Epilog Summit 24 - Terrible Vectoring Curves

[Gary Gilbert]

Hi folks,

I've had my Summit for almost 3 months now.
I haven't done a huge amount of vector cutting - mostly straight lines that are either vertical or horizontal.

However, now that I've gotten into it, I'm noticing that it is almost useless for anything but straight lines when vectoring. (And I'm not sure about diagonal type lines at the moment.)

Take a curved line - it has little stairsteps in it.
It's pathetic.
Circles look like 2 half circles, slightly offset, and like a failed DUI test.

For engraving, it is fantastic - having fun and actually earning some dough using it (let alone all the holiday gifts).

So what's up with that?
Is it hopeless?
Or does anyone have experience with this at all?
Any tests I can run?


Thanks,

Gary

[Mike Hood]

You say "curved line" ... but how are you making it? How does it do on a circle drawn in Corel?

[Joe Pelonio]

It sounds like bad artwork. Sometimes when provided with a vector file from a customer I'll get artwork that cuts like that because the circles or curves are in fact a series of short lines connected together with a lot of points. A circle should not have more than 4 points when looked at in wireframe mode.

[Jack Harper]

Look into a software program called Bezarc. This program, while a bit pricey, can save you a lot of problems over the years by quickly converting straight line points on a curve to a series of true arcs. The program will initially set you back about $450.

[Gary Gilbert]

First - thank you all for the replies!

Bad artwork?
I'm using curves created by Corel.
I have a variety of standard Corel shapes, like circles, ovals, squares with rounded corners.

Maybe I should test a font with outlines?

I also do a lot of creating line art from graphic images.

I don't know what "bad artwork" means. In fact, I've taken some of this artwork and had others do stuff with it on lasers in the past.

Is it that my machine is old?

Can someone shed some light on "bad artwork" - I would be most appreciative!

Thanks,

Gary

[Neal Schlee]

Gary,

The early Epilog's do not vector cut well, especially curves. I have a Express and it has the same problem. It shows up mostly on the Epilog's with a moving table. The true "flying optics" (both axis) systems vector cut much better on the small to midsize machines.

Neal

[Neal Schlee]

Gary,

You might try "tuning up" the machine, it can minimize the stair stepping affect when vector cutting. Make sure your bearings (head & table), belts, pulleys and motors are in good shape and adjusted correctly.

As I mentioned this will only minimize the problem, not eliminate it. The stair stepping is less noticeable when cutting wood.

Neal

[Roy Brewer]

Take a curved line - it has little stairsteps in it.Gary,
I can't add much to Neal's comments which were "right on." You're working with 12 year old technology; there really are some reasons to purchase newer systems.
Is your system Round rail or flat rail? I'd strongly recommend that you have a conversation with Epilog's tech support who will, based on the above question, give you a set of steps to improve your vectoring. On that technology, the only generalization is to not cut above 20% speed and the slower you go the better the vector.
As you confirmed, the Summit was far ahead of its time for rastering (and still competitive against most competitive systems on raster), but rather weak on vector.

[Doug Griffith]

My Epilog, although a new model, had stepping issues due to loose linear rails. I could grab the head and wiggle it. Epilog replaced the rails and all is better now. There is still a little stepping but acceptable and can be smoothed out with proper settings.

An issue I've found is repeatable "bumps" when cutting flat elipses. These happen in both Illustrator and Corel. Even the tech I've worked with had the same issue on his system. I'm guessing it has something to do with driver algorithms. I've tried multiple drivers.

Jack, I've been contemplating using Bezarc for years now to help with DXF converting. Do you use this and if so does it meet up to it's claims?

Cheers,
Doug