the print, set up the file to get it ready.

In the example below, the laser would first etch the red lines, then proceed to cut the green circle, and finally cut the outer rectangle. Line color/using layers identified by color is how we instruct the laser cutter about operation order.



The sequencing on laser cutters should be ordered: etching -----> interior cuts -----> exterior cuts.

In any CNC type file setup, it is important to order cutting operations from inside to outside, if this applies to your drawing - the reason being that if exterior cuts are done first, if parts are cut loose, there's nothing to stop them from shifting before the interior operations are completed- resulting at best in ruined parts.
Thinking ahead and setting up sensible cut order is important on all kinds of work - even more crucial to set correctly in CNC jobs for the water jet or any of the 3-axis routers.

In order to sequence the cutting of your drawing, if you have interior and exterior details, and/or a mix of etched/cut/rastered details, you will probably need to separate the geometry into individual layers to properly control cut properties (power/speed/ppi) as well as cut order.
This is done in the "processes" tab in the 80W Dashboard.



Different cut types (etching vs dashed lines made with low PPI vs through-cut lines) need to be separated by color. If different layers have the same color, you won't be able to separate them in settings. Cut order will match layer color order in Rhino.

More Detail

To reduce risk of charring or fire, there are several things you must always check.

To start, make sure your drawing is clean. Get rid of any duplicate objects, make sure control points are turned OFF on any objects in the cut window.
These things will cause repeated cutting over one spot, which burns badly.

Layers must also be completely cleaned up - no redundancies or inconsistencies. Check all your object properties as well as all the identifying colors. Set only one layer for each identifying color (easiest to do if you copy/paste just what you need into a clean new 3dm file).
If your drawing is big and cluttered (this happens frequently), then please copy and paste just the curves you need into a new file, and clean it there. As an example - we often see 3dm files with multiple layers with overlapping color properties. This can cause major issues with print settings that are obnoxious to troubleshoot, and even worse, be a pretty serious fire hazard. Please do not try to cut from a 3dm like this as-is - move cut parts into a clean new file.

In addition, curves drawn too close together can also start a fire. We've seen drawings with tightly packed notches, in attempts at flexures in corrugated cardboard, that showed signs of starting to burn out of control.

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Connecting and setup on Epilog Dashboard:

Log into your own account on the laser computer using MIT kerberos credentials. We're trying a new system.

Find the round red power button on the wall associated with your machine, and push it ONCE to turn machine on - the machine and ventilation system take a couple of minutes to come on. If more than 3 minutes have passed and the machine and ventilation have not BOTH come on, turn off and let us know which machine it is so we can get it looked at.

Before opening Rhino and trying to print for the first time, open 'printers and scanners' in Windows settings.

Go to printing preferences, then 'advanced'. change piece size to 36 horizontal, 24 vertical. Change roll to cut piece. Press OK - when it says there's an inconsistency, hit OK again. Your default Epilog bed size should now be set up correctly.

You might have to do this with each different machine you sign in to - the settings won't carry over from one to the next.

Then, open the 'Epilog job manager' software via the desktop shortcut - don't do anything in here, just open it and tell it to connect to the 80W Epilog. Then you can close the windows.

Once paper size has been set up in Windows printer settings, these settings in Rhino should not need any changes!



Do not change the "postscript custom page size",

do not change "portrait",

do not click on 'properties'.

These are set up properly already.

Just click directly on "print" - you will do the other settings in the next step.