We just received our Epilog Mini 35w machine and figured it’s about time to get involved! First of all I want to say hello to everyone and say I’ve enjoyed reading the posts.
The question I have is this… After setting up the laser and getting it connected (through our network, which I thought was and excellent idea) and running a test job with a logo and some text in raster mode at 600dpi I notice some raggedness along the edges of the text characters. It appears as the alignment of each raster pass was not consistent. I ran the job using 50% power, 50% speed, and whatever the default frequency (I believe 2500). The plate was black lacquered brass. The job was set up in CorelDraw V12.
Is anyone familiar with this situation? Does anyone know how to correct it? Could the problem be solved with the “Laser Match” calibration setting in the keyboard setup?
I am unfamiliar with the hardware settings for this for the Epilog, but can guide you in general based on LaserPro and Xenetech settings. There is a setting that controls the firing of the laser when coming from different directions (from the left and right motion of the x axis). In general, it is a matter of timing and leading, which will be different from each direction. An easy way to look at this is to engrave an upper case “I” in Arial, or a non-serif font. This basically engraves a vertical rectangle. If you think about how the laser works, it will be stacking small “dashes” on top of each other as it goes back and forth, and proceeds down, to complete the full “I” or rectangle. If all goes well, each “dash” will line up properly on the left and right sides, making a smooth edged rectangle. If they are “off”, it will create a zig zag effect. This can especially be seen at low resolutions such as 125 dpi, where each dash will actually be slightly separated from each other vertically (assuming your spot size is similar to that on my LaserPro ~ 0.005″). On the LaserPro, there is an adjustment in the print driver. In Xenetech, it is an adjustment in the laser’s firmware (made on the touch pad on the laser). This is typically an attribute of the laser tube. Each manufacturer has different ways of addressing this. I suggest you engrave the “I” at low resolution (125 dpi), and ~0.25″ tall, on anodized aluminum. Inspect it. If this appears to be the problem, contact your Epilog rep to ask his advice on making an adjustment.
You might want to try running the text as a vector outline after you have run the raster and that should sharpen the edges. Using the same setting should be fine.
When you did your setup did you select “combined” for both raster and vector? Was the logo a vector or jpeg. Jpeg will often become fuzzy. Did you auto focus or manual?
The problem might be not in machine but in lacquered brass. please give the same command on some other material wood or acrylic if the problem is still there the just decrease the speed to somewhere 10 and see if you get the solution and if this also doesn’t solve the problem give one command by 1000 dpi see al the results you will got to know where the problem lies and yes we are also planning to purchase mini with 35 watt would you mind telling me at what rice did u grab this?
Had the local Epilog rep in today for our “official” setup/instruction session. After about 3-4 hours of working with the machine, trying different settings, and talking with Epilog customer service he feels the problem is with either the controller board or the “Y” axis stepper motor. It’s much more prevalent in the vector mode (which I hadn’t tried before). Horizontal lines seem to be OK, but vertical lines and curves show a very pronounced sawtooth pattern. Running the machine at slow speeds (10-15%) helps but doesn’t eliminate the problem. Epilog is going to send out a new controller board and stepper motor to see if that solves the problem. He’s planning to come back Friday or Monday to replace the boards and see if it solves the problem. I’ll keep everyone posted.
For the 35 watt system we are paying around $12,500 USD.
Fortunately we haven’t signed the final lease papers so as of right now Epilog still owns the system!