Do remember that those mini engravers are based on CD/DVD drive hardware, so that the maximum engravable space is 38x38mm. Probably OK for a pen but not much larger. (I built one years ago, but only ran it up to about 400mw.)
I figure that if I need a rotary jig for something that fits in the GF I can build one in a few days once mine arrives. (Oh, btw @dan is that aluminum vent cover on the photo of the air assist what will be in the final product? Because I can do really good proximity sensing on that.)
If that is an āEngraver Printerā, and the GF is a 3D Laser Cutter Printerā, I suppose my old fashioned ball point pen is a āDigital Printerā ?
This is the YouTube that shows the rotator in action and the free plans to build the rotator are included in the YouTube notes. Also someone else has a 3D printer version of the rotator for sale.
Incredibly simple concept for the drive mechanism - one elastic band !
Obviously not directly applicable to the GF, but food for thought.
Thanks for posting.
True. Shop, yes, house, not so much. My will most likely be in my living room with my cats. The only other place I could put it is where I will be working and canāt have the operational noise.
Iām still pondering the potential with a jig set up with a series of indexers. Possibly make up for having manual rotation by having a series, tandem rotations, with MPAF possibly 1/3+ engraved at a time, and fitting quite a few in the bed. Engrave one at a time, babysitting, or a bed full of items with more occasional attention.
Well, Iām not actually looking to do any rotary engraving, so it is highly academic. If I do get into that, the community will have a great answer for my long before then. Pro picking up and continuing image will probably be in place long before I am looking at anything like cylindrical engraving.
In truth, me neither, but I do like to have a rough idea for a solution before the problem comes up and bites me !
I suppose thereās also a sense of contributing ideas, or being a catalyst for others to work with, that keeps me reading and posting.
John
If itās the big honking reflective metal thing we see now, Iām figuring on an IR proximity sensor mounted on the rotator mechanism. Probably make it adjustable along the y axis for different size engraves. Those tiny reduction-gear steppers are 2048 steps/rev (ignoring backlash for the moment) so you probably could do the stacked-line thing if you got the gfui to accept the file. Otherwise just a few dozen lines at a timeā¦)
The fancy ones are, say, something like this with lots of datasheets and tutorials. The not-so-fancy are this or this. (Iāve used that last one, and getting a usable signal is, er, interesting.)
Must be getting old(!). Of course Iāve come across them. Several years ago on the cnczone site, we had a long discussion on 3D mapping as it happened. Most of it was hovering around the idea of using this, or some top end version, as a depth map generator, possibly using the moire effect of projecting a line pattern onto the surface in question, then scanning it with an optical detector.
Someone suggested using the led from a cd playerā¦ and so it went on.
will most likely be in my living room with my cats. The only other place I could put it is where I will be working and canāt have the operational noise.