Hello, Think someone could help answer my question?

[Jeff Body]

I couldn't find where to introduce myself so I'm just going to do it here. My name is Jeff.
I've been in the sign and graphics business for a few years and decided to get a laser engraver to play with.
I ended up purchasing the bigger 50W laser from ebay. I believe it's the SH-350 but I'm now sure. So far it's been nice.

I am having 1 little issue I can't seem to figure out. I'm using RDWORKSV8.

How do I get the laser to engrave where I want it to?
For example..... I'd like to cut a box out of a piece of acrylic. I've been using this acrylic to make a few other pieces but I have some extra room somewhere around the middle. How to I get the laser to engrave in that spot?

I've tried a few things but I can NOT get it to engrave where I want it to. I've placed the laser in the upper-Left part of the available space on the acrylic but it always seems to move somewhere else to engrave.
The ONLY way I've been able to figure anything out was I had to put a new piece in the upper left corner where the machine zero is. This isn't convenient if your available space in the the middle of the piece.


I know there's some setting or proper sequence to follow but I can't figure it out. I'm losing lots of material because I can't figure out how to get the laser to anywhere other then the laser's home.

Think anyone could help me figure this out.

Thanks.

[Mike Null]

Jeff

Welcome to SMC. It would be helpful if you listed the brand and type of machine you have in your signature. Then others with the same machine can provide the answers you're looking for.

[Bill George]

Jeff, Best suggestion. Use the Search function and read a lot.
On my Chinese laser I can either use the Home position or use the arrow keys to position the head where I want it to start cutting. But you might need to check or un-check a box in the software to allow it to be the Origin. If the documentation with your software does not help then you need someone with RDWORKSV8 to help you.

[Matt McCoy]

Jeff:

This might help get you started. Try making a canvas in your CAD software that is the dimensions of the material you are engraving. Then create a shape of whatever you intend to engrave, in a color that the software will ignore for raster engraving, and position your design/text within it. Home the machine and then position the laser head at the appropriate spot on the material (top left, center, etc.)

[Doug Griffith]

I would just move the graphic in the image file so the XY coordinate is where you want the soft home to be.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Rich Harman will know but I *think* you have to use an immediate mode rather than a relative mode, ie: incremental from current position rather than absolute relative to the machine bed. I haven't used RDworks for about 6 months so can't remember but in LaserCUT you simply select "Immediate" on the output screen checkbox.

cheers

Dave

[Kev Williams]

My Triumph is truly a bottom-end machine. Not even a red dot pointer, which I really miss, but I have my ways.

I use a trick for my Triumph that I've used for 20 years to transfer casmate files to my ancient opensys engraving program and have everything engrave how and where I want it..

My Triumph gets files directly from Corel, so this explanation is based on my using Corel.

It's pretty easy actually.
My triumph's bed size is 1300 x 900mm.
In Corel I've saved a layout at 1300 x 900mm.
I drew a 1300 x 900mm rectangle, and centered it on the layout.
It's an outline, color is 30% black, and I made it thick so I know it's there.
I've LOCKED it so it's never part of anything else I'm doing.
I've saved this as a corel job, "tri table". It's my default layout point for anything I'm going to do in the Triumph.
And wherever anything is placed in Corel, that's where it will be in the laser's program, and where the machine will engrave it.
I just have the program ignore anything that's 30% black.

Because Chinese lazers can't actually use their entire width when rastering because of X-Y over-run, I have a crapload of 12" long x 2" wide 1/4" thick aluminum spacers I use to offset the top and left zero points.
I also have various pieces of plastic cut as spacer offsets, simply because this machine is so big. Engraving a few name badges is easier from the middle of the table, it's a long reach to the top! The plastic spacers
I cut with the machine, which insures my X and Y axis travel will be square to the parts I place against the spacers.

And Chinese machines seem to have different zero points every day. So before I start engraving, I take a piece of scrap plastic or anodized aluminum, place it in whatever my zero position is, then I simply
draw a 1/2" or so square box starting from zero, then move it exactly .25" down, and right. I run it, then measure where it engraved with my calipers. From there I adjust my zero position in Corel,
and for the rest of the day anything I engrave from that starting point will be dead on the money...

[Rudy Vlosak]

After load your graphics, move the head it to where you want start, Hit the origin key. after you do that you can press the frame key and it will show you were the graphics will be.

[Rich Harman]

There should be three choices. Origin, Machine Zero, or Current Position.

I almost always use "Current position". Wherever the laser head is at, that is where it starts from. If I wanted to engrave dead center of a rectangle the easy way would be to draw a rectangle in Laserworks and assign it a color that does not cut or engrave. Then I would center the engraving artwork in that rectangle. Align the laser head to the corner then begin the job. There is also a place to designate one of nine positions that the laser starts at relative to the work. Upper left makes the most sense to me.

If you choose "Origin" then you can move the laser head around anywhere you like but when you start the job it will begin from whatever spot you had previously designated as the origin. This is useful when cutting/engraving the same thing over and over where you can place the material in the exact same spot each time. The origin should persist after the machine is turned off.

"Machine zero" is just that. You cannot alter it.

[Rich Harman]

After load your graphics, move the head it to where you want start, Hit the origin key. after you do that you can press the frame key and it will show you were the graphics will be.

Yes, if you have "Origin" selected and not "Current Position" or "Machine Zero".

[Jeff Body]

Sorry for the delayed reply. I've been keeping track of everyone's response I just haven't had time to reply. I'm not the type to register -> Ask a question -> Get an answer -> and never return. I want to learn as much as I can.
Going from Top to bottom

Jeff

Welcome to SMC. It would be helpful if you listed the brand and type of machine you have in your signature. Then others with the same machine can provide the answers you're looking for.

Thank you Mike. I'll do that right now. One problem though, I don't know what model I have. It doesn't state anywhere in the listing what model it is. Here's the Listing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200640422116...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Maybe I'm just missing it.

Jeff, Best suggestion. Use the Search function and read a lot.
On my Chinese laser I can either use the Home position or use the arrow keys to position the head where I want it to start cutting. But you might need to check or un-check a box in the software to allow it to be the Origin. If the documentation with your software does not help then you need someone with RDWORKSV8 to help you.

I've been searching a alot. Just haven't found the perfect keywords to find what I'm looking for. I can use the arrows to move the laser to the spot I want and then I push Origin on the laser controls but It still seems to move to a different area to start the job.

Jeff:

This might help get you started. Try making a canvas in your CAD software that is the dimensions of the material you are engraving. Then create a shape of whatever you intend to engrave, in a color that the software will ignore for raster engraving, and position your design/text within it. Home the machine and then position the laser head at the appropriate spot on the material (top left, center, etc.)

Currently my canvas is the size of my workable engraving area that the machine can handle. Should I only create a canvas the exact size of my piece instead?
If I can position the material in the top left I can figure out a way to engrave it. The problem is when I can't position the piece at the top left.
When the engraving area is more toward the center of the whole piece of material.

I would just move the graphic in the image file so the XY coordinate is where you want the soft home to be.

There doesn't seem to be a very accurate way to measure it when the piece is on the laser tray. When you can laser with .01 accuracy measuring with a rule doesn't seem like the best way to go.

Rich Harman will know but I *think* you have to use an immediate mode rather than a relative mode, ie: incremental from current position rather than absolute relative to the machine bed. I haven't used RDworks for about 6 months so can't remember but in LaserCUT you simply select "Immediate" on the output screen checkbox.

cheers

Dave

Since there's no rulers or measurement on the tray it seems like a very time consuming process to try and get the laser to travel from the home (0,0) position and hit it's mark with any accuracy.

RDWorks doesn't seem to have a Immediate check mark setting.

My Triumph is truly a bottom-end machine. Not even a red dot pointer, which I really miss, but I have my ways.

I use a trick for my Triumph that I've used for 20 years to transfer casmate files to my ancient opensys engraving program and have everything engrave how and where I want it..

My Triumph gets files directly from Corel, so this explanation is based on my using Corel.

It's pretty easy actually.
My triumph's bed size is 1300 x 900mm.
In Corel I've saved a layout at 1300 x 900mm.
I drew a 1300 x 900mm rectangle, and centered it on the layout.
It's an outline, color is 30% black, and I made it thick so I know it's there.
I've LOCKED it so it's never part of anything else I'm doing.
I've saved this as a corel job, "tri table". It's my default layout point for anything I'm going to do in the Triumph.
And wherever anything is placed in Corel, that's where it will be in the laser's program, and where the machine will engrave it.
I just have the program ignore anything that's 30% black.

Because Chinese lazers can't actually use their entire width when rastering because of X-Y over-run, I have a crapload of 12" long x 2" wide 1/4" thick aluminum spacers I use to offset the top and left zero points.
I also have various pieces of plastic cut as spacer offsets, simply because this machine is so big. Engraving a few name badges is easier from the middle of the table, it's a long reach to the top! The plastic spacers
I cut with the machine, which insures my X and Y axis travel will be square to the parts I place against the spacers.

And Chinese machines seem to have different zero points every day. So before I start engraving, I take a piece of scrap plastic or anodized aluminum, place it in whatever my zero position is, then I simply
draw a 1/2" or so square box starting from zero, then move it exactly .25" down, and right. I run it, then measure where it engraved with my calipers. From there I adjust my zero position in Corel,
and for the rest of the day anything I engrave from that starting point will be dead on the money...

I'll have to look into this. It just seems like a long way around to doing it. There should be an easier way.

After load your graphics, move the head it to where you want start, Hit the origin key. after you do that you can press the frame key and it will show you were the graphics will be.

That's the process I thought would fix all of this. I wanted to engrave a picture onto a round mirror. In the (System setting) I changed the laser head position to the top center of the options. Laser head position.png I placed the mirror down on the laser tray.
This is a diagram of my current issue. I have a Round mirror represented by the RED circle. I want to engrave a picture onto it. I move the laser head into the position represented by the green square and push origin on the laser controls. Once I start the job the laser moves over to the left an inch or 2 and down the distance. The area where it's engraving is represented by the BLUE circle. This is with a setting of "current position" in the device field
Here's the diagramLaser movement.jpg

There should be three choices. Origin, Machine Zero, or Current Position.

I almost always use "Current position". Wherever the laser head is at, that is where it starts from. If I wanted to engrave dead center of a rectangle the easy way would be to draw a rectangle in Laserworks and assign it a color that does not cut or engrave. Then I would center the engraving artwork in that rectangle. Align the laser head to the corner then begin the job. There is also a place to designate one of nine positions that the laser starts at relative to the work. Upper left makes the most sense to me.

If you choose "Origin" then you can move the laser head around anywhere you like but when you start the job it will begin from whatever spot you had previously designated as the origin. This is useful when cutting/engraving the same thing over and over where you can place the material in the exact same spot each time. The origin should persist after the machine is turned off.

"Machine zero" is just that. You cannot alter it.

These are the only options I have. Device.png
I thought Current position would work but if you read above it's not working exactly like I had hoped.

Yes, if you have "Origin" selected and not "Current Position" or "Machine Zero".

Where do I select origin? I don't have that option in the drop down box.


Thanks again for all the replies. I'm sure with your help I'll get it figured out.

[Bill George]

The Current Position should set the Origin. In my software there is a function that it lets you select as a Starting point for the Job, Upper Left, Upper Center, Center and etc. Has nothing to do with the job only selects where its going to start cutting that Job.
If you have the Current position selected, does it consistently set the start point for the Job a certain distance and angle from that set point?

[dan miller]

in rdworks up by the dimensions for what you want to engrave there are 9 squares in a box. that is your anchor point for whatever graphic you are engraving. so if you choose the middle square and move your head to the middle of where you want to engrave, then press the origin button on the machine. i belive it will engrave right there. test it out as i am a newbie to the laser myself

[Bill Carruthers]

Jeff - if you go to the "Test" tab then check that "Current position" is chosen in the lower right corner it should come right. You can also jog the head any where by using the "offset" Axis adjustment. Hope this works.
Cheers
Bill
RDCAM SS2.jpg

[Rich Harman]

"Anchor Point" should be the same as "Origin". To designate the origin on my machine I hit a button marked "Origin" on the LCD keypad. Once in a while, not very often - like every several months, it gets wonky and does something like you described. Powering down the laser and restarting fixes it - computer too. It sounds like you set up the job properly. It should have worked.

If you have the "Current position" option selected then setting the origin doesn't do anything. The laser (mine anyway) will start the job from wherever it happens to be when you hit start.