The First Rule of Proofgrade 😎

[jamesdhatch]

@chris1

Does the rest of the scrap no longer work as Proofgrade Brand Proof Graded 3D Laser Printing Substrate?

You just have to tell it that the material is Proofgrade. It will believe you even if it’s not It’s a dropdown menu to get it to think you’re using PG and give you back the PG settings (vs having to specify each cut/score/engrave speed, power, LPI setting).

[chris1]

Indeed, I imagine that will change since it would otherwise allow people easy access to Proofgrade settings without buying Proofgrade.

Now I remember that the long-term plan is to put some kind of U markings on the material rather than a big sticker, so I guess the data would be distributed.

[jamesdhatch]

@chris1

Indeed, I imagine that will change since it would otherwise allow people easy access to Proofgrade settings without buying Proofgrade.

Maybe not. It’s going to be hard to allow full use of PG material if you can’t tell the machine it’s PG when it can’t tell by itself. There are times now when it can’t read the sticker. At least I can tell why and move the material so it gets a better look at it. But with the UV marks I wouldn’t know why it’s not working and now I have a piece of “defective” PG that I want my money back (return shipping included). Or I make enough swiss cheese out of it that no UV code is in sufficient condition to be effectively read anymore - I only get to use 70/80/90% of my PG?

[mheiselt]

Wow. Very impressive @Jules.

[Jamie]

I must have missed it. Did your pre release crap out?

[rpegg]

In addition the 1/8" Proofgrade is a weird thickness. Something like 0.130". Good luck finding that in a similar material. So the barcodes aren’t that useful for non-Proofgrade, just a starting point.

[jamesdhatch]

@rpegg

Something like 0.130".

I saw that in the settings and wondered myself. I mic’ed it and came out with that on the PG I got so it’s right. But I did that with the masking on. Two layers of masking come out to be about 0.005" so it’s pretty much spot on.

Whereas most of the 1/8" stuff I buy is 3mm which is close but not the same as 0.125" as they taught us in math class Same with 1/4" which is really 6mm.

The metric sizes are showing up in the U.S. too. Not because we’re converting to the other measurement system but because manufacturers can shave off another little bit of material while charging the same. Multiplied over 10s of millions of pieces, all those millimeters add up to lots of feet

[marmak3261]

One thing about nesting with wood is the challenge of the grain. So what might be efficient might not give you the orientation you need. I pretty much keep everything and use lots of scraps for testing slots and tabs and engraving results. The horizontal and vertical lines of different colors are very handy. You can resize them to make them longer, you can copy and paste and make as many as you want. You can rotate them. It doesn’t take too long to slice up to get at the edges.

I also have a file of a circle and a square and a golden rectangle. That takes care of just about everything.

[james_scheffler]

One thing about nesting with wood is the challenge of the grain. So what might be efficient might not give you the orientation you need.

That’s an excellent point and not one I had considered; but it now also makes me think about exploiting this to artistic effect.

In my head I’m imagining the aesthetic differences between a Penrose tiling pattern simply engraved on a wooden substrate and instead Penrose tiles cut from wood with a characteristic grain (say, Hickory) with their grain all in the same orientation with respect to the tile itself and then assembled into the pattern such that their individual grain patterns accentuate the overall pattern…

Maybe I’m overthinking this.

[marmak3261]

Taking into account grain is essential for any piece. Because the finish is so nice, the grain is very noticable as a distinguishing feature. My inlay compass rose shows quite a few different grains oriented a certain way, including a couple I missed.

[markevans36301]

Yeah, hopefully short term. The focus head is at HQ now.

[Drea]

Yikes! I hope it’s very short term

[marmak3261]

@rpegg

1/8" Proofgrade is a weird thicknes

That’s why I’m designing so much of my own stuff. Available designs have to be tweaked a bit.

[Jamie]

Bummer. Sorry to hear that. What can go wrong in the head? Are there electronics in there?

[markevans36301]

Butt loads. Focus motor, camera, range finder. Control hardware for all before. Remember, this is a whole new class of prosumer laser.

If I had to guess, I’d guess the driver for the focus motor.

[dan]

@jamesdhatch

What would be really cool @dan is if the GFUI could use the bed image and svgnest type of processing to help place components of a file around the pre-existing holes in a work piece. That would help maximize material use as we use the same sheet over & over again. Any chance you could hopperize it?

Awesome - hopperized! (cc @tony)

[teditz]

That was one of the features of the that I loved the most! NO WASTE!!