I found an image that I wanted to engrave. I loaded it up and it has 8 different engraving passes and is said to take 1 hour and 22 minutes on PGrade. This “coin” that I’m trying to make is only 3 inch X 3 inch. My question is… Does this seem like a normal amount of time for something so small? It just strikes me as being a really long period of time. And I’m wondering if I’m making more work for myself because I do not have it in the right file… or setting.
Jessie
It depends on the setting that you have selected for your LPI. If it’s one of the higher resolution settings, you’re making the laser engrave over areas it has already engraved, over and over again. It burns darker and deeper.
The HD setting takes a lot longer to process than the SD setting. The SD setting is good enough for complete coverage in all cases, so try loading that to see how long it takes. You can always cancel the print once it finishes processing it and gives you a time estimate.
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this is your issue. if it was in one setting, it would be significantly faster. with 8 passes, you’re essentially engraving the equivalent of eight 3x3 inch coins by making 8 passes over the 3x3 area.
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I agree, sound like the 8 passes is the key. Is there a way to combine the file to make fewer passes?
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to tag onto what @kittski said, are there eight different settings of engraving? or are some of them the same settings? if any are the same (or close enough that it doesn’t make a visual difference), i would make those the same color/operation to save time. essentially, every one you can eliminate will probably shave about 10 mins off your total time (8 passes, 82 minutes).
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Thank you, everybody!
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Thanks for the help, everyone!