lines in etching on glass

[Ron Sleeman]

Hello: We just started to etch on glass. The Epilog 12 x 24 40 watt has been going good. It started to skip & create solid open lines on our designs. What do i need to look for so this doesn't happen again.


Thanks Ron Sleeman

[Chuck Stone]

Do you watch it skip, (does the head shift position) or does the beam not
turn on at that point? If it skips ahead, sounds like it could be mis-reading
the head position (encoder strip?) If it just isn't marking, I'd take the glass
out and run it under cold water or put it in the freezer to see if the etch
shows up later. Settings could be on the border of being able to etch glass.
(sometimes I'll engrave and it looks like nothing happened .. missing letters,
only to have them show up a few minutes later when the temp changes)
Or the glass itself might not be consistent.. might need a bit more power.
If the beam isn't turning on ... well I'm in that boat myself, this morning!

[Dan Hintz]

A picture of the problem would help immensely here...

[Mark Ross]

Dan is right. What we need is a picture to know if it is an encoder problem, a temperature problem, or something else. In our old building, this lowly little 12,000 square foot "shack" the lasers were near the bay door and in the winter, the lasers wouldn't fire right away. About 3 seconds in to the print job they would and be good for the rest of the day. As long as someone was there to change material in a timely manner. A dirty encoder is a different thing, a slipping belt is another. I suggest calling the awesome support team at Epilog or posting a picture here. Remember, Epilog is different than other companies. They speaky da Englais and Hablo the Espanyol and bend over backwards to get your money printing machine back up an running. They have a great team that can talk you through anything. Two 36 EXT's laters and I am never down for more than 12 hours. UPS Red is a great thing when you find things that print money.

[Ron Sleeman]

Okay, I fired up the Epilog lastnight and I was watching it run. As it was going back & forth, I hope I'm saying this right...lol the laser will stop fireing. That is giving me my open lines. Plus I'm sorry, were do you go to post a picture here...lol...Thanks Ron