edge lit map????

[Calvin thompson]

Hello everyone I am in search of some tips and advice on an upcoming job! I bid on an edge lit map for air traffic control. My question is how deep and thick should I make the engraving? I am running an 80w rabbit what settings should I use? And should I reveres engrave or front engrave? Thank you all for all the info I have already gained from you and for all to come!!!

[Scott Shepherd]

Engrave it on the back. If they plan to write on it with any type of temporary marker, engraving on the front is going to be an issue.

Engrave it with a little depth, but I wouldn't go too deep.

[Glen Monaghan]

You need very little depth to get the light to scatter and illuminate the etching, although deeper engraving generally means brighter details. However, depending on how large the map is, how much detail there is, and how you are lighting the edge(s) (e.g., only lighting from one side, opposite sides, or all four sides), the parts of the map farthest from the lights may appear much dimmer than the parts closest to the lights because a lot of detail close to the lights will intercept and scatter most of the light, leaving little to scatter at the farthest details. The way to minimize that dimming effect is to use a gradient or 3D engraving where you use more power and so engrave deeper for details that are farther from the light source(s). That way, the more shallow details close to the lights will scatter light from near the surface while details progressively farther away (and so engraved progressively deeper) will mainly be scattering light from progressively deeper in the panel.

[Daniel Wolanski]

Hello everyone I am in search of some tips and advice on an upcoming job! I bid on an edge lit map for air traffic control. My question is how deep and thick should I make the engraving? I am running an 80w rabbit what settings should I use? And should I reveres engrave or front engrave? Thank you all for all the info I have already gained from you and for all to come!!!

I'm guessing you have digital access to Sectionals or Terminals? If not, try AIRNAV dot com. FYI, They are VERY busy "maps". It would be interesting to see a file ready to engrave from one of these jpegs. Different colors mean different airspace so it would be interesting to see how it turns out.

If you are doing something from around your area, no problem... If you are doing it for LAX or JFK, Faaaagetaaaboutit.lax.JPG