Polar Camel mug handle too heavy for Epilog rotary?

[Keith Upton]

I purchased some Polar Camel mugs from JDS and I was going to engrave them with a logo from a test event my work just completed. I can't seem to get the mug to spin on the rotary attachment. It will start to spin and then it just falls off the rotary. I think the handle is too heavy for either the rotary motor or maybe it is too heavy for the amount of grip the rotary wheels can apply to it. Anyone ran into something like this before?

[Keith Upton]

Also, the bottom of the mugs are much heavier than the top.

[John Lifer]

Also, the bottom of the mugs are much heavier than the top.
I've a 4 wheel rotary for my Chinese laser. Similar to the epilog but made cheaper. I ended up making a 3dprinted spring hold down arm. Others use rubber bands, (mainly wine glasses for this). It takes some creativity on some of these things.

[Keith Upton]

Thanks John. I can mess around with the rubber bands to see if they might help. Do you happen to have a photo of your hold down arm?

[John Lifer]

421631
Nothing fancy, it works on most open mouth items. things like bottles, no. (but I fill them when necessary if they seem too light to roll well)

[Keith Upton]

Hum, it says I don't have permissions to view the image you posted.

[Frederick Skelly]

Hum, it says I don't have permissions to view the image you posted.

To view pics here you need to be a Contributor. That's just $6 a year. Hope you'll join us.
Frec

[Steve Krahn]

I don't know if this would fix your problem, but one thing that I did that seemed to fix all my problems while rotary engraving mugs is putting a socket inside the cup. I used a 1-1/8" socket until I just got a solid steel cylinder to use. Since then, I have never had issues with engraving. I also made a makeshift "stopper" so that the cup could not move perpendicular to the motion of the rollers. If that makes any sense.

[Keith Upton]

To view pics here you need to be a Contributor. That's just $6 a year. Hope you'll join us.
Frec

Thanks for the info.


421631
Nothing fancy, it works on most open mouth items. things like bottles, no. (but I fill them when necessary if they seem too light to roll well)

So the arm with wheel on the right just applies pressure to the top of the item you are engraving?


I don't know if this would fix your problem, but one thing that I did that seemed to fix all my problems while rotary engraving mugs is putting a socket inside the cup. I used a 1-1/8" socket until I just got a solid steel cylinder to use. Since then, I have never had issues with engraving. I also made a makeshift "stopper" so that the cup could not move perpendicular to the motion of the rollers. If that makes any sense.

The socket trick is interesting. I'm guessing it just adds weight to the inside, thus pushing down on the wheels more? Is your "stopper" just something that you place at the top or bottom of the mug to keep it from sliding in that direction?

[Steve Krahn]

The socket trick is interesting. I'm guessing it just adds weight to the inside, thus pushing down on the wheels more? Is your "stopper" just something that you place at the top or bottom of the mug to keep it from sliding in that direction?

That is exactly the idea. My "stopper is actually so makeshift, it is usually just a piece of acrylic with two-sided tape stuck to the frame of my roller.

[Steve Clarkson]

I prefer a sharp stick in the eye rather than using my Epilog rotary.

One small solution I found when engraving mugs with a handle is to only engrave when the handle is rotating downward. Kinda hard to explain, but I engrave top-to-bottom for one side of the mug, then I engrave bottom to top to do the other side.....and in both cases it's so the handle is rotating downward......the rotary just doesn't seem to have the power or grip to engrave while the handle is rotating upward......so both sides of the mug cannot be done in one pass.

Hope that helps and makes sense.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

With the hot dog roller type rotary, be sure your silicone/rubber rings are always clean and ensure the set screws on the drive wheels are nice and tight to reduce slop. If the drive wheels have any play, it can wreak havoc on items that are weighted to one side (i.e. handled drinkware).

[Keith Upton]

Thanks for all the tips everyone, I'll try them out and see what I get.

[John Lifer]

There is a guy on the FB epilog site that makes a holder similar to mine for Epilogs. Yes, the arm pushed down on the inside of the cup and holds it against the wheels.

[Keith Upton]

Thanks, I'll have to go checkout the Epilog FB group. I'm not really on FB so I did not even know where was a group out there.