Steve Busey
03-20-2013, 9:08 PM
So Nick Cook, a local woodturner, says, "Can you engrave a 23" platter?" I sez, "Sure, I can handle up to 24" in my Helix!"
But then I think - hmmm, I can handle 24" wide, but only 18" deep... ah, but the front door opens, so no problem, I'll just hang it out the front and spin it and engrave it in portions!
By the time I got it inside the laser and raised it as high as the cabinet would allow, I realized the platter was so thick, that I could get no closer than 3/8" above the focal point for the center of the platter . :( BUT, the customer wanted a dark engraving, and according to a test scrap of the wood, amazingly enough, it burned darker at 3/8" high, than at regular focus!! :)
I cut a particle board disc that fit snugly in the recess in the back of the platter, and doubleside-taped it to the table surface, so I could spin the platter around the center point. I marked 4 "corners" of the platter with masking tape so I could spin and orient the platter to the graphics. Then I proceeded to do the engraving from the excellent EPS source file they provided, engraving one word or symbol at a time (based on wise advice received here!), recoloring the portions I'd already done.
Everything was going peachy until I selected the lower Kanji symbol (appropriately named "DO" (think: "Doh!")) and began engraving it. About a third of the way through it, I realized something was amiss - I had only selected part of the "ungrouped" symbol! Ended up burning portions of the symbol that should not have been burned. :(
Talked with the client. We assumed that the 'revised' symbol probably said something nasty about the recipient's mother, so the plan was to go ahead and present it to the recipient the next day at a planned ceremony, then bring it back and and have Nick Cook turn the center down another 1/16" or so, then re-engrave the center. THIS time, I made sure the correct symbol portions were selected (Print Preview works great for this!) and finally finished the project! Doh!
23" Sapele platterWow, this is gonna be a tight fit!
257729
Hmm, the closest I can get to proper focus level:
257728
Nibbling away at portions of the graphic. I have the triangle in there to help me with my 90 degree rotation points:
257730
All was going along peachy:
257731
Until I burned interior parts of the DO symbol I wasn't supposed to... :(:mad:257732
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Nick ended up turning the center down another 1/16" (it fit nicely over the lathe bed on his Powermatic 4224B!) , and I re-engraved the Kanji symbols, and all is right with the world.257727
But then I think - hmmm, I can handle 24" wide, but only 18" deep... ah, but the front door opens, so no problem, I'll just hang it out the front and spin it and engrave it in portions!
By the time I got it inside the laser and raised it as high as the cabinet would allow, I realized the platter was so thick, that I could get no closer than 3/8" above the focal point for the center of the platter . :( BUT, the customer wanted a dark engraving, and according to a test scrap of the wood, amazingly enough, it burned darker at 3/8" high, than at regular focus!! :)
I cut a particle board disc that fit snugly in the recess in the back of the platter, and doubleside-taped it to the table surface, so I could spin the platter around the center point. I marked 4 "corners" of the platter with masking tape so I could spin and orient the platter to the graphics. Then I proceeded to do the engraving from the excellent EPS source file they provided, engraving one word or symbol at a time (based on wise advice received here!), recoloring the portions I'd already done.
Everything was going peachy until I selected the lower Kanji symbol (appropriately named "DO" (think: "Doh!")) and began engraving it. About a third of the way through it, I realized something was amiss - I had only selected part of the "ungrouped" symbol! Ended up burning portions of the symbol that should not have been burned. :(
Talked with the client. We assumed that the 'revised' symbol probably said something nasty about the recipient's mother, so the plan was to go ahead and present it to the recipient the next day at a planned ceremony, then bring it back and and have Nick Cook turn the center down another 1/16" or so, then re-engrave the center. THIS time, I made sure the correct symbol portions were selected (Print Preview works great for this!) and finally finished the project! Doh!
23" Sapele platterWow, this is gonna be a tight fit!
257729
Hmm, the closest I can get to proper focus level:
257728
Nibbling away at portions of the graphic. I have the triangle in there to help me with my 90 degree rotation points:
257730
All was going along peachy:
257731
Until I burned interior parts of the DO symbol I wasn't supposed to... :(:mad:257732
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Nick ended up turning the center down another 1/16" (it fit nicely over the lathe bed on his Powermatic 4224B!) , and I re-engraved the Kanji symbols, and all is right with the world.257727