Full Version: OK, wish me luck-Epilog arrives tomorrow
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1]
20 Mar 2007
To: ALL
We're expecting the Bax Global truck sometime tomorrow. We have the space ready, have the exhaust system wired and the pipes go through the wall in the morning! Bought Photograv. Also bought Rowmark engraving plastic, some of the new Seashell plaque plates, some black marble and alder plaques etc from JDS. Also got some Cermark, a couple of stainless steel license plates and some 1/8" alder and a lense cleaning kit from Laserbits. Also got a sample pack of Alumamark and some tape for mask. The whole thing including the Photograv was about a $1000.00 with freight. (oh yeah, also some maple and cherry laminated laser wood from Laserbits)
Distributor is coming on Friday and I have 2 or 3 projects ready to do for our training session.
These are just some materials to have in stock to make samples from etc. Does anybody know of anything else I need to get going?
:P
From: precisionlaser [#2]
20 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 20 Mar 2007
Hi Larry
I remember the day we got our 24TT...did we have some fun! It looks like you have most of what you need for training. I can't think of anything else, but I did think of the day less than a week after we got the laser when I gouged out my brand new vector cutting table. I don't know what the EXTs are like, and perhaps they've upgraded the software, but if you accidentally forget to match the size of the piece in the laser to the size in the printer settings, the autofocus will attempt to autofocus in an area where there may not be material....the table will continue coming up as the autofocus plunger "plunges" into the honeycomb of the cutting table and then the laser attempts to begin lasering. Not a pretty sight at all. My advise is to NEVER use autofocus and to set your defaults to no on this setting. It's better practice anyway to do it manually.
Enjoy your new toy, I mean tool!
From: Vicky (ANDERI) [#3]
20 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 20 Mar 2007
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#4]
20 Mar 2007
To: precisionlaser [#2] 20 Mar 2007
Yikes! Thanks for that piece of advice!
One thing I have learned from these forums is that these machines are not totally idiot proof. I'll see if I can avoid that trap if it still exists .Maybe some other Epilog members would care to elaborate. Any information is appreciated.
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#5]
20 Mar 2007
To: precisionlaser [#2] 20 Mar 2007
Mark,
I did something similar with my 24TT a while back.
I had made a jig to hold a workpiece on the table, and totally forgot to tell the laser where the workpiece was located. As a result, when the autofocus routine brought the table up, the air assist tube came down onto my jig.......knocking the X-bar out of its track.
The worst part about this ordeal was the fact that a customer was watching! >.<
That was about 2 years ago. Every time I start a job, I still think about that, so it's doubtful that it will ever happen again.
With my feeble mind, I'm much more likely to forget to set the manual focus (ruining a workpiece) than to make sure the path is clear for the plunger. The only time I don't use autofocus is when I need to run a job slightly out of focus.
(There are a couple of other situations, but they're less than 0.5% of the time.)
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#6]
20 Mar 2007
To: Vicky (ANDERI) [#3] 20 Mar 2007
From: precisionlaser [#7]
20 Mar 2007
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#5] 20 Mar 2007
Cody,
We've knocked the X bar out of its track once too. Heart in mouth, but just snap it back in, hold breath, restart machine and back in operation. I happen to think that there ought to be some way to deal with the autofocus issue in their software but other than that, I am very happy with our machine.
From: precisionlaser [#8]
20 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#4] 21 Mar 2007
Larry,
Cody's comment about his jig reminds me of a trick we like to use when we have something that needs to be propped up and supported for lasering. We use Legos...yes, Legos. We have one of those gray Lego tables about 15" square and we build a little jig with the Legos on to the table, and then slide the whole thing into the laser up into the corner. Since our machine is only capable of 12" x 24", we had to cut the Lego table to fit, but once that's done, you're ready to rock. Just another tip...
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#9]
20 Mar 2007
To: precisionlaser [#8] 20 Mar 2007
Mark,
Legos? That is a funny but great tip. Mix in a little Silly Puddy when you need some extra grip and you have all the tools you need to jig up any oddly shaped piece.
By the way, are your kids running around the house looking for their lost toys? :D
EDITED: 20 Mar 2007 by DATAKES
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#10]
20 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 21 Mar 2007
Look at you!!
Acting like a kid waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney. :-)
Very exciting!!
From: precisionlaser [#11]
20 Mar 2007
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#9] 20 Mar 2007
Dave,
My "kids" are 24 and 19 now, so no worries there! We started using Legos for this because on our sub-surface lasers, we use them to position crystal. On one of our lasers, we have 30 of the gray flats laid out on the table. Toys R Us ran out of the flats and I had to buy them directly from the Lego online store. When people tour our operations, they are always amused to see Legos, but they do a superb job, they are accurate and of course easy to work with.
From: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#12]
21 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 21 Mar 2007
When I first got the laser I followed some advice I saw here, which was to set the default page size in Corel to match the maximum sixe of the laser. Set it as a permanent default in X3 and then never have to worry about the work sheet size matching the table. They will always match.
Of course that means that you then place your art on the sheet based on where the actual material might be on the table. For example my table is a 12"x24", and so is my Corel sheet size. If I am working on a 6"x18" piece of wood I have to keep in mind that all my art must be within that upper left portion of the 12"x24" sheet in Corel. But that's really not hard to do, and prevents the size mismatch problem.
I always use auto-focus. It works well and that way I can't forget to focus, which will really screw up the results.
As probably most people have done, I did do a foolish thing once and forgot to lower the table after sticking in an object that was much thicker than the previous object. The result was my air assist tube getting jammed into the top of the object I was engraving. I now am much more careful to lower the table when sticking in anything other than thin sheets of material.
From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#13]
21 Mar 2007
To: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#12] 21 Mar 2007
From: bluepaw [#14]
21 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 21 Mar 2007
Congratulations on your new machine. You are beginning a journey that will bring you a lot of satisfaction and maybe only a bit of frustration. If I never made a dime with my laser it is so much fun to try new things it would still be missed if I didn't have it. (I must admit that on more than one occasion I have gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to try something that I thought of or maybe dreamed up.
I have one piece of advise that is so important I am surprised that no one has mentioned it.
Be ever aware that this devise that can do such amazing work can also set things on fire.
Others on here can tell you their horror stories in words and pictures. My incident caused only minor damage and I was back in business shortly but it could have been much worse.
Don't be afraid of your machine but always be aware of what it is doing.
No matter how tempting, never leave the room when it is engraving and especially when cutting.
"In an instant" is now emblasened on a sign above my laser.
Now that I have brought a moment of doom and gloom to your day let me say that I am jealous. Have fun. The laser will bring you many hours of enjoyment and I am sure lots of extra cash.
Bill
From: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#15]
21 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#1] 21 Mar 2007
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#16]
21 Mar 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#10] 21 Mar 2007
Dave, as far as my experience goes, when I was a kid, their was no cost associated with Santa Clause. T'ain't true in the case! I told my guy that was unloading today that he could buy a new car for the cost of what was in that box. Needless to say, he was more careful than normal.
Anyway, it arrived about two this afternoon. We spent the afternoon getting it in the building, unpacking it, and getting it connected to the exhaust system. I have not put it under power yet. Tomorrow, we will complete our exhaust install. (We relocated it a bit in the space and we need a little bit longer flexible pipe).
But is sure is PURTY! (southern for pretty). Roy Hatley will be here Friday and we're gonna crank her up then. I'm going to install the software as a network printer. I have a combination hardwired Ethernet network and wireless. (This allows me to create on my laptop at one location and print to the other location if I want to.) Don't worry, someone is watching over the machine at all times. When I bring my laptop into that building, I can connect wirelessly to the internet and our network.
Sooo..the adventure begins. I can't thank you guys and girls enough for all the things I have learned here over the last two or so weeks. It's definitely a trip. Thanks again! :-)
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#17]
21 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#16] 21 Mar 2007
When I was a kid there was no cost associated with anything.
Looking forward to hearing your success stories, after the install; not that we have no interest in your success stories prior to the install. :-)
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#18]
21 Mar 2007
To: bluepaw [#14] 21 Mar 2007
Bill:
Thanks for the good advice. I put a new fire extinguisher on the wall this afternoon. When we do our training on Friday, I intend to stress safety and the very thing you advise. Thanks! :-)
EDITED: 21 Mar 2007 by PALMETTO
From: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#19]
23 Mar 2007
To: ALL
We ran the EXT for the first time today. It is an awesome machine. Had the whole gang ohhhh and ahhhhh ing all over the place. We engraved wood, acrylic, anodized aluminum and some coated brass. Vectored some of the wood. Did some glass on the rotary attachment.
We ran into a problem with Photograv though. When I tried to install it yesterday, the CD drive in my Toshiba laptop would not read the files. Called Photograv and they advised to try it on another computer, I did and it opened. I copied the files on the CD and transferred them to my hard drive. Finally got the setup file to run. Anyway, the saved engraved files we created, came into Corel with black backgrounds and were not what they were supposed to be. Our distributor called them and they said something was definitely amiss. They are sending a new copy.
So, we didn't do the photo we intended. But all in all, I am very pleased so far. See yall later..I HAVE TO GO CREATE!!! :P
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#20]
23 Mar 2007
To: Larry B (PALMETTO) [#19] 24 Mar 2007
Sounds like you're not wasting any time, getting your feet wet.
Congratulations! Very exciting. :-)
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