Which ROTARY engraving software/hardware is easiest to learn?

[bill collier]

One of my two trained rotary engraving people is getting ready to retire, and I'm thinking of replacing my Xenetech XOT system if there's something out there that is simpler/more intuitive/shorter learning curve.

When I bought Arch Engraving in 2003 (we're celebrating our 50th year in business in 2018, BTW) we had 2 full-time rotary people. Over the years, not only have customer tastes changed but we've purposely moved as much as possible to fiber, CO2, sublimation, etc. So now, it's a part time department of maybe 5-10 hours/week on average.

I buy into the argument that "if you're an engraving shop you MUST offer rotary/drag engraving", and have no intention of getting out of rotary. But now it's a small piece of our pie.

With all due respect to Xenetech, the software seems foreign to folks who are used to Windows software. There's a lot to know, both regarding software and mechanically. Some of that might be specific to Xenetech, and much probably just goes with the territory for rotary.

Having said all that, I'm interested in knowing if any other rotary systems out there are simpler, with an easier learning curve & intuitive software, so more of our team members could learn it and run jobs.

I'll add two pieces of info:

• Years ago, we sent one of our people to Xenetech for training and that worked out great. If we don't change systems, we'll do that again. That's my "Plan B."
• We'll be adding a CNC router to our shop soon. So, if a rotary system can run the same or similar software that would be a plus: One less software for us to learn.

Any feedback appreciated!

[Mike Null]

Bill

As a competitor of yours, although home based, I used a Newing Hall machine with Engravlab software for the last 10 or 12 years. I thought Engravlab was excellent software but my problem was much the same as yours in that there was a declining interest in rotary type engraving. So much so that I just sold that machine. Because of that low volume and my need to use Corel for my higher volume work it prevented my spending enough time with Engravlab to ever get comfortable with it.

I might add that if I were in a retail environment I would still offer rotary/diamond drag engraving.

[bill collier]

Thanks Mike. From what I'm gathering from other sources and from you, Engravelab seems to be much more user friendly and easily learned than Xenetech.

I'm still hoping to get some more input to my post.

[Mike Null]

Bill
I was able to create some pretty fancy stuff--mostly logos--in Corel and export it to Engravlab without a hitch.