About This Class
Laser Basic Operation and Safety
Instructor: Paul Williamson
Learn how to use the laser cutter/engraver safely and effectively for your art projects. This is a required class in order to use CoLab's laser cutter/engraver for art projects.
The class starts with a lecture in the classroom, about 90 minutes. We'll cover all the basics, and touch on some more advanced subjects you should be aware of as you become more familiar with laser operation and want to do more ambitious projects in the future. After a short break, we will gather in the laser room to get some hands-on experience. Every student will complete a small project, from creating their own design all the way through to creating it on the laser. This practical experience will be enough to familiarize you with the procedures. Things never go perfectly the first time, so you'll gain some experience with solving problems, including the ones other students run into as well as your own.
There's a comprehensive checklist document available on the colaser.org web site and in printed form in the laser room. It's not a substitute for the course, but it does provide reminders about all the steps needed to operate the laser. So students don't need to worry about memorizing every single detail.
Course Schedule:
This is a single-session course. We spend about 90 minutes in the classroom, 15 minute break, and the rest of the time doing practical projects in the laser room. Because there's only one laser, students are asked to follow along as their classmates do their projects.
Skills instilled:
- After taking this class, you'll be authorized to use the laser on your own, and you'll be able to do so safely.
Cost:
- This class is Free.
Class Attendance:
Space and availability in our classes are extremely limited so we ask that attendees please respect our instructors and others in the community:
-
Please show up promptly at the start of the class.
-
We understand that things happen but out of respect for others and our instructors:
- Those arriving more than 20 minutes late to a class may not be allowed entry. There are no refunds in this case.
- Please let us know if you are unable to attend ASAP so we can open your spot to someone else wanting to attend the class.
Students should bring:
-
Students don't need to bring anything. If they wish to bring along their own materials or original artwork files to work with, we'll make an effort to work those in during the practical exercises.
Prerequisites:
- There are no prerequisites. It's helpful if the student is already familiar with vector drawing on a computer, but basic facility with drawing in the laser software is easy for most people to pick up during the class.
No Show Policy:
- CoLab offers classes at little to no cost to the community. Space is extremely limited and demand is high. If you register for this class, please make absolutely sure you can attend otherwise you will be taking a valuable spot from someone else and de-valuing our instructor's time (who donate their time to CoLab!). Because of this, we must insist that if you sign up and find that you can not make it, you must communicate that to us ASAP so we can fill your spot with someone else that can make it. Simply email us at info@sdcolab.org. We get it, life happens but please consider others in these situations. Repeated violators will be asked to seek art instruction elsewhere.
About Paul
Paul has worked on medium-big art projects for Burning Man since the original Circle of Regional Effigies in 2011, mostly concentrating on electronics but also working on CNC fabrication. He saw a need for projects to have ready access to large equipment, and established the Colaser facility at Colab 1.0 in 2014.
Find us on the Web
Colab is run on donations and grants. If you would like to donate, please visit our donation page: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/sdcapcolabevents/
About This Class
Laser Basic Operation and Safety
Instructor: Paul Williamson
Learn how to use the laser cutter/engraver safely and effectively for your art projects. This is a required class in order to use CoLab's laser cutter/engraver for art projects.
The class starts with a lecture in the classroom, about 90 minutes. We'll cover all the basics, and touch on some more advanced subjects you should be aware of as you become more familiar with laser operation and want to do more ambitious projects in the future. After a short break, we will gather in the laser room to get some hands-on experience. Every student will complete a small project, from creating their own design all the way through to creating it on the laser. This practical experience will be enough to familiarize you with the procedures. Things never go perfectly the first time, so you'll gain some experience with solving problems, including the ones other students run into as well as your own.
There's a comprehensive checklist document available on the colaser.org web site and in printed form in the laser room. It's not a substitute for the course, but it does provide reminders about all the steps needed to operate the laser. So students don't need to worry about memorizing every single detail.
Course Schedule:
This is a single-session course. We spend about 90 minutes in the classroom, 15 minute break, and the rest of the time doing practical projects in the laser room. Because there's only one laser, students are asked to follow along as their classmates do their projects.
Skills instilled:
- After taking this class, you'll be authorized to use the laser on your own, and you'll be able to do so safely.
Cost:
- This class is Free.
Class Attendance:
Space and availability in our classes are extremely limited so we ask that attendees please respect our instructors and others in the community:
-
Please show up promptly at the start of the class.
-
We understand that things happen but out of respect for others and our instructors:
- Those arriving more than 20 minutes late to a class may not be allowed entry. There are no refunds in this case.
- Please let us know if you are unable to attend ASAP so we can open your spot to someone else wanting to attend the class.
Students should bring:
-
Students don't need to bring anything. If they wish to bring along their own materials or original artwork files to work with, we'll make an effort to work those in during the practical exercises.
Prerequisites:
- There are no prerequisites. It's helpful if the student is already familiar with vector drawing on a computer, but basic facility with drawing in the laser software is easy for most people to pick up during the class.
No Show Policy:
- CoLab offers classes at little to no cost to the community. Space is extremely limited and demand is high. If you register for this class, please make absolutely sure you can attend otherwise you will be taking a valuable spot from someone else and de-valuing our instructor's time (who donate their time to CoLab!). Because of this, we must insist that if you sign up and find that you can not make it, you must communicate that to us ASAP so we can fill your spot with someone else that can make it. Simply email us at info@sdcolab.org. We get it, life happens but please consider others in these situations. Repeated violators will be asked to seek art instruction elsewhere.
About Paul
Paul has worked on medium-big art projects for Burning Man since the original Circle of Regional Effigies in 2011, mostly concentrating on electronics but also working on CNC fabrication. He saw a need for projects to have ready access to large equipment, and established the Colaser facility at Colab 1.0 in 2014.
Find us on the Web
Colab is run on donations and grants. If you would like to donate, please visit our donation page: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/sdcapcolabevents/