Tutorial: How to cut without the Crumb Tray (Honeycomb)

[j.r]

thanks for the update!

[henryhbk]

@j.r

is it still necessary to do these precise measurements

Well even if the GF would do it itself, for safety you need to make sure you are clear of the nozzle so you don’t hang up on the head.

[GlowForthAngela]

Thanks so much, graham. Are you able to define each of the terms on the calculator you invented? I’m engraving a clear plate, so the plate itself is 1/8"thick, but the height of the plate when turned upside down is 3/4" (this includes the empty space underneath the pate when turned upside down), so the plate itself isn’t thick, but it is “tall.” Hence, I don’tknow what to putin thecalculator for the thickness questions. And I also don’t know what the"desired new height above the tray"is or how to get that info.

[brcgn]

Question. I know this thread is from a few months ago. Newbie here. Wouldn’t it be easier without all those calculations and measuring, to take the crumb tray out and place on a level surface. Then put whatever material you want to engrave and place it right next to the crumbtray. Put shims or materials under your material and make sure you measure against the crumbtray to make sure the top is somewhere in that 1/2 inch zone you have to be in? Just asking… Newbie here.

[Jules]

Great question! Yes, you could certainly measure against the crumb tray. (The thread is very old… when it was written, we did not have the Set Focus function, and had to do it with math.)

[kittski]

Jules is right (as always ) and the set focus has made some of the old tray info a bit outdated. The set focus feature made tray calculations really easy and all you have to do is get the material somewhere in the right height range and the GF will do the rest.

Using "set focus" with material over .5" (No tray)

I’ve seen this question come up a few times recently and wanted folks to get the newest info. The new “set focus” feature has really changed things for working with thick material! If you have something over .5" to put in your GF there’s no longer a need for complicated math or tray calculations. All you HAVE to do is make sure your materiel reaches above the height of the tray and is the cutting range and the GF will do the rest. Here’s what to do… Remove the tray For material taller than 1…

[henryhbk]

@kittski

all you have to do is get the material somewhere in the right height range

Yeah, so while you don’t need the math like we old timers used to, you do need a rough guesstimate to get the material in the focal range. (and to figure out how much stuff to pile underneath to do so.)

[aidan]

I have the same lino stamp blocks from inventibles. I tried using them then realized the height was too much for the GF. Have you figured out a template or shallower bed covering that would allow for a cardboard template to be cut to hold those blocks in place so you could position designs and center them.
I was also wondering about the settings.
I scanned these amazing antique wood blocks with the idea of reproducing them sadly the gfui did not allow for any serious editing of scanned items when I scanned them. I wanted to add a line of simple text which seamed impossible.

[ChristyM]

If you’re generally happy with the scan results (I just use a scanner for most things now as the GF doesn’t do a great scan to begin with), you should be able to create a separate file with the line of text you want and drag that file into the GF user interface with the scanned image. The GFUI isn’t meant for much editing at all.

[aidan]

thanks, I was wondering if it was just me. Good to know others have found similar limitations

[henryhbk]

@aidan

Have you figured out a template or shallower bed covering that would allow for a cardboard template to be cut to hold those blocks in place so you could position designs and center them.

Well, if you count stacking scraps of proofgrade a “template”, then sure. That’s not a problem, and when I did the Lino blocks (with @Joe) during the PRU days, which prompted me to write this tutorial which is no longer relevant with the set-focus command. I didn’t know any better. As for settings as with most things you can just start with at the built in maple-plywood settings and work from there as needed.

BTW: I found the Lino blocks aren’t great stamps compared to the dedicated laser stamp materials I’ve used which are as good as any custom stamp I’ve ordered through staples. As @cynd11 noted, I totally didn’t think about using clear acrylic on the handle to be able to see through the stamp… (but they’ve been using the stamp at the hospital since 2/18 and it’s worked great)

Stamping out squirrels

So this year has been a banner year for squirrels in our neighborhood and for administrative workflow issues in my wife’s practice. So figuring I could kill 2 birds with one stone, I decided to make a stamp she needed. A few weeks back I had made it in Inventables Linoleum, which while it looked great, absolutely sucked as a stamp (didn’t actually take up ink and put into paper - sort of a fundamental task for a stamp) so saw the recent post about Art stamp from @cynd11 And decided well that …

[Livein3D]

I am very much a visual person…and this graphic proved it better than all…I immediately understood so thank you soooooooooooo very much!! This made all the difference in the world!

[kittski]

You’re welcome and this makes me very happy to hear and I’m glad it helped. I’m a visual learner as well so it’s how I tend to explain things as.

[trually]

@Tom_A

As a father and, well, a human being, I have a ton of LEGO blocks that I think I’ll use to build stands with the tray removed.

OMG Did this work?

[Livein3D]

I so had never thought of that … and there is a couple of tubs conveniently located in the same room… wonder if my adult son would notice if a handful appeared inside the GF? I’ll probably be disinherited…if that’s a thing.

[trually]

[henryhbk]

@Tom_A

I have a ton of LEGO blocks that I think I’ll use to build stands with the tray removed.

And now thanks to John Saunders at NYCCNC we have a machinable LEGO removal tool:

Fun CNC Project | Milling Aluminum LEGO Removal Tool

[jamesdhatch]

Got the Lego version of that in a ship model last year. Never needed it before & still haven’t used it.

[SummersMade]

Thanks - I just did my first engrave on a box I made and forgot to engrave before I made it ‘a box’. This worked a dream.

[henryhbk]

haha, been there done that. it’s why in my CNC milling class I took, one of their hints was leave yourself a reference point that you an touch off of if you have to redo machining operations. They always recommended the top geometric center since the part will always have one of those regardless of what you’ve cut away. I can’t tell you the number of times I get “done” and realize, oh yeah, skipped that step didn’t I…