I’m new to the forum, so apologies if I’m not doing this right.
I am trying to engrave keychains. I created a jig that holds 21 blanks and thought I did everything right, but when I put the keychains in place the alignment and dimensions of my logo are way off. I’m assuming it’s because the keychain blanks are thicker than the jig material. If there a way to fix this or am I out of luck?
I’m also not sure why the design isn’t uploading with the logo in the center of the cutout. The AI file is correct and the file that I used for the jig is correct.
The important step in making a jig is to ignore the camera view after you remove the cutouts and place your items into the voids. Use set focus on your item, but ignore the camera.
To be clear, the steps for making a jig are to have the outline of your item and the design in the same file. Place jig material in the Glowforge and cut the outline while ignoring the artwork. Without moving anything, remove the cutouts and place your items in the jig. Set focus on your item. Ignore the cut line and enable the engrave. Ignore the camera view. Print.
Also, I suggest that you use cheap material like cardboard for the jig - not Proofgrade material.
As for the logo not being centered in the outline, that is a mystery I can’t solve without seeing the file.
Thank you! That helps a lot. This is the file I’m working with. I did the design in Illustrator, then saved it as an svg. It’s definitely something that’s happening when I save the file.
Another way to look at it is how I use my jigs. I have a few and one cut file. Let’s use my dog tag example, because it’s one of the same shape you are using. My scrap cardboard jig is positioned in the lower left corner of the bed - I have no idea why I’m so lucky, but the bed seats within 1/1000" every time I remove it to clean it out, both on my current machine and the previous. It just settles there perfectly. Anyway, that means my jig is always in the same spot. So when I open my jig file with just the cut path set to ignore, I can import my engrave image and position it relative to the cut path then engrave. It’s never failed. I even made one with a circle around the perimiter, just about 1mm from the edge of a tag, and it was perfectly centered. This was just recently, years after I created the file and started making these.
The only time I really use the camera is to place small parts in leftover scraps. Otherwise, it’s not of much use to me.
