One time to get it right!

[Joe Peacock]

I was wondering if someone could give me a suggested procedure for setting up something and engraving it as close to right as possible the first time.
Here is the situation....a friend has asked me to engrave his name on a high end knife and I am very reluctant to do it since I don't know how to get it exactly straight and centered so that the lettering looks good on the knife.
Any help would be appreciated.
Joe

[Scott Shepherd]

Joe, there are several ways I'd handle that. I might take a piece of posterboard and tape it to the knife and then set my power to about 10, engrave the paper, measure it all, move it, repeat until right, and then remove it and burn as normal, or I often will just take a piece of clear acrylic and lay it over the item and burn it. Then I can look through the clear and see the placement of the shape, move it, repeat until correct, then remove the acrylic.

[Brad Knight]

I'm not a laser expert... at ALL... but I think you could put some masking tape on the knife, turn your power down to near zero and make a couple trial runs just to make sure you don't have an 'ooops' moment. Worst case is that you're out a couple inches of tape.

[Dan Hintz]

For something odd-shaped where a jig is not easily made, I would go with painter's tape on the blade and putty on the table to push the hilt into. You can reposition the blade easily enough that way.

[Dee Gallo]

Joe,

I've done thousands of these - the failsafe way is this:

1. make your image the way you want it, save it. I usually write the settings outside the drawing area for future reference.
2. burn it on a piece of paper or cardstock (100 sp/20 or less power)
3. draw lines around the image and extend them way out on the paper so you know exactly where it is. Add center lines if you think it will help.
4. put a piece of double faced tape over the image
5. put some masking tape on your knife (I use vinyl transfer tape)
6. place the knife on the tape, making sure it is centered, straight, etc. The registration lines should make it easy.
7. place paper with knife in laser, focus the laser on the knife part to be engraved
8. run your light settings again, 100sp/20 or less power/600 dpi
9. check the piece to make sure it's what you want. The tape should be marked, but not burnt through.
10. run the real job, after changing the settings to whatever you are supposed to use for the material

Then, breathe!

I know this sounds like a lot of extra work, but believe me, when you have someone else's one-of-a-kind item, there is no room for error. This process does not take more than a minute to do and it is WELL worth the extra effort. And you can charge plenty for this kind of work if you get a reputation for reliable and perfect results.

BTW- I always place a couple of magnets around the paper/cardstock so I am sure I can put it back exactly the way the job will run.

cheers, dee

[Lee DeRaud]

None of the suggestions above will help if you realize, halfway through the real thing, that your placement is perfect and your settings and/or focus are for the wrong material. :eek:

DAMHIKT.

[Mike Ireland]

Two other ways - First, though make sure the object is secured and you are focused properly.
First method - Create the graphic and draw a red hairline box around it as close to the actual engraving as possible. Send the entire job to the laser but turn off the engraving part (on the VLS this will be the color black.)Run the job with the lid up at a slow enough speed so you can see where the outline falls on the blade. If it's not right, go to your UCP and move the graphic with the 'Relocate View'. Once you have it positioned correctly, go to your settings again, turn on the black and turn off the red and you're good to go.

The second way might not work as well but if you have a center point of where you want the engraving to be, position the red dot pointer on the center point, go to relocate view, select the center node that shows on the graphic and hit the move to pointer. This will move the center of your graphic to where the red dot pointer is. You can also use the corners of the graphic and move those to the position of the red dot pointer as well.

[Michael Doyle]

I usually scan the item and print it on card stock out of CorelDraw. That way you can add your image to match any curves, or avoid hardware. You can line your item up to the printed image and fasten it if necessary, or cut out the image if you have multiples.

[onur cakir]

Test fire works best i guess

I just run my Epilog with interlocks open to see where beam goes and make better placement.

[Martin Boekers]

I usually scan the item also, then I can import it into Corel and use it for a layout template. This also works great for odd shaped plaques or acrylics.
Esp ones like JDS Stars & Stripes series you can position type to maximize the live area within the screened part.

Then I draw a vector outline and burn it to a piece of mat board, this way I have can position the piece on the outline on the mat board and it's comes up pretty darn close.

It's harder with a dimensional item like a knife as you have to make a jig also.

Never under estimate the "power" of a test burn on masking material.

Just remember to set the CORRECT power and speed before you do
the actual lasering. (It's easy to forget:o)


Marty

[Tom Bull]

It is good to have a checklist to go through before every job, but especially if it on something one-of-a-kind.

[Dave Yanke]

Dee's way seems great and I will be using it in the future, of course after having done several dozen already.

The way I have done to this point is with the ULS, we have a feature called "focus". With the door open, I focus on all four corners of the image (in my case, usually a name and badge number) then run the job with the door open to watch it is where I think and then, run it for real.

I purchased a similar knife to the ones I do that I played with. Luckily I got the settings right the first time and now that knife goes hiking with me, however I was prepared to have a goofy looking blade if I had to test it several times.

While many scan and image to use as a template, I have never mastered it enough to get it the same size in Corel as the real item. Some day I will learn to do it.

[Dee Gallo]

Dave,

I do make jigs if I have a LARGE number of identical things to engrave, but this thread was about "one time to get it right". You have to go with whatever will be most efficient time-wise if you ask me, and I don't see the point of scanning and jig making for one thing when you can guarantee placement with simple registration marks.

cheers, dee

[Steven Wallace]

I also draw a hairline box around my image and then as someone else has mention, I run in vector mode with the door open and red pointer light on. This allows me to see that I have the piece in the right position (GRC - Gross Reality Check). Then I do as most others have stated about low power/high speed with painters tape on the object to be absolutely positive. I then remove the tape and redo the GRC just to make certain that I haven't change the position during tape removal. Then I go back and clear "all" my settings and re-enter them for the material that I am engraving. Then I close my eyes, cross my fingers, take a deep breath and press go. Okay, I squint so that I can see the go button. I have done many high end items and there is always the pucker factor. Doing the things suggested in the post reduce any problem. Running and re-running without the laser firing allows you to see almost any issue before you are actually marking the piece. You'll gain confidence with the more items you do. Remember, when you find a procedure that works, do it the same way every time. I have a laminate posted next to my machine with a check list that I follow for every piece. It has made it almost Steve proof. Just call it a preflight checklist just like pilots use.

[Joe Peacock]

Thanks once again for all of the input. It was very helpful. I am constantly amazed at the helpfulness and willingness to share information on this forum. I would guess that the IQ of active members on this chat site is WAY above average based on what I have seen here so far. High IQ's combined with street smarts is a good combination!
Thanks!
Joe

[Bob Davis]

is to put all your attention into the technical aspects of the job only to have it ruined by a no-brainer spelling mistake.

[Steven Wallace]

Bob it sounds like you know this from experience. I wish I could say that wasn't how I developed my checklist.