Full Version: What is the most efficient way to handle this job??
From: joyce (JLADY) [#15]
19 Sep 2006
To: logojohn [#13] 19 Sep 2006
I am attaching the file. Thanks for helping me.
The reason I went with the diamond burnisher is I tried the regular diamond and the edges were real bad, I had to do an outline with the burnisher just to get a good clean edge. Not sure why, maybe my cutter was bad?? So I went with the diamond burnisher, I was able to get a good clean character.
EDITED: 18 Oct 2006 by JLADY
From: logojohn [#16]
19 Sep 2006
To: joyce (JLADY) [#15] 19 Sep 2006
I didn't see anything major that would improve the time for your layout.
With 50+ plates with 3 large letters, 2.2 minutes per plate is not that bad for burnishing.
The one with lj1 at the end is the changes I made but wont make a lot of difference.
Change 1. I noticed the drag is checked instead of route. If you don't want to manually turn the motor for the burnisher on and off you can use route.
Change 2. I get better results with the "sort" box Unchecked in the hatch filled setup. If you don't see a variance in the way the finished letters look, just leave it your way. With the sort unchecked the hatch will always go from left to right top to bottom.
Especially plates that are not oxidized will reflect the light differently when some hatches are engraved top to bottom and then hatches around the other part of a "C" or other letter that can't be done continuously engrave bottom to top.
The one with lj2 at the end are those changes plus some that might be faster in setting up your numbers. I see they are separate so you could arrange them manually. Arial black and some other ttype fonts do not center vertically or horizontally because of the white space in the font.
It isn't noticeable on large pieces but as you know it is on these with small margins.
I created a red centered box in the layout for manually adjusting the left and right margins. Most numbers will center with the 1st plate in the layout. I use the [text][serilization]menu to fill out the numbers. I then go through and alter the ones that are not centered. Usually the only ones needing adjusting are when there is a 1 and the beginning or end.
I have turned the engrave by color on. I have set the black to engrave 1st and the red to not engrave so you don't need to remove the red box before sending to engrave. If you load saved defaults with the job it should turn it on. Check that the engrave by color is checked before sending so the box doesn't engrave.
If the spacing between any 2 nmbers in to close or far apart you can permanently and easily correct it. This takes a little time at first but remember it only needs to be done once for each font.
In the menu select [misc] [editINIfiles]
scroll through the list and select you font name including bold or not etc.
if you want two numbers closer together enter a line that reads for example:
10=+70
this controls the space between 1 and 0
+70 REMOVES about 1/4 space.
You can exit, redraw the screen and view the change and repeat if necessary.
example
44=-20
this controls the space between 4 and 4
-20 adds about 1/8 of a space between letters.
redraw screen view and make more changes if needed.
This sounds complicated but with a little practice it is quick and remember you only have to make the change once for each font.
It will be faster than manually doing 3 numbers and you can save time by using the serilization.
.
From: joyce (JLADY) [#17]
19 Sep 2006
To: logojohn [#16] 19 Sep 2006
I never knew about the text/serialization, wow that is a huge time saver.
I knew about the edit/ini but never tried it, it seemed to complicated but one of these days I will. Anyway thanks for the advise, next time I will for sure use a diamond drag.
I didn't charge enough for this (only 1.00 each) but that is another issue, I originally was going to charge .75 each (but then I was going to burnish a single line font).
He said are you sure it is .75 each, I said yes, he went silent and I said is that good or bad, he said are you sure .75 each.....
Well he had got quotes locally, the lowest was 2.75 each and said he will go with me but I should raise it to 1.00 each. Ha Ha, now I want to raise it to 2.00 each (not this order, next time...he is threatening more work!!).
From: logojohn [#18]
19 Sep 2006
To: joyce (JLADY) [#17] 20 Sep 2006
There are so many goodies in the Xenetech software I still haven't found them all after 10 years.
One of my favorites and biggest time savers is you can customize the mouse right click menu.
You can have the things you use most show up instantly with a right click.
There are different right click menus, depending on what is selected.
Nothing
one item
multiple items
For example the even space selected lines would be worthles if nothing or only one item is selected so I don't have it added there, just in the multiple item right click menu.
For truetype I wouldn't touch it for under $3-$4 dollars.
I recently did 1500 1x3 sublimated plates which is a lot quicker and got $2 each.
Would laser them for about the same or engraved with a quick engraving font but not true type.
Boring orders like that are actually the most lucrative thing we do even at quantity pricing. $3000 in a couple days with under $100 in materials . . bring it on!
.
EDITED: 19 Sep 2006 by LOGOJOHN
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#19]
19 Sep 2006
To: joyce (JLADY) [#1] 20 Sep 2006
Joyce,
If this customer is threatening more work (a good thing) and expecting low prices, for relatively involved, time-consuming engraving processes (a bad thing) I'd offer suitable alternatives, which, while not compromising the impact/quality of the plate, would be less labor-intensive.
Brian suggested sublimation.
Considering the requirements:
1) Brass Plate
2) Large Dark Letters/Numbers
3) Sequential Numbering
If the plates will be used indoors and if there isn't a specific requirement that the plates be burnished/oxidized, I'd agree.
From: logojohn [#20]
19 Sep 2006
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#19] 19 Sep 2006
1) Brass Plate
The satin brass I get from ID plates does not sublimate well. The transfer paper sticks to the plate with the heat/press time needed for a good imprint. And the metal color is so saturated that it tends to cast a yellowish tint on any colors other than black. But if a lighter brushed gold sublimateable aluminum is acceptable, that would be the ideal choice.
Since Joyce has a laser but not sublimation equipment, even with the high cost of gold alumamark vs. the long engraving time of truetype letters, it would be a good choice for gold/black letters.
I had some success with OEM laser transfer on laserable plastic and acrylic so it might also work if the customer needed real satin brass. I haven't had time to try it yet.
3) Sequential Numbering
The Xenetech software Joyce has can also be used to print out sublimation or OEM laser toner transfers in black or basic colors. You could set the size of the single plate and set the size of the multiple plate to a little under a page size of 8.5x11. You can enter a distance between plates for shearing off the guide marks, leaving no sign of them when cut off from both directions.
Use the serilization option and it would create a batch of several pages automatically that could be sent to the printer at once. This was a hugh time saving over coreldraw when we did the 1500 numbered plates.
Any of the above would look much better than trying to get a deep even black letter from oxidizing, especially with burnished letters.
EDITED: 19 Sep 2006 by LOGOJOHN
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#21]
19 Sep 2006
To: logojohn [#20] 19 Sep 2006
OEM toner, because of the lower temperature and dwell time, (as compared to ink jet sublimation), should work well on your existing brass.
PS - I like your modern-looking logo. :-)
From: joyce (JLADY) [#22]
20 Sep 2006
To: logojohn [#20] 20 Sep 2006
We do sublimation. I initally tried to suggest lasered plates with flexi brass but he insisted on metal.
I didn't think about sublimation because these are going on tiles on floors in a carpet store. My thought was that people would be stepping on them and for some reason thought sublimation wouldn't hold up as well as engraving and also thought that maybe sunlight would hit them (depending on where they are in the store) and they would fade.
He also insisted on shiny brass which scratches really fast, so I don't see these holding up very long, but that is what he insisted on, but he says people will not be stepping on them???
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#23]
20 Sep 2006
To: joyce (JLADY) [#22] 20 Sep 2006
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