Rotary Engraving a Yoyo on my Glowforge

I don’t think I’m brave enough to cut my Glowforge. Thanks!

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Correct. I actually cut the bottom slot wider than the maximum diameter to allow positioning a larger diameter slightly off center.

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The company should make you an offer for your design. :no_mouth:

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I am still blown away by the creativity and elegance of this idea. And your solution for engraving too-tall objects is outside the box.

Just thinking through the process, it seems that you would need to reverse (flip) the design along one axis before printing?

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Holy crap this is amazing! This is a real game changer honestly, and I’m beyond jealous! WOW

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This is amazing. Do you plan on selling the plans?

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Yes, you do need to flip your artwork across the horizontal axis.

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Brilliant!

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I am considering it.

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Please let me know. I’ve been sitting here planning how to do glasses and tumblers.

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Alas, Unless they’re under 2” in diameter or you cut the bottom of the gf out glasses and tumblers won’t fit.

If you read what @taylor.a.jenkins wrote about the yoyo, this isn’t entirely true.

The round object being engraved will never pass completely underneath the gantry. Taylor engraved the yoyo at a point that was not the highest on the arc. So the laser just needs to be able to hit the top half of the arc without the laser head hitting it. Of course, the closer you can get to the top of the arc, the better.

There will be a maximum diameter that will fit, but it is probably a lot more than 2 inches.

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I think it’s safe to say you would have several folks interested in buying the plans if you do go that route! :smiley: :+1:

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This would be something else I would buy that I probably wouldn’t use, but I totally want. :smiley:

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Point taken - though practically speaking what part of a tumbler is under 2"? They are mostly tubes, no?

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As long as part of the top half fits underneath the laser head, it is possible to do. You probably couldn’t engrave a 4" cylinder, but most drinking tumblers are less than 3". Of course, we’re talking about taking the crumb tray out.

I want to try this for engraving pens and pencils. This should make alignment (at least on one axis) much easier than using a jig.

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That is exactly my plan or possibly a 45 degree angled mirror.

Unless it’s a laser-grade optical mirror, you’ll probably just burn a hole through the reflective backing. If it is a capable mirror, be careful not to point the beam in the wrong place - you could cut right through the front of your Glowforge, and then cut right through whatever is in front of your Glowforge…

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Absolutely, precautions must be taken. Baby steps, something behind it to catch stray beams. I have lenses and mirrors available. Worked with industrial lasers for years.

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How would you correct for laser focus? Or is that not a concern?

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