Maybe limping is more like it

[James Jaragosky]

:rolleyes: Well I’m up and running. (Maybe limping is more like it)
My rabbit 30/40 got delivered last week Tuesday evening. I had to go to the airport to retrieve it and there was a tense moment at the customs office, the invoice had the equipment listed as costing $5500.When in fact I paid $1850 before shipping, spare tub and lenses but I called frank my sales rep in Texas and he got a corrected invoice faxed to the customs office in about 10 min and it all turned out fine.
The reason why the correct invoice price was needed besides the import tax of 3% on the additional monies was any imported item over $2000 Needs a broker to get it released from customs for you. that would have sent me home without my new laser until I could arrange for one.
I was set up in about 2 hours, I could have done it faster but it seemed too simple and I kept second guessing myself and checking everything twice.
In the week since I set the machine up I have experimented with it daily and the results are a mixed bag.
I burned up an old wallet (even with the machine exhausted to the outside, the stink sent the wife alarm off, and it took me 30 minutes to reset her.) but I have had great results with cheap mirrors (expensive mirrors didn’t work as well they came out ok but not great). I can’t seem to cut completely through 3/16 birch without scorching the edges. But the biggest challenge is the software Corel is a bear to learn, it just doesn’t flow for me. The software that came with the laser is rather simple and fairly straight forward. I am currently working on building some 3 sided birch boxes to hold tee candles with the engraved mirrors making up the front facing side. (Will post picts when complete) well that is enough for 1 post thanks for all your support.

[Scott Shepherd]

Glad to see you're up and running James. Having a little fun too. If you have a high speed internet connection, go to youtube.com and enter Corel X3 and you'll find a load of excellent demos for learning various pieces of Corel X3. They really are fantastic. One guy in particular has a boat load of them. I can't recall his user name, but you'll see his name over and over on the search.

It won't take long to get the simple tasks down. Just watching someone do it correctly was the key to helping me.

Happy lasering!

[William Johanson]

Congrats James, I wish you luck with your venture whether it be fun or business. Which software comes with the rabbit? Is it the Lasercut 5 Software? I actually just packed my Chinese Laser( Redsail M500) up to return to the importer I purchased it from. I just never could get it running just right and I didn't have the time to wait any more. I also have a Pinnacle 40W. I think once these Chinese Laser manufacturers (at least Redsail) get there act together and figure out how to support there product with english speaking techs. and good manuals they will have an exceptable machine for the average operator. Sounds Like Rabbit is a bit ahead of Redsail in this area. Hope everything works out for you. Again Congrats and post some pics of your projects so we can all give you a slap on the back.

Bill

[James Jaragosky]

Thanks for the tip Scott I’ll get right on that, because I have very little hair left and this may just save some of it.

Bill Sorry to hear about your Redsail fiasco. The main reason I didn’t go with a redsail were the reviews I read on here the SMC. The majority of people posting their experiences seem to have had huge set up problems that took weeks to resolve. Although most people said the machine worked fine after the initial set up problems.
On the other hand I read several good reviews on the rabbit line. So I got one and so far I am very happy. But I have never seen a US made machine working or otherwise, so I have nothing to compare it with.
I plan on taking it to craft shows to do small projects like personalizing phones and laptops and engraving craft projects as the hit me.
That’s why I went with a small one, I need portability

[Sandra Force]

Congratulations on the new laser. The biggest trick with Corel is remembering how you got it right last time. Half the time I end up doing things three different ways in a row. They all work, just some better than others.

If you have burnt edges on your wood and want just a little color try taking a rag with windex/vinegar on it and running over the edges. It will take off the charn and most of the scent. Alcohol will do the same thing. :p

[James Jaragosky]

Congratulations on the new laser. The biggest trick with Corel is remembering how you got it right last time. Half the time I end up doing things three different ways in a row. They all work, just some better than others.

If you have burnt edges on your wood and want just a little color try taking a rag with windex/vinegar on it and running over the edges. It will take off the charn and most of the scent. Alcohol will do the same thing. :p
That’s a wonderful tip. Thank you. I really am new to this. I still don’t actually know how to properly focus the laser is it done by raising and lowering the table or is it in the software (I just found a control panel for lens adjustment in the software today) or is it a combination of the both.
I feel a little foolish showing my ignorance this way but just wanted to point out how far I need to go, and say any tip no matter how small, insignificant, trivial or obvious they may seem to you, it is all new and important to me. This is like learning a new language. And I think I am beginning to hate an inanimate object. namely… Corel. And did the people who developed this nightmare ever even consider that average folks who have not achieved a masters degree in let’s make this as difficult as possible Might use their product. But I will get it eventually just might not be sane when I get there. Come to think of it maybe that’s what’s holding me back, I am still sane.

[Scott Shepherd]

The focus is a predetermined length from the lens to the top of the work. Cranking the table up and down would be the tool to focus it. Normally there is a gage that you use that goes between the work and some reference point on the lens assembly.

Someone here who's got one can tell you what that measurement is and where it's from, but the table is where that's controlled.

[James Jaragosky]

that is how i have been doing it. i was just not certian i had it right. thanks again.

[Mike Null]

James

If you have no focusing gauge I would suggest you make one as your next project. Find a point at which you are happy with the rastered result in terms of sharpness and engraving quality and devise a measuring tool to set your machine to that point every time.

[Rob Bosworth]

To determine the "best" focal height is fairly easy to do. Take a piece of black anodized aluminum and place it on the table. Then send a file over to the machine that will engrave an area on the anodized aluminum. Then while the file is running, raise and lower the table until you get to the point where the "flash" is the brightest. A little up and down and you will see the focal point pretty easily. Once you have determined that you have the aluminum at the correct distance from the lens, make a guage that will be able to be used to find that distance from the lens to the work piece.

[Mark Winlund]

[quote=jAMES jARAGOSKY;694245] " And did the people who developed this nightmare ever even consider that average folks who have not achieved a masters degree in let’s make this as difficult as possible Might use their product."

I have been using Corel since the "Corel Headline" days (before draw) and have purchased every version since. There is a reason that it seems difficult... Corel is a very versatile program, and has had hundreds of features added to it over the years. They try to make it backwards compatible from the operators standpoint (not changing the icons and hot keys for example) but there is a limit to that process. Corel might have several ways to do a given task because of this. For the money, it is a real bargain. The latest version, X3, has a whole pile of new features and improvements.

There are a few shortcomings... for instance, it won't create true arced text (where the bottom of the text is narrower than the top). It also wont delete multiple duplicate vectors easily, and it has no fast way of joining unconnected line segments (very common in dxf imports).

It is something you just need to wade through and learn. I suggest you buy one of the aftermarket books on Corel, or frequent some of the forums and websites that specialize in Corel.

Mark

[Sandra Force]

I run a combination of Corel (engraving) and AutoCAD (cutting) on my systems and melding the two together was a nightmare when I started. The way our Engineering Dept does drawings we have to cut in ACAD and the Kerns don't like it for raster work. Therefore joy of joys Corel. After 5 years I am just getting confident in my Corel abilities for intricate work. This is in a large part thanks to this forum and one other. I can ask what seems to be totally dumb questions and get quality answers and not heckled. There is no such thing as a stupid question, if you don't know ask before you get into trouble and cost yourself a lot of money.:cool: The best way to deal with Corel is to take the time to play with it. Take a graphic and change it, bit map, trace, use color fill, change line size, put lettering in on a path. As you do this it will start to come together and it will be easier to do when you are not pressured to get a job done. What I like to do is play with it in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.

[Leaf Sheng]

Congrats James, I wish you luck with your venture whether it be fun or business. Which software comes with the rabbit? Is it the Lasercut 5 Software? I actually just packed my Chinese Laser( Redsail M500) up to return to the importer I purchased it from. I just never could get it running just right and I didn't have the time to wait any more. I also have a Pinnacle 40W. I think once these Chinese Laser manufacturers (at least Redsail) get there act together and figure out how to support there product with english speaking techs. and good manuals they will have an exceptable machine for the average operator. Sounds Like Rabbit is a bit ahead of Redsail in this area. Hope everything works out for you. Again Congrats and post some pics of your projects so we can all give you a slap on the back.

Bill

Hello William,

Nice to meet you here, this is leaf from Redsail, thank you for mentioned our Product M500 here, if there is anything we can do for you, please let us know. My Email is leaf@redsailcutters.com.

[Anthony Welch]

If I saw this anywhere else it might have been funny.

[Steve Clarkson]

I'm thinkin' it was pretty funny!!!

[Frank Corker]

Well Bill posted that message at 11-13-2007, 12:13 AM so after nearly a year the response is funny considering what he said in his post!

[Dan Hintz]

It would have been funny had it been posted 10 minutes after... 10 months is even better.

"Product 'X' sucks, so I returned it for a refund"

"Thanks for mentioning our Product 'X' on the web and letting everyone know about it"

<shake head in disbelief>