Hi all. I have been engraving on 6 oz metal flasks for quite some time with no difficulties. They turn out perfect pretty much every time. Now, I’m trying to engrave larger flasks that are thicker. They are slightly curved so the middle part of the flask sits slightly taller on the bed of my glowforge. The bigger flasks are about 1.9" in depth so they do fit in the bed just fine. My first print didn’t come out–the middle part of the graphic hardly printed. So it resulted in an uneven print. Much lighter in the middle than towards the edges. Can anyone give me some tips on anything I can do differently so they engrave evenly? Thanks so much for any assistance!
The curvature of the flask changes the focus of the laser. There is no way to overcome that in one simple step. I suggest you divide your design up into sections that correspond to their placement on the flask. Use the set focus tool in the middle of each part of the design before engraving and make sure the flask doesn’t get moved during the entire engrave. Depending on your design, you might consider making it a bit smaller so it spans a smaller section of the curved flask.
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I actually didn’t use the set focus tool at all. Maybe that’s the problem? I’m wondering if I should try that first before dividing up the graphic…
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It can only focus on one point, so if you focus at the top of the curve, the lower parts will be out of focus. Maybe try focusing half way to the top of the curve. Depending on the design, it might work.
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Since this problem is being seen on materials that were purchased from another company, we can’t offer support for prints that don’t come out as expected.
Materials may vary widely from piece to piece, even if they’re created by the same manufacturer. I’m going to move it to Beyond the Manual so other folks here can help.
Should this happen with a print on Proofgrade materials, please open a new ticket in Problems and Support and we’ll help you right away!
Thanks so much. I’ll give it a shot.
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