This makes me curious about the ability of the machine to engrave on the Y axis instead of the X axis. Its technically possible, but the machine might not be designed to handle Y movement at that speed with the accel/decel.
@dan have you guys looked into this at all? Im just curious about your findings if so
Wonder if the issue is because of the mass associated with the gantry and laser tube in Xaxis vs just the head in the Y axis.
It would be a lot slower to engrave in the Y axis.
For engraving in the X axis, the only thing that has to move is the print head. So it does one line along the x axis, the Y stepper shifts the gantry one line, and it does it again. For lasering along the Y axis the whole gantry has to be shifted.
Makes more sense to orient the file so that the engraving lines appear in the direction you want them to run.
Oh I know, I was just curious if it was something they looked into and the results they got from experimentation. No other laser company has put out anything that engraves that way, which leaves the working bed size reduced. While gf might have a workaround using optical detection, thatâs not available to everyone.
Also in the case of someone who has doesnât have a passthrough, or is using oversized material, they wonât be able to rotate it to get full coverage.
An engrave on the y axis could be feasible, but youâre right that they would have to change the physics of the operation quite a bit.
Do you mean like a very precise and increment controllable Lazy Susan?
Kind of like that in a way. More like a rotisserie. 
That reply of yours was funny. It is lunchtime where I live, so perfect timing on your part.
I need some reassurance. I had a great big gulp when I read 10" depth, which I take it means Y dimension. It downgraded to an âuploadâ when I read 11.4. However when I started designing I decided to allow for imprecisely sized materials and my outer diameter or Y extent is 300 mm. Which is 11.811 in. The path will be vector cut, and only needs to look right, no function is impinged upon. Reassure me that I can put in a piece that is 12 in wide, cut part of the outline, and then move the material and finish up. Efficiency does not matter, my concern is whether it will be easy to reposition the material accurately enough.
Autocorrect fail, for upload read"ulp"
Easier than thatâŚhad you thought about rotating the design placement on the board to make it slightly diagonal?
Itâs a 300 mm circle, so that canât help.
Ulp !
No chance of cutting in parts and assembling with wood glue? Itâs stronger than wood.
I interpret this as being able to put in a 18" deep piece (in the Y direction, away from the user), so yes, youâd be able to put a piece of material in which you could cut the majority of your 300mm circle.
So yes, you wouldnât be able to cut the whole perimeter of the circle which it sounds like it doesnât matter to you.
Furthermore, based upon what Iâm reading above, it looks like your circle would look like this:
Where the distance the work area is from the front of the bed area determined by [quote=âdan, post:36, topic:3587â]
The board would be much closer to the front than the back - 1-2" from the edge (I donât know offhand).
[/quote]
I think that should answer your question?
In addition, if the center of your 300mm had a hole in it, you could rough saw your workpiece and use a jig with a dowel in the middle so that you place your workpiece on the jig, centered on the dowel, then cut as much of the circle you can, stop, rotate your workpiece around the dowel, and finish the cut.
This is what I was thinking for a jig:
Take a rough sawn circle with a center hole:
And put it on the jig:
And cut a portion of the circle:
Rotate your workpiece and cut the rest of your circle out:
But youâll end up with a hole in the middle of your circle 
true, although your hole doesnât necessarily need to go all the way through - drill a bit and set it on your nubbin, and itâll work just as well.
Rather nifty solution! (Kind of like a Lazy Susan. Chuckle!)
Possibly add a bit of circle that can be glued to the top of the main piece?
Thatâs along the lines of what I was thinking - as long as gluing is an option. Either would work.
