The file pipeline: Fusion on your Mac, LightBurn on the laser computer. IsaacDrop moves the file between them.
Finish your 2D sketch, then File → Export → DXF. Name it with the material + thickness so you never guess later (e.g. jig-3mm-ply.dxf).
Go to da.gd/isaacdrop → open the lasercut folder → upload the DXF. Set a password on it if you want (the laser PC just needs it to open). This is the bridge between your Mac and the laser computer.
At the laser computer, go to da.gd/isaacdrop → lasercut folder → open/download your file. If a password was set, enter it. If the file doesn't show up yet, refresh — the upload syncs in a moment.
Open LightBurn on the laser computer (desktop shortcut / Start menu). If it asks which controller to use, pick the DAJA A6 Pro 20W profile. The machine itself doesn't need to be on yet — a "no device" notice in LightBurn is normal until B1.
File → Import (or Cmd+I), pick the DXF. When it asks about units, choose mm — then quickly measure a known edge of your design to confirm the scale survived the trip. A 100 mm part imported as inches becomes 254 mm.
Open the DAJA 20W material reference (the HTML / your tested-settings spreadsheet). In LightBurn, select the shapes in the Shapes box and assign each to the right layer — Line = cut, Scan = engrave — then type in the speed & power from the reference.
New plywood pack? Different material. Burn a small speed × power test grid first (Scan, 0.08 interval) and pick the cleanest square. Your logged settings from last time mean you can usually skip this.
Every step protects the machine, the material, or you. Blower + purifier + exhaust get their own steps because they're the difference between a clean cut and a smoky, fire-prone one.
Power switch on. While you're there, check the E-stop isn't pressed — if it is, twist to release. The machine can't move until it's out.
Then glance at LightBurn: the Device panel should show the DAJA as Connected (top-right / device list). If it says not connected, check the USB cable — no jog, frame or start works until it is.
Crank the air blower (air assist) to max. It pushes air over the cut point — clears smoke from the beam path for cleaner cuts and cools the material so little fires don't start.
Purifier to max — fumes start the second the laser fires and it has to already be pulling. It keeps smoke off the lens (soot = weak cuts) and out of your lungs.
Route the exhaust pipe out the window/door so fumes actually leave the room. A purifier scrubs the air; the pipe gets the smoke out of the building. Check the pipe isn't kinked or pinched — a folded pipe = no airflow = smoke backs up into the room.
Sheet on the bed, clean, inside the 300×300 area, square to the rails. If it won't stay flat, put magnets along the edge or 4 weights on the 4 corners — a lifted corner changes focus mid-cut. Peel off any sticker/film layer first — the beam burns through it and it smokes.
Same thickness as last time? Nothing to do. Different thickness → set the focus so the beam sits on the surface (use the focus gauge/jig). Do it while the lid is still open — you need to reach in. Wrong height = blurry engraving, weak cuts, fire-prone edges.
With the lid open, look under the material: the honeycomb support grid must be in place. It holds the sheet up so the beam passes through cuts cleanly and stops the laser from hitting the machine base.
Material, focus and honeycomb all checked? Now close the lid. Lid shut = interlock armed. This machine is Class 1: the laser will not fire with the lid open and stops instantly if you open it mid-cut. The little front flap counts too.
Press Frame (Space) and the head traces the outline of your design on the real bed — check position, scale, orientation. Frame works with the lid open or closed — the head just traces, no beam, so either is fine.
Advanced alternative: run a layer with low speed + low power once, which visibly sketches the cut shape onto the material before you commit to cutting.
The head starts every job from the origin point — so tell the machine where that is, every time:
Short phase, but it's where accidents actually happen.
Hit Start. Then stay. Watch it. A laser unattended is a fire waiting for a bad piece of plywood. Keep a spray bottle (water) within arm's reach, and know where Stop and the E-stop are before you need them. The most important minute is the first one — don't walk away until the first pass has finished.
The first pass tells you if speed/power were right. For a cut job, check the first piece that drops — does it fit? If it's clearly wrong, stop and fix rather than letting all 20 copies run. If the cut didn't go all the way through, run just the cut layer once more with the same settings — don't re-run the engrave layer, and don't touch speed/power until you know how far off the first pass was.
The second-most-skipped phase — and skipping it is how machines break slowly.
Fresh-cut edges are hot enough to sting. Let the job sit 30 seconds, then pop the parts out. Don't drag parts across the bed — or drop hot debris onto the lens.
Sweep/brush debris off the bed — leftover gunk makes the next job sit uneven and the focus drifts. Wipe the lens only if it looks sooty: a quick lens-check is a 10-second habit.
Let them run a minute after the job to pull the last of the smoke out, then switch them off — and pull the exhaust pipe back in. They're the last thing to turn off, every time.
Machine off. Then write down material + settings used (add it to the materials spreadsheet / file name). Next time, you skip the test grid entirely.
This is a simulation, not the real control board — but the rules are real. Try to start the laser with anything missing and it will tell you exactly what's wrong. Open the lid mid-cut and watch what happens. The mission list on the right is the order you should learn.