How to attach rotary attachment to Shenhui machine.

[Uros Sovilj]

How to attach rotary attachment to Shenhui machine.

Tutorial is for machine i have: Shengui SH-g690 60w glass tube. Mainboard RDL10#V2.0.1.
First thing you have to do is to attach rotary to Y driver. Attachment will use Y ax properties so you don't have to change any X axis settings.
Determine which micro step driver is for Y axis (unplug one and try with control on panel which one is not moving). In my case it's lower one.
Plug in cable of rotary in place where you have disconnected the Y axis of machine.(mark with red arrow)
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Now with rotary attached you need to set Y step length so both axis will be calibrated.
I use white paper labels on glass and draw a square on it. Then I measure height of square. Be careful to not cut on glass so put in high speed and low power. Original setting for step length of Y is around 6. For rotary try around 22 and fine tune from there.
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In Laserworks in menu line choose Config and from there System settings. In settings window chose Machine para. From falldown menu in Axis parameters chose Y. Click READ so you get data that macine curently use.
Click on filed with value of step lenght (eg.5.9998) and click again on tab with 3 dots wich appers on right of value. In field Graph length write height of square that was put for job in software and in field Measuring length write height you measure as was drawn on label.
Program auto change setting for Y steplenght so you just need to click Write and your done. You will need password to write down settings. For my mainboard password for Laserwork is rd8888 and if i change settings through Corel interface pass is gxfc88. If doesn't work skype jardefeng from Shenhui. His mail is yancheng_feng@msn.cn.

Don't forget to write down original settings before changing and to change it back when you don’t use the rotary.


As this thread will be probably mostly read by owners of Chinese machine i would also like to discuses on thing.
Did anyone trying to play with frequency? I try to do some tests with changing frequency setting in Machin para under laser parameters. I change it anywhere from min 3000 to max 20000 but couldn't notice any difference in cutting 4 mm plywood neither on 2mm mat board. As i read forums threads frequency, people use it low as 500. I can't set it lower than 3000. I am a bit confused so I search for any other possibility to set frequency in program but didn't find any.
Am i doing something wrong or frequency is just not that big factor in edge smoothness and i can't see difference?

Regards

[Rich Harman]

I have the other type of rotary attachment.

I cut the wires going to the Y stepper and installed Molex connectors so that I could quickly switch between the two. Changing the step setting to 9.5 gets it real close.

The calculation made by entering graph length and measured length is incorrect on my machine. I have tried it many times and it always makes it worse. Maybe the newer software does not have the same problem.

Generally with stepper motors/drivers it is advised not to connect or disconnect while powered. I have been making the connections with the machine off. When starting up I need to move the Y axis manually for the homing procedure.

Does Shenhui say it is okay to disconnect and connect to the driver while the machine is on?

[Uros Sovilj]

Good idea to instal Molex. I will do that right away. I NEVER unpluging enything under power. Not laser not any other machine.
I use to calculate step lenght by hand and resoults was slightly different than with software but so little that doesn't matter.
Try to reinstal laserworks or ask Shenhui for new one. I had some problems with one originaly came with machine and after replaced (with same version just new file) works ok.

[Khalid Nazim]

I used the process that Uros wrote and it worked really well for me. I have LaserWorks 5.1.02 and the way to access vendor parameters is from the file menu (left most menu on the top). The idea to use paper to test the settings is simple and great - the same as using Molex or other connectors to switch between the y-axis stepper and the rotary stepper.

I have the same chuck type rotary and I was trying to engrave shot glasses yesterday. My issue was that shot glasses were not straight - smaller bottom and larger top - the engraving was fading from one side to the other. Any ideas how to manage that?

Regards
Khalid

[Uros Sovilj]

try to focus midle of design you are engraving so right part will be in focus and oposite off focus and try to use lens with bigger focal lenght (i use 70mm) but engraving won't be so precise and you have to use more power. If angle of glass is too big you won't be able to do decent job.

Regards

[Rodne Gold]

Thanks for this tutorial/discussion
Freq is not the same as the "other " freq ppl refer to. (how many times the laser will fire in 1" of travel.) Keep it at 20 000
If you want to engrave using the "other" freq (also called pulses per inch -PPI) then use the DOT function when engraving - you have 3 options of output , scan , cut and dot.
Khalid , Tilt the whole rotary by slipping something under it , then you can "level" the shotglass.

[Uros Sovilj]

Thanks for short brief on frequency. All clear now.Great solution with tilting. Sometimes we just think too much and can't see simple solution in front of nose.

[john banks]

Thanks. Tried both rotaries today.

Echo above, plus:

1. Vendor settings... y axis... enable home... if you change this to "no" when the rotary is attached then it speeds up the reset/power up because it doesn't look for the y-axis home. If you do not do this, at least on my version you don't have to manually move the y axis to home and then pull it away again to come out of the reset procedure. Just waiting does it too, and that is now our procedure as the wait isn't long.

2. Forget vectoring even at 10mm/s on either rotary at least on our machine, although the irregular one with the chuck is better as the piece is held in. There is too much underdamped movement and you can see decaying sinusoidal waves in horizontal lines that follow vertical lines. Having the rotaries on the knife blade table or on the base doesn't make a difference.

3. Best engraving speed is 100mm/s for similar reasons, any faster and you get too much movement. Even then you can't do two passes on the regular rotary attachment as the resetting accuracy is out, I suspect you may be able to with the irregular rotary.

4. Best to mark which stepper motor driver is Y as they look identical.

5. 70mm focal length lens works great to forgive depth of focus issues as does propping up the side of the rotary using various slivers of acrylic.

6. Route the wires carefully to avoid collisions with the x-axis, z-axis and the laser beam, but you can route the wire through the machine and still have both right hand doors closed.

7. The irregular rotary is a little too heavy for an average woman to lift herself. It is however, an impressive hunk of metal for the money.

8. If your steppers gave out on the x or y and you don't have spares, you may well be able to cannibalise them from the rotaries to get you going again.

9. Consider saving the original vendor settings to a file and backing it up. You can also save vendor files with human names like rotary82 for a typical 82mm diameter wine bottle for example.

10. Mark the correct orientation of the regular rotary attachment so that up is up and down is down. We engraved "top lower bottom" on the frame to remind us. Then you don't need to mirror or invert in the design or settings.

11. To avoid y slop errors, press the "up" button on the keypad and then origin there. This will give you 800mm of rotation on our 1280 (with step length set correctly) which is more than enough.

12. Think in terms of the cylindrical item being rolled out on the table and remember the machine is dumb to what you're doing.

13. The only real key difference is to get the y-axis step length correct. A low power engraving over tape, or perhaps corner spots, or hitting "frame" at a low speed will let you eyeball on the masking tape whether you are near on your step length.

14. Check your laser head is above the centre of the axis through which the part will be rotating.

15. Higher power (60% of 100W) with 100mm/s through wet paper towel gives a sharp result on our test champagne flute. It was better than washing up liquid (thin or thick), with less undesired microfractures.

16. The effect is slightly rough and frosted, catches the light well, but is not like a flat etching. I suspect some customers will prefer it to etching and some not.

17. Dithering wasn't so useful on fonts or for solid filled areas inside vectors converted to bitmaps. When we tried a 25% gray font, dithered down to 1 bit from CorelDraw at 1000 dpi and exported the bmp, Laserworks did not run the job. "Optimal scan" and 0.1mm scan gap (it won't accept the 0.984mm for 1000 dpi but optimal scan rounds to it internally and should be used normally to avoid banding mismatch between source file and output) was resulting in the sampling in Laserworks deciding that the image was white even though it was 25% dithered. The link seems to be that 1000 dpi reduced to 250 scan lines per inch by the 0.1mm and "optimal scan" option is picking up a 25% threshold of an evenly distributed dither pattern as its lower limit to engrave anything at all. This took some debugging and could crop up again if you export a vector drawing as a bitmap and the entire fill pattern in the whole bitmap is 25% or below, and the dither pattern is regular.

[Greg Holt]

Just be aware that you may have different specs on the Y axis motor and the A axis motor.

For example, my Y axis motor is 3 amp and my A axis motor is 1.7 amp. So driving either from the one driver is not a realistic option. This is just one of the reasons I have a dedicated driver for the A axis.

Of course if this is a factory A axis, made for your machine, you are using, then the manufacturer will have taken that into account and matched both motors to the driver.

Greg

[Dan Hintz]

Just be aware that you may have different specs on the Y axis motor and the A axis motor.

For example, my Y axis motor is 3 amp and my A axis motor is 1.7 amp. So driving either from the one driver is not a realistic option. This is just one of the reasons I have a dedicated driver for the A axis.

Of course if this is a factory A axis, made for your machine, you are using, then the manufacturer will have taken that into account and matched both motors to the driver.

If the driver is designed properly, there's no reason why a 1.7A motor cannot be run by a driver designed for a 3A motor. Nothing says the driver has to throw out 3A to every coil attached to it.

[Greg Holt]

If the driver is designed properly, there's no reason why a 1.7A motor cannot be run by a driver designed for a 3A motor. Nothing says the driver has to throw out 3A to every coil attached to it.

Yes of course any driver worth its salt can be set for almost any motor up to its rated max amps.

However unplugging a 3 amp motor and plugging a 1.7 amp motor without adjusting the driver settings is going to fry your 1.7 amp motor is short time.

Some drivers are set with a series of dip switches. Some have a sense resistor, which must be changed. Then some high end drives are set with software.

Any of these can be set for the lower amp motor, but this will require more than just unplugging and plugging.

As I said, if motors are matched then no problem. Manufacturers who provide an A axis to use with a given machine will have considered this.

If you are adapting an A axis, not provided with your machine, then the above is worth knowing.

Greg

[john banks]

I will check the motors.

There is a tab that can be used which is next to "work" which I've relabelled as rotary. It seems to allow setting of y-axis step length without changing vendor settings.

[Rich Ferry]

Do you guys have any suggestions for the stretching of images when it comes to flared glasses?

[Dan Hintz]

Do you guys have any suggestions for the stretching of images when it comes to flared glasses?

Multiple threads have been started over the years... search is your friend.

One of these days I'm just going to add my posts on the matter to my blog here and point people to that...

[rudy quilantan]

Can u please help me I'm new to this Laser Engraver deal. I've had my laser engraver for about 1 month now and I'm still unable to use the rotary attachment for my Yeti's. Can u help me with the settings for these Yeti's ? Thank you in advance.

[rudy quilantan]

Can someone please help me I'm new to this Laser Engraver deal. I've had my laser engraver for about 1 month now and I'm still unable to use the rotary attachment for my Yeti's. Can u help me with the settings for these Yeti's ? Thank you in advance.

[rudy quilantan]

Can u help me set my rotary attachment up. I have the flat roller attachment. I've had my laser for 2 months and still can't figure out how to use it. Thank u in advance

[Keith Sherwin]

Hi Rudy, Take a look at this on you tube. It is the method I choose to use. My number is 43.7, your will be different. Hope this helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIlXSZhgbe4