Working on a new clock for the local mini-MakerFaire. Raster engraves weren’t working (not enough definition). So after several of those tonight I pulled another design (vector this time) and decided to try a score instead.
Took forever (well maybe 10 minutes) to prepare the print. Then I caught the screen out of the corner of my eye and said “wow, gonna take less time to burn than it did to render”.
Then after watching how it was coming I looked over again and it still said 3:09. Huh. Walked over and saw the tiny little “HOURS”.
Killed it halfway through. I’m doing the test one(s) before committing it to PG (thinking Cherry Ply). I used the default dark score and it was overburning some of the details - actually got a fair amount of burn through on the back - not quite cutting but can see a thousand points of light through it
Trying for a Death Star to add to my Falcon clock.
Yeah, when you get lots of really complex curvy/cornery bits, the head slows way down and your vectors will overburn (why yes, I did start a small cardboard fire that way). For something that big and fancy, it might make sense to tease the design apart so that you can have different settings for the long straightaways and the tiny details bits. You might also be able to organize in ways that might make it run faster.
I’m taking another run at it with manual settings. Even the light mode is too slow (speed is 194). I’m doing it on Baltic Birch right now and the PG is a bit tougher for engraves (although I’ll peel the masking first because I don’t mind a bit of smoky residue on a Death Star
Trying to make the aesthetic choice for the clock - in the laser dish or in the center
2 & 1/2 hours last run, hoping for less on this one
Still working on the file for the original Death Star from A New Hope - that one’s being fun cleaning up since it was all in dark space.
Yeah I agree with @paulw, the details on something like that with a score are going to have some corner burn issues.
Oh wait, we’re in BTM…try a starting point of 25/155 for the score. It gives a nice dark burn without cutting all the way through the PG.
BUT…you might be surprised by how cool the corner overburn pinpoints could look on something like that. You might want to think about working it into the design somehow.
And if you have a backing of any kind behind it, (like even a wall), you won’t be able to see the pinpoints anyway. The only way to see them is if there is a light source behind it.
My last run was 15/194 and still too hot. Not so much the burn through but the fine details are getting overrun and chewed out. Doing a 15/350 now. Some of the lines are really really close so slow speeds lets them burn. I’m willing to let the GF burn through more of my stock. I’m in no hurry (for this one anyway)
yeah. lots of vertical hashing and small features - engraving my other one was actually faster but that really chewed through the wood. I’ve got it split into a half-dozen layers that I’ll engrave at different settings so I can get better relief handling but that’s for after this one is done. The long run times are good for design work
I got it on the double-sided engraved grill rack hooks that I did.
(They were scored as well for definition, every corner had a light point, because on that one, i was hitting it with a score from both sides, and they lined up perfectly.)
Anyway, it turned out pretty cool - I sometimes hold it up to the light instead of fetching out my burning toast.
The E makes a difference too. I just did a two hour engrave…It got right to the end when I noticed there was an E where it shouldn’t have been. Took two days for me to calm down and redo it.
It’s a cutaway drawing of the completed Death Star. All vectors.
I’m also doing the first Death Star - the uncompleted one - but I’m doing a raster engrave on that one. I broke that one into a few layers so I can control different settings for different parts of the image.
I’m working on a big project. I’ve done lots of tests and went over everything including doing a full scale mockup in cardboard before I commit to the only two sheets of cherry that I have at the moment. I’m a bit gun shy from a few months of playing with the PRU after the settings were changed. So far Zatoichi has performed perfectly. It will be two hour and a half prints and two forty five minute prints. It all looks good at the moment. No thunderstorms in the area so I have a quiet (kind of) evening at home with the Glowforge.
Edit: I jinxed myself. Now it’s going to have to be maple. Was making a wine box after @rgrannan. Had tested it all. Ran a small job this afternoon. I accidentally nudged the gantry taking out material while the machine is on. Whoops. . I turned off the Glowforge and did what I have done before with ensuring gantry is square to bed. Whatever I did wasn’t right but didn’t realize till done. First part was engraving which took a whole and all looked good. Webcam not at the right angle to pick up the resulting skew. Arg. Shut everything down and realigned gantry. All looks good now.
Awww, I could have helped you out with the cherry, I think I’ve got a couple medium plys. But I suppose you could get it just about as fast or faster from GF. Still, keep that in mind.
(for this one anyway)