Uneven Lines on engrave

Let me start off by saying hi and thank you for taking the time to read this post.
I have been creating a product for months without any issues and recently on my vector (svg) the engraving is uneven with lines. I will try to make this as concise as possible:
Materials: Columbia Forest Maple, Walnut and Birch
Engrave settings have not changed speed 1000 power 75 (this has been my go to setting for EVERYTHING I engrave as I do not care for very dark burns)
It is not the grain as this is happening across different materials consistently.
I have cleaned the lens and mirrors,
I have cleaned air assist
I have changed mirror (as I was having a different issue and GF recommended changing them)
I have reached out to GF, they are relucant to offer troubleshooting on these materials.
Also, I have noticed that now after a couple of projects my GF is overheating, pausing and the orange light comes on :frowning:
I recently converted my vectors to jpg and that helped a little but now I have to increase the speed/power/and LPI which is not acceptable. As a project that had a run time of 9 minutes is now running 23 mins.
Please see attached photos any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

If you can show them that the problem occurs on PG materials, they will be able to help you troubleshoot. If it doesn’t occur on PG material, then it’s a material issue. It’s definitely worth doing a test engrave on PG, even if it’s not what you want to use from day to day.

If your GF is overheating and your ambient temp hasn’t changed, you should re-check your air assist fan, exhaust fan, and the exhaust pathway to make sure nothing is impeding. Also the air intake under the front right side.

I can’t fathom why changing from vector to raster would slow your job down. :woman_shrugging:

Also, to adjust the output you’d usually want to increase speed OR power, not both, as when you increase both the changes basically cancel each other out. SLOWER speed and/or more power will darken the engrave, faster speed and/or less power will lighten it.

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Thank you so much for your response. I have tested on PG with PG settings, the deep line pattern is not as noticable as the PG settings engrave very deep. So it looks like there isn’t an issue, however I do not use those settings so the point is moot.
In regards to changing the settings… with a vector my settings are 1000S/75P /125LPI those settings no longer work, so I convert image to jpg same settings are not working but settings that do work are 1400S/85P/340LPI that is why my run time increases. Again those new settings are a work around and does not output the original quality that I have been using. Finally, I do not have a lot of proofgrade material the 1 piece of draftboard that I have came with the GF and that is what I use when they ask me to test, that board is being used up.

Can you elaborate on “no longer work?”

Also, another way to rule out material/wood grain as the cause would maybe be to turn a piece sideways and see if you get the same pattern.

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No longer work as in the photos I attached previously there are lines in the engrave. I have turned the design sideways still same issue This happens with 1/8in birch, 1/4in walnut, maple and mahogany. I can’t imagine all 4 of these materials and different sheets having this same grain issue. so at a loss.

Here are before and after photos of those settings.

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Sorry, this is a tough one without support to weigh in. I’m wondering if it could be a belt / stepper motor issue. I’m not an expert on the movement mechanics, but that’s where I’d be looking, I think.

I still think it would be worth the trouble for you to get it to show adequately on PG so they would be able to weigh in. You should be able to decrease the power on the PG engrave, or use a lower LPI, so it’s not as dark and would show up more clearly.

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Yes, sadly I do not have PG Maple to test it on only Draftboard. Thank you so much, you have been so kind, I appreciate you!

This is where I’d go as well since it’s being seen on multiple materials. I’d go through and remove everything and check for cracked wheels, missing teeth, areas rubbed down, anything that could be showing you that repeating pattern. Even an even but too thick layering of dust could cause a slow-down-speed-up which is what looks like is happening here. I would do each item one at a time (as opposed to removing everything and then having to figure out how to put it all together), and make sure both fan blades and intake/output openings are clean and clear. Get yourself as close to factory clean as you can.

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I was wondering the same thing. I have ordered a 3 MM key to remove the belt and double check. I have made sure the rails and belt are clean. I at one point thought it might be the air assist, so I cleaned that as well but was unable to remove it without the key. Weird thing is that when I use draftboard as the material and my original settings it looks okay not great but okay. When I set the material to anything else it causes those lines to appear.

Draftboard doesn’t have any sort of grain, while all wood does - it may be that your wood supplier (especially if they’re all the same supplier) has changed something. That’s why Support will only help if you cut it on Proofgrade - they spend an inordinate amount of time and money making sure the :proofgrade: stuff will give you a nice even cut. Might be worth getting some at least for testing purposes.

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You still can try adjusting the settings for a lighter engrave on the draftboard. :slight_smile:

@blueflowerreiki Did you ever figure out what the issue was for the uneven engraving? I seem to be having a similar issue and don’t know why. I have tried different woods and it does the same thing. Any suggestions or help is appreciated, Thanks

If you haven’t already sent an email to Support then you should open your own post in P&S showing pictures of the issue on PG material using PG settings.

In the meantime: