Revolutionary (to me) new technique

[Darren Null]

I was trying to engrave chopsticks the other day. Don't ask. I could not get the engraving centred, no matter what I did.

So. Eventually.

I have a bit of sacrificial plywood that I burn on. I did a coreldraw outline to the dimensions of the chopstick, and placed the chopstick on the outline. Used the outline in corel to centre the logo, then removed the outline. Burned. Perfect.

As it happened, I got a bunch of watchstraps to burn after that, so I used the same technique, sort of. I photographed one, got the dimensions right, traced, outlined; and burned the outlines all over my plywood. Put the watchstraps in the outlines and burned the lot in one button press.

It saved me half an hour of putting watchstraps in individually, BUT you can then use the same bit of plywood to do thousands of whatever it is.
It's obvious, but it was a bit of a revelation to me at the time.

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

I just use tape, cheap, and then I do not have to worry about lines crossing.

[Frank Corker]

Darren I can't understand why you have only found this out now. Quite often there has been mention of making a template for golf tees and pens, I guess you must have missed them. I prefer to use acrylic for mine rather than wood, mainly because I have a lot of it lying around, but it is a tried and tested method

[Mike Hood]

I do much the same when doing boat dashes here.

I scan the original panel into a jpg, and then draw registration lines through key spots. Takes just seconds to realign the new panel in the machine for etching.

Drop the new panel in, align with the registration lines and then hide that layer and engrave the one with the text and whatever else. Beats drawing them every time, and the scanner is dead on accurate.

My scanner is my best friend when trying to engrave on something odd-shaped. :)

[Bill Cunningham]

If I have a odd shape to work on for jobs that will be repeated in the future, or mulitples that would take too long to do individually. I usually scan it, then use the bezier tool to click a hairline outline around it and delete the scan.. I cut one and check it for size. If all is OK, the I duplicate it as many times as I need, then put them all in a rectangle with a 1/8" hole in the upper left corner so the next time I know the orientation of the template.. I then cut everything out of acrylic (I have a sign maker next door that gives me all her scraps) including the rectangle and the 1/8" hole.. I now have all my parts-holes inside of a perfect cut out rectangle which is then set against the upper left rulers for registration, and the computer template is set the same.. Now, I just set up everything with-in the template holes, and laser away..Perfect registration every time.. The time to cut the template is usually part of the setup cost. This setup cost is usually much less than not making a template, and charging the time involved with setting up and etching one at a time.. The template is then saved, and used the next time the customer needs the same job done. The template insures the next setup cost will be considerably less time and money for the customer.

[Mike Null]

Darren

For a guy who dazzled us all with his ability to repair and replace the electronics in the laser, I'm with Frank, what took you so long?

[Mike DeRegnaucourt]

Hi Darren,

Not sure if you have an Epilog Laser or not...I'm not sure about other brands of lasers but Epilog has the "Center-to-Center" feature within their driver. I often use this feature when engraving my pens. I just place the pen on a piece of foam board with an area cutout to hold the pen steady. I then turn on the red dot pointer and turn off the X/Y motors and reposition my Home location over the area on the pen I want to engrave. Then I'm ready to go. Works like a charm every time. :)

[Darren Null]

For a guy who dazzled us all with his ability to repair and replace the electronics in the laser, I'm with Frank, what took you so long?
Heh. I was led by the hand through the electronics repair. This required original thought, which is harder. And I've not attempted chopsticks before.

My GCC Mercury doesn't have the centre feature, I believe, although the newer models do, if memory serves.