Turn on machine: large switch, right side of cabinet
Confirm blower is running: ducting will obviously be moving air
Turn on computer: if it isn't already
Wait ~10s before opening Lightburn: a background process needs to configure the laser first
Open Lightburn, wait for homing cycle: the machine will automatically “home” itself i.e. confirm the position of each axis by driving motors to reach endstop sensors
Prepare To Cut
Pick a coordinate system: you probably want to use absolute coordinates. See the official docs
Cut selected graphics (or not): sometimes it's helpful to enable “cut selected graphics” in Lightburn, sometimes not. Best to double check if it's enabled before a surprise either way.
Focus laser to workpiece: use the move tab in Lightburn with the plastic focusing puck or macros from the console tab to jog to the right height for common material thicknesses
Align design to workpiece: make sure everything fits as expected in x/y axes using Lightburn's frame button
Cut
Send it: Run your job in Lightburn
Don't go far!: You need to keep an eye on the laser during the entire job. When lasers catch things on fire, they tend to do so quickly.
Power Off
Wait ~5 minutes: Make sure the chiller has had time to cool down the tube, and the blower has fully evacuated any remaining fumes
Turn off machine: large switch, right side of cabinet
Troubleshooting
If Lightburn switches to the console tab and displays red error text in the console output, probably GRBL (the controller's firmware) has thrown an alarm. There is a macro called “Reset” on the console tab that will reset the alarm and re-home the machine.