Digital technologies/Laser cutting/Rotary Laser Engraving
Sometimes you want to engrave something that isn't flat, and that's okay. The Epilog laser engraver has an attachment that can let you do such things. The tool is equipped of motorized rollers that rotate your part (i.e. a water bottle) to allow you to engrave all around it. The Makerspace of uOttawa is perfectly well equipped to do this type of engraving.
Setting Up the Tool
To use the rotary engraving tool, follow these simple steps.
- To do so, simply lift up all the rulers
- Lift up the bed to take it out. The bed is not heavy, if you happen to struggle to take it out, there is probably an obstruction in the way. At the Makerspace, ask a staff member to assist you if possible.
- Remove the crumb trey by opening the front magnetic door of the laser and then sliding it out.
- Remove the cross section bar.
- There are pins underneath the tool and also a plug-in connection to connect on the laser
- You should see three holes at the bottom in which the tool pins are inserted and also the connection plug-in should now be exposed.
- The tool is now ready to be inserted into the machine. Simply line up the holes with the pins and connect the tool to the machine.
- Once the tool is set up, put down the rulers so there are no interferences with the laser head. Now turn on the Epilog laser and the machine will automatically position itself. If your machine was already turned on, turn it off and back on again. It can only recognize the rotary engraving tool on boot up.
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Setting Up the Part
Now that you have your tool ready, the next step is to get the part to fit properly on the tool for good results.
Roller Positioning
The right hand roller can be repositioned to adapt to the length of your part. You want to choose a position that optimizes a flat top surface, a smooth rolling surface, and good balance.
Top Surface Leveling
If you have a conic part, you still need to have a flat top surface. To do so, you can raise the right side rollers to support the smaller circumference side of your part. You can use a bubble level to help.
Tubing and Light Parts
Lighter parts, such as tubes, tend to slip on the rollers due to lower friction. If possible add weight to your part (i.e. add water to a water bottle). If adding weight is not a option, you can use the attachment for tubing. It will clamp down the part onto the rollers to minimize slippage.
Part Position
You want your part to be sitting against the plastic bumper on the left side of the tool. The rollers are made intentionally so that it pushes the part against that small plastic bumper to minimize lateral movement. Additionally, to avoid having the part moving while engraving, you want to do a Top-Down engraving. If you do a Bottom-Up engraving the part will move away that plastic bumper and warp your engraving.
Setting Home Point
When using this tool, the Epilog laser is pre-programmed to a set y coordinate, the only coordinate you can change is the x axis home point. To set home point, use the usual button combination on the control panel of X/Y Off (5.) → Go (1.) to disengage the gantry and then Set Home (4.) when the desired location is set. It is ok if you accidentally change the y position while setting your home point, the laser will not take the change into consideration.
Focusing
Focusing the laser works the same as usual. Do not use the Auto Focus feature on the Epilog laser in the Makerspace. Doing so will cause the bed to crash into the laser head. Use the manual focus by pressing the Focus (7.) button on the control panel, then add the focus tool to the laser head and use the up and down arrows (8.) so that the tip of the focus tool barely touches your part.
