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View Full Version : Problem consistently cutting and/or engraving circles



Keith Upton
04-28-2014, 8:35 AM
I've noticed a couple of times the my Epilog 60 seems to have a problem consistently cutting and/or engraving circles.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=9755&d=1398682140

The pic above is a sampling of what I'm talking about. You will notice that the boarder of un-engraved area around the edges is not centered on the cut circle. The file has them perfectly centered on each other and I've had pieces come off the laser bed that are perfectly centered. It appears to be worse one on printing than it is on another. I've not ran enough sheets thru to confirm this, but I think it happens more when working with wood than it does with acrylic.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this just part of the time?

Mike Lassiter
04-28-2014, 9:16 AM
Keith, have you tried restarting computer? There have been times that I have had strange inconsistent things such as this where they happened seemingly at will. Restarting computer took care of them most of the time.

Keith Upton
04-28-2014, 9:51 AM
I did not do a restart just before running that job, but the comp was restarted multiple times the day before (had to replace a bad vid card and do some other updates). I'll have to check to see if the red acrylic I ran a little while after these did the same thing (it was the same file, only one was BB and one was red acrylic).

Bill Stearns
04-28-2014, 12:14 PM
Keith -
I've had a similar issue - engraving circles. Did learn that shutting down my machine, coming back to the project later, sometimes would effect the accuracy. (so, now, I do these types of projects all at one time - seems to help.) Attaching 'picture of one of my jobs: Christmas ornaments for a lady. BTW: while I've got you guys - what can you tell me 'bout adjusting - think they call it "tickle"? The laser not firing right off at the top of text, or graphics? I've worked 'round this by starting it, stopping it, and restarting the engraving. Solved my problem, but still ... is there 'way to adjust or solve this?

Bill

Keith Upton
04-29-2014, 9:23 AM
So there is no known cause or fix for this? Hopefully this weekend I'll get some time to do some testing on this. Not sure I can even reproduce it on demand to test it.

Kev Williams
04-29-2014, 11:51 AM
I'm assuming you engrave first and cut last? Have you tried cutting first then engraving?

Also, I assume the engraving and cutting graphics are together-- have you tried saving the cut job and the engraving job separately, then run the jobs separately?

I ask because I've been victim of "false points", or whatever they might be called, leftover nodes or control points that are there but not necessarily seen. My old Casmate software produces a lot of these, sometimes in clumps. I've also found them in Corel, many times imported from Casmate but not always. I've also found, especially with the PH laser software for my Triumph, that graphics or nodes that are beyond the working area boundaries can cause graphics you're engraving within the boundaries to shift position during engraving even though their position in the program doesn't change. This happened over the weekend with some cowbells, I had different text for each bell laid horizontally 60mm apart, then just slid everything to the left for the next bell- eventually the left-most text ended up beyond the left edge of the working area, by about 1/2", and the next bell's text ended up 1/2" off-center to the right. The software decided to move everything to within the working area, even though it didn't shift on-screen. I've also had false points that were out-of-range cause my Triumph to engrave erratically, with the steppers jumping all over the place. Below is a pic of a power-test I ran on stainless, where the machine started jumping all over the place during engraving. I was puzzled at first, but eventually found some false points beyond the left boundary. When the machine came to them while rastering downward, that's when the chunky noises and fun started. I couldn't see the nodes on the screen, and I couldn't see them in Corel either at first, but they did show up when I drew a huge group box on the screen.

No idea if that's your problem, but you might try separating the jobs and see what happens. Many times I'll copy from one screen and paste to a new screen and re-save the job...

http://www.engraver1.com/erase2/grid2.jpg

John Pletcher
04-29-2014, 12:10 PM
Just a thought.....zoom in close in your artwork layout. I've had some cases where the engraving looked centered in the outer boarder, but upon zooming in that wasn't the case. Now every time I complete an graphic layout in Corel, I zoom in to double check to make sure it's centered in the boarder. I've done tons of round promotional coasters and custom oval signs with no problems.....all engrave and cut perfectly centered on my Helix.

Keith Upton
04-29-2014, 12:21 PM
Kev,

Thanks for the input. I don't think that is what is causing my issues, but I'll be sure to double check. I've also not cut and then engraved. I would think this would introduce more room for errors since the kerf could allow for some play. I can try engraving and then cutting from a separate file though.


Just a thought.....zoom in close in your artwork layout. I've had some cases where the engraving looked centered in the outer boarder, but upon zooming in that wasn't the case. Now every time I complete an graphic layout in Corel, I zoom in to double check to make sure it's centered in the boarder. I've done tons of round promotional coasters and custom oval signs with no problems.....all engrave and cut perfectly centered on my Helix.

When I designed these, I centered each part on the page. I then grouped all the parts and moved it to the top left corner. I then proceeded to repeat the design to the right and then down via the Transform window (I think that is what it is called, don't have Corel in front of me right now). So everything looks and should be centered.

But more to the point, it does not do it every time or to every object. I think I will cut a sheet of these out of BB, check for misalignment and mark the location of any. Then I'll reboot the laser and cut again and see if I get the same results. If so, I'll go check those specific objects and make sure they did not get messed up some how.

Mike Chance in Iowa
04-29-2014, 2:43 PM
I could be wrong, but I think a dirty or failing encoder strip has been mentioned on this forum in the past as reasons for vector & raster work not lining up. You can also try flipping the white cable (forgot it's name) and see if that makes a difference.

Keith Upton
04-29-2014, 3:08 PM
Thanks Mike, I'll clean that as well... can't hurt.