RUBY/en
▶ Laser cutting with RUBY – explained in detail
💻 Design
- Import a file
- PDF, AI, SVG, EPS or DXF
- Convert text to outlines
- Assign colors
- 🔴 Red = Cut
- 🟢 Green = Score
- ⚫ Black = Engrave
- Save the design
🟨 Prepare
- Select the material
- Check the parameters
- Perform test cuts
🟩 Produce
- Select the job
- Check the position
- Press Start
Material settings explained in detail
All material settings are guideline values only. Always do a test cut and adjust the values if necessary.
You can also find material settings here in the wiki, which you are welcome to add to yourself:
Recommended guideline values from the manufacturer:
- Speed for cutting: depends on the application and material properties, guideline approx. 0.4 – 1.2 power
- Speed for scoring: power and speed similar to engraving, but the process is cutting.
Power
This sets the laser power as a percentage. The laser should not be operated above 90%, as this drastically shortens the lifespan of the tube and the power supply.
You should also not set less than 10%, as unexpected power drops can occur and the cut will be uneven.
Speed
The speed at which the laser head moves across the material. If set too high, small circles and corners will not be cut cleanly, or the job may abort unexpectedly! When engraving, edges and fine details can fray.
As a guideline, no more than 20% should be set.
DPI
When engraving, the entire surface is rastered line by line. The DPI (dots per inch) controls how close together these lines are.
The higher the DPI, the finer the details that can be reproduced, but engraving also takes longer.
At low DPI, the lines may even become visible to the naked eye, but engraving is much faster.
Photo quality -> 1000 DPI
Standard -> 300-600 DPI
Speed and power may also need to be adjusted to different DPI values.
Frequency
Since the laser is pulsed, this setting specifies how often pulses are emitted. It is given in Hz (hertz), i.e. how many times per second the laser is switched on and off. When cutting, the frequency can be set from 1000 to 60000 Hz. The rule of thumb: for materials that char (wood, paper, etc.) use a low frequency, for materials that melt (acrylic, ABS, etc.) use a high frequency.
Wood, paper, etc. 2000-5000 Hz
Acrylic, ABS, etc. 10000-20000 Hz
Advanced material settings
Clicking Advanced expands an extended menu.
Here you can make some special settings, which normally do not need to be changed.
This menu differs depending on the process type.
Worth highlighting:
Power correction
The most important setting in this menu.
When the laser follows corners or curves, it has to slow down to perform the movement. In doing so, it also reduces the power of the laser source so that the cut stays consistent.
This value allows you to influence that behavior.
So if you observe that corners are not being lasered or the laser pierces through corners instead of scoring, this value is wrong for the material and the speed you have set.
Higher power correction -> corners are cut with more energy, which can cause unintended pierce-through
Lower power correction -> corners are cut with less energy, corners stay open
Passes
How many times this step is carried out. Especially with thicker materials, a better cut result can be achieved by running over the cut several times with lower power.
This way the material burns less and the edges turn out cleaner.
Z-Offset
This setting can be useful when cutting thick materials. If the focal point is on the surface of the material, the laser beam is already so unfocused at the back that it no longer cuts through well, or the cut edge becomes slanted and burnt.
It is therefore practical to use the Z-offset to move the focus into the material. For example, when cutting 8 mm poplar plywood, the Z-offset can be set to -4 mm.
The Z-offset value must not be set lower than -4 mm, otherwise the honeycomb table or the material will crash into the laser head.
Process gas
The air blown across the lens keeps it clean. Air assist must always be switched on.
Direction
This sets the direction in which the laser rasters across the material. It affects where the smoke settles on the material and how it is extracted.
High Quality
Higher quality can produce better results for fine engravings, but increases the job duration.
