First burn
Start the job. What to watch for.
This is the moment that pays off everything before it. A few last checks, then run.
Before you start
Run through this list out loud the first dozen times. Skipping a step is how you damage a piece of material or worse:
- Goggles on.
- Material flat on the bed and held down (magnets, clamps, tape, weight).
- Focus correct for the material thickness.
- Air assist on (cutting) or sufficient (engraving).
- Fume extraction running.
- Extinguisher within arm's reach.
- Just framed, the head walked the perimeter and stayed on the material.
- Just previewed, the simulation looked right.
Start
- Open Laser Control if it is not already visible.
- Click Start.
- The machine begins. Laser Control shows a progress indicator, elapsed time, and estimated time remaining.
- Stay with the machine. This is not optional.
What to watch
- The head moves where you expect. If it walks off the material or off the bed, hit Pause or Stop immediately.
- The cut looks clean. Flare-ups, sustained flames, or thick smoke that does not clear mean stop and check what is going on.
- The laser tracks the design. Skipped lines or shifted layers mean a mechanical issue, see Shifted layers.
- No unusual sounds. A new grinding or clicking is worth pausing for.
During the job
- Pause halts the machine in place. Lift the lid, check what you need, click Resume to continue.
- Stop ends the job. The head returns to its origin (or stays put, depending on machine setup).
- Emergency stop is the physical button on your machine. Use it if anything is wrong and the software response is too slow.
After the job
- The machine returns to its origin and powers down the laser.
- Wait a few seconds before lifting the lid, air assist needs to clear residual smoke.
- Lift the material gently. Engraved or cut pieces may still be hot.
- Inspect. Save your power/speed/interval for this material to the Material Library for next time.
What just happened
You went end to end: install, connect, design, configure, frame, preview, run. The pattern repeats for every future job. With practice, the whole cycle gets fast.