Would this RackStar Laser System, or anything like it, be helpful or more of a hindrance with the GF? From what it looks like to me, there isn’t much room with the tray at the bottom removed but I figured it would be worth asking. Two years ago I picked up woodturning and now make pens and other items like wood stemmed wine glasses and was wondering if I’d be able to engrave them with the GF.
I know the “Maximum thickness of material with tray removed: 1.5″ (38mm)” but (and please forgive me I’m new to anything laser) does this mean that from the laser bed to the safe working area of the laser that there is only 1.5"? For example if I put an item that is 2" deep in the bed with the tray removed, could it not be engraved?
I want to make sure I plan for things I can do down the road and not the other way around. Thanks for any help in advance.
There’s a few questions in here and I’ll try to tackle them each. Please let me know if I misunderstood.
First, we can’t recommend a third party insert; it could cause all sorts of havoc.
Second, wine glasses are probably too tall to engrave, even on their side.
Third, the engravable area is 0"-0.5" from the top of the tray. That means if you remove the tray, the part you engrave still needs to be where the top of the tray used to be.
If the black rectangle is the 1.5" tall tray, then you can engrave the green arrow amount. If you remove the tray, you can’t engrave the blue arrow amount, but you can put something (like a 1.75" spice jar) in there and engrave the top of it.
EDIT: Yes, that means you can engrave 2" thick material, not 1.5" like it says in the specs. Two inches for everyone!
That explains everything just fine @dan. Thanks for responding so quick, and with a diagram too. I also notice you’re up pretty late. I hope all is well.
@dan are you a little punchy right now or have we misunderstood since September? Your drawing is compatible with our understanding but thought the 0-0.5" was above a 1" tray allowing for the maximum 1.5" object. Even more confusing, If the tray was 1.5" as you say then the 0-0.5" might allow a maximum 2.0" not 1.75". Thinking something is wrong or I need to go back to school.
Working bed: 12″ x 20″ (300mm x 500mm)
Maximum thickness of material with tray installed: 0.5″ (13mm)
Maximum thickness of material with tray removed: 1.5″ (38mm)
Focus range: 0.5″ (13mm)
Dan’s example of 1.75" would be in a nominal distance that would work. I don’t believe it was meant to be a maximum. So in that regard, your math is good and you don’t need to go back to school.
I had read it the same as you up until Dan’s newest comments and was also surprised at the wording. It would be a nice surprise to be able to handle objects up to 2", though.
With the understanding that if you use that “extra” space and have a mishap, you might not get any replacement parts right away while they are fulfilling orders.
Whoa, this is a HUGE difference…I think everyone was thinking that the max thickness of material was 1.5", but you’re now saying that it’s actually 2"?
'Cause if so, that extra .5" seriously makes a huge difference, and is really awesome.
Even if it’s 1.75" then that’s still awesome.
So, wait, sorry, which is the total max thickness, then? 1.75" or 2"?
They way I understood this is that you can’t engrave in the black area.
The black area being the tray or part of an object with the try removed.
This leads me to believe that you can engrave objects between 1.5" and 2" tall with an engraving depth of 0 - 0.5".
This is assuming that the tray is 1.5" thick as in the black area and not 1" thick.
