This page is made to show how the laser cutter is used through a basic tutorial and examples of what I've done with the laser cutter. I got my start on the laser cutter as a member of the MIT-Harvard RoboCup Team. I had access to an Epilog laser cutter in the workshop in the back of the MIT Museum (no, not MITERS.) Although I didn't have a use for it for RoboCup, I thought that having 24/7 access to it was worth utilizing. I learned vector cutting through the laser cutting training, but I taught myself how to do photo engravings. The photo engravings actually landed me a job as the person who is in charge of the laser cutter maintenance.
Using a laser cutter is surprisingly easy. The laser cutter is controlled by a printer driver, so once the laser cutter is calibrated and you're using an appropriate material, all you have to do is create the lines that you want to cut (or the image that you want to engrave), apply the right settings, and press print!
There are some materials that you should not or cannot cut on the laser cutter, namely:
Applying the right settings