October 10, 2022 Kris Mayberry

Fire Safety

Fire Safety when using a laser cutter is so important! With a laser, you are actually playing with a concentrated beam of fire so precautions need to be taken! Here are some simple things to help maximize your laser safe usage.

Masking. I see people asking on Facebook all the time what masking material to use and other people say to use the masking for transferring vinyl. Don’t use that masking! Every fire I’ve had with my laser was caused by that masking. There are other masking out there that will actually stick to you material better and are just as easy to use for example, our Lime Masking , which is super sticky! If you are using acrylic you can take the masking off that comes on the acrylic and coat the acrylic with a thin layer of liquid dish soap. This will keep the acrylic clean. Just rinse after cutting.
Keep an eye on your laser when it is working! Laser safe materials are safe to use on your laser but can still be somewhat flamable. A fire can start but is easy to put out if you catch it quickly. Having a baby monitor camera pointed at the cutting space and a handheld screen that you can watch the camera from is very helpful if you want to leave the area for a few minutes but also still keep an eye on the laser.
Keep a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher next to your laser. Right now I just have a small regular fire extinguisher but if your budget will allow it get an electronic safe fire extinguisher like this one, the Kidde 466180 Pro 5 Carbon Dioxide, Food and Electronic Safe, Environmentally Safe, Fire Extinguisher. It will put out fires but not leave a mess or hurt the electronics.

Fire-Blanket