Engraving Multiple wood candle jar lids?

[LeeAnn]

Hi everyone I am new here. I have tried searching my topic multiple times and can not seem to find an answer to my question so I am going to post here for help.

I have several of these bamboo candle jar lids I would like to engrave on the tops. Do I have to do them one at a time or can I set several of them on the tray, put the image on each one and engrave them several at a time? I have attached pictures of the jar lids I have.

Any help, suggestions are very much appreciated.

[eflyguy]

You can do multiple.

[eflyguy]

I’ll add that it will go a lot faster if you merge all of the engravings into a single object, but you will need to be pretty confident in your alignment. I’ve engraved 30 glass jar lids at once, but I used a jig to ensure accurate alignment.

[evansd2]

Welcome, @LeeAnn!

Here’s a tutorial on how to setup a jig for a round lid, you might find it useful:

How to print perfectly on a round lid

[image] I wanted to engrave some designs on some kitchen jars I plan to hand out this Christmas, but I was having a heckuva time getting the designs to print right. The bamboo lids I wanted to print on are about .8” tall and I was getting pretty inconsistent results (to say the least). It turns out, this project is complicated by a few factors. Firstly, the camera registration is not yet reliable. Secondly, the laser can’t focus well on material that is thicker (taller) than .5”. Thirdly, placi…

You may not need to make a support box, if your lids are thinner than 0.5" you can just setup your jig material (cardboard in this case) directly on your tray.

Then it’s just a matter of arranging your lids in your favorite SVG editor, and uploading the whole thing to cut your jig then engrave your lids.

It can be a little tricky, but it’s not that hard with a little practice. I’d suggest doing a test jig or two before you go in for the large multiple lid jig.

[rvogt]

Yep, the jig is the way to go to do multiples in my opinion!! I would measure the circle. Then draw a circle that size in the Glowforge…copy and paste them to fit on the cardboard then cut them out. Make sure your cardboard is being tacked down in some way so it does not move. Now, remove the circles you cut…again DO NOT MOVE THE CARDBOARD! Then put your graphic in the circles you drew. Don’t pay attention to where they ‘look’ like they are. If you don’t move the cardboard and don’t move the circles on your screen, they will be positioned just where you need them. Change the circles you cut to ‘ignore’ so you don’t cut them on your lid and engrave your graphic! It’s works wonderfully!

[LeeAnn]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies!!! Your ideas are really helpful!!! I was able to get it to work!

[ChristyM]

pretty!

[ptodd]

Welcome to the forum! Nice job on the lids!

[evansd2]

Well done, excellent alignment.

If I had any suggestions as to how to maximize this job it would be to get the lids as close together as possible (less empty space for the laser to cross) and stagger the rows (aka hexagonal packing) so they pack tightly vertically.

Anything you can do to eliminate “dead space” will save you a great deal of engrave time.

[LeeAnn]

Thanks! I am going to redo the jig!!!