Wavering

Missed the settings.

How did the 90% turn out?

Save the JPG as a PNG instead and try that.

Seems like the folks that have posted engraving issues before were all related to some artifact in the way the GFUI handles JPG files… some folks have random dots and such in an area that should otherwise be empty.

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If you rotate it, does the wavy follow the design?

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There is no way that is a problem with the file. Dots and stuff from a jpg, sure. But that waviness looks totally analog. It has to be something about the motion of the head or the work piece.

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LOL, so kind of you to do so in order to help a fellow Forger :wink:

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Anything for you guys.

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If it was the head that would show up on every bitmap engrave, unless the motion control had not been updated until this job otherwise he would have seen it already.

Maybe it is the piece being blown around or vibrating? seems there would be some dis-jointed lines if that was happening though, or evidence of the piece rotating and not just left/right.

It’s a fair point but if something came loose on Tom’s unit between the last piece he ran and this one he’d have no point of reference. I’d also run something you know will work Tom and see if that still looks good. Rotating and rerunning it as @mad_macs suggested is a good shout too methinks. Mainly interested if it’ll work as a vector though. Instead of redrawing the whole thing though you could just use Inkscape to convert it to a vector outline for a rough first check.

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It is a very odd form of distortion. Vertical lines that are close to each other bend in the same way but the outer lines tend to bend the opposite way from each other. For example the tops of the doors flare out away from each other at the outside edges but the inside edges seem to bend the same way as each other but differently from the outsides.

The X axis seems to move different distances, smoothly depending on the Y position. I can’t think of a mechanical explanation for that. Or a software one for that matter.

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curious, i wonder if there’s a problem with your unit or if you found an edge case where their image processing goes a little crazy. it’s interesting, surely not all the other marks on there are laser made…there’s an interesting one just about the ‘p’ in police box.

do you notice any corner overburn on the acrylic model? can’t tell much in the pic because of shadows. of course, this is the worst possible design for that, which also makes it a good test case.

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That’s a weird one. Something I would try is to do the exact same process again to see if the wavyness is consistent. I’d guess just using the same settings would be good enough, but if using the same material is possible that would be more ideal (the back of that tag perhaps). Even try to put it in the same place on the bed.

If the second one comes out with very similar waves that might mean that they’re happening “on purpose” but if the waves are different, or there are no waves at all, that might mean that something random is happening (like the stock is moving or something).

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@jrnelson’s idea of this being related to the image processing is an interesting one. If @palmercr can’t think of a mechanical issue then perhaps reflectance from the material is affecting the head’s ability to position itself accurately based on the camera feedback?

That’s an easy one to test too; try running the same image on a different material. Though I’d agree re-running on the same material is a good idea too to check it’s not a one off

We’re all assuming the material is flat though, is it? I also wonder if it’s related to the aluminium being rolled out during production, perhaps it’s denser in horizontal lines due to an eccentricity in the shape of the pin which rolls it out… But that seems like a long shot!

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I’m guessing you’re referring to 90% power? I’d done the other side of the tag 90/335/340. However it contained no straight lines at all so it holds no value here.

Will try.

I’ll give this a shot as well.

Definitely not blown. The 2nd attempt I did on the brown/white acrylic was held with neodymium magnets and had a similar result as the aluminum. I’d think vibration would cause a jagginess rather than relatively-smooth waves.

Also something I’ll test.

I have performed similar by using acrylic (a few posts in). Same waves.

Due to the likelihood of distortion on the outer edges of the bed, I always drop my engraves center-bed.

Also, even though I don’t think I should expect such distortion from non-:proofgrade: materials, I should blow a section of :proofgrade: as a test as well.

All of these tests I’m happy to perform. Unfortunately they’ll all have to wait another 10 hours until I’m home from work. :frowning: But maybe in the meantime I’ll hear back from Support.

Thanks all! Will report all new info as it occurs!

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But to @jbmanning5’s credit none of the process you used to get there was in the OP. Yes the jpg was attached and your power/speed/LPI settings but nothing on the process you used to get from the jpg to the resulting engrave.

Knowing things like whether you dropped the image into Inkscape and created an SVG vs using the Add Artwork option in the GFUI (or you printed it out, dropped it on the bed and did a Trace) would all point to different possible issues.

Not knowing any of that, I have seen similar results when I inadvertently rotated an image by just a degree or so. One more idea to add to your exploration hopper :smiling_face:

Last I tried I don’t think you can currently rotate a raster image. Have they added that? 'Cause that’d be great. Matter of fact, I wanted to rotate this image 90º (for no good reason except I’d tossed the material in horizontally for some reason) but quickly remembered I couldn’t rotate and had to go and rotate my material instead.

I saw that, but it wasn’t clear if you used the same settings as you did with the aluminum. It seemed like you might have done it at a different size as well. If you did use the same speed/power/LPI settings, and the size is the same, I’d say that the results are significantly different. The acrylic version does have waves, but they’re not as severe as they were with the aluminum. So, if no changes were made other than using acrylic instead of aluminum, the reduction in the appearance of waves might somehow be due to the aluminum material. It’s hard to imagine how the actual aluminum material could be the cause though, so that would be a curious result.

i keep seeing this subject and it makes me think someone is making a post about “wavering” on whether they should wait or cancel their GF order. :slight_smile:

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Not in the GFUI but definitely doable in Inkscape, etc. In fact it’s easier to do inadvertently in the drawing packages when dropping an image in the file than in the GFUI.

But that’s why the process is important intel. It sounds like you did an Add Artwork operation in the GFUI and did not use any other software to prep the file (but that’s still an assumption on my part based on your question). If that’s the case then rotation (by you) is off the table as a likely cause.

I’m pretty sure I’ll have a solution to my temp alert issue tonight so should be able to play with some options. I did grab the file in Inkscape and did a quick trace which was okay but not great (lost some of the text lettering). I’m going to try Corel (better trace options) and even the print & Trace in the GFUI. It’ll be a good test of my temperature remediation solution :smiling_face:

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Well, I couldn’t use the exact same settings because they’re different materials. I would have just cut straight through the 1/16" acrylic at the settings I used for the aluminum. So I adjusted accordingly. The acrylic settings were, if I recall correctly, 90/235/340.

Here’s the thing. There are an infinite number of things I didn’t do when engraving this. If I’d done anything relevant to this conversation I promise I would have shared that info.

I sure hope so! Sorry you’ve been down! I had it this week myself. Bought a $130 A/C window unit and I was back up the next day. I understand you and others may not have/want that option. But it definitely bummed me out when I couldn’t burn! I actually had to wake up early the next day to run the jobs I couldn’t from the night before.

I would do that except mine’s in the basement. I’ve got those narrow little windows in the concrete because there’s only about a foot or so exposed concrete wall above grade. The windows are something like 8 or 10" tall by 20" or so long. No window a/c option.

I’d need one of those floor models with an exhaust out through a hose and another plywood window insert. Doable but I’ve got a Pro coming so it’s a temporary problem. If my hack works then I’ve got something for when I travel with it (we have a local MakerFaire I’ll likely be doing at the beginning of October - outside in a tent, no a/c). If not then I’ll suck it up and get one of the floor a/c units (and explain why I need another $500 tool to make my other tool work :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:).

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