Need a bit of help with the epilog

[matthew knott]

Hi Guys, trying to cut and engrave some red/white signs, We have some rowmark (well a copy of from a company called 908), when i laser it we get lots of red powder,stick red soot, and i found going over it twice cleans it up.
Question are, should you be able to do red/white in one go?
How do i get the epilog to repeat a mark, tried copy/paste over the top but get just one pass still?
Is it best to leave the plastic cover sheet on the rowmark or remove it ?
Thanks Guys

Matt

[Larry Bratton]

Hi Guys, trying to cut and engrave some red/white signs, We have some rowmark (well a copy of from a company called 908), when i laser it we get lots of red powder,stick red soot, and i found going over it twice cleans it up.
Question are, should you be able to do red/white in one go?
How do i get the epilog to repeat a mark, tried copy/paste over the top but get just one pass still?
Is it best to leave the plastic cover sheet on the rowmark or remove it ?
Thanks Guys

Matt
I have found Rowmark white/red to be difficult but not vice versa. Question to you is, what settings are you using and what is the actual material?
To repeat, when you start to print, the driver will have a place to indicate the number of copies. Put in 2 or whatever there and it will run the same file again.
I personally remove the top masking, especially if raster engraving

[Michael Hunter]

Rodney said that he had success engraving *under* the plastic protection, but when I tried it, it just trapped the fumes and made a mess, so I always strip the protection off before engraving.

Red/white is one of the notorious colour combinations and usually seems to need two passes to get it looking good.
Your Epilog allows bottom-up engraving, which might help a bit.

The Epilog driver for my 32EX does not allow two passes to be sent in one go from Corel - I just have to run the job again.
The 36EXT driver is a bit more sophisticated and it might allow you to colour-map two passes when engraving : worth a look.

[Larry Bratton]

Here is a screen shot for you.
235367

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I cut with the plastic protection on, then typically leave it on the laser bed and use a dental pick to peel the plastic off and then engrave. I can engrave in 1 pass, but have found it is best to use a Mr Clean Magic Eraser on it to clean any debris and residue. I normally use WD-40 to clean my plastics, but if I use it on the red/white or blue/white colors, it will make a mess.

[matthew knott]

Thanks guys, I was hoping to engrave at a high power then go over again at a lower power so I might see if the power mapping will do the job, I find the whole "print driver" method very restrictive. I would much rather have a stand alone program but I don't think anything like this is available for my machine. But on the plus side since i upgraded the firm wear the machine is not playing up so fingers crossed that fixed it.
Matt

[Tim Bateson]

The original question has already been answered & I agree It takes 2 passes - same with some blue-white sheets. However I don't understand when I hear people talk about cleanup? I ALWAYS peal the plastic/engrave(Bottom-Up)/apply masking(tape or even blue painter's tape)/Cut and if I leave smudge marks or something (only if I rush too much), a quick wipe with Denatured Alcohol and they are ready to ship. The Red/White & Blue/White are the only exceptions and sometimes need cleaning. It's also helpful to use the thinnest cap that is available and turn off the Air Assist -when using Bottom-Up during engraving. Doing this has reduced the mentioned issues.

[John Noell]

I'm with Tim on the air assist. It only makes things worse during engraving. (But either WATCH the cutting every second, or turn on air assist). And after a LOT of experimentation, we always use bottom-up, two passes (2nd one faster), drop straight into soapy water, do a quick pass with a Mr. Clean eraser, and let air dry. Even the blue/white is not as big a hassle.