This rotary is KILLING me

[Anthony Scira]

I have to do a sample wine bottle . It has a graphic of a building on it. I have a raster of the building and then I vector cut some deeper lines outlining the prominent features of the building. Using the rub and buff the vector lines really pop out and once this is perfected I think it will be worth the effort.

Well the problem is my raster and vector cut line image is not lining up right. After many hours of tinkering I am closer but it still not right on.

I have reduced my speed to 40% on the vectoring to keep the jerking of the bottle down.

I also figured glass being kind of slick I wrapped a little duct tape around the bottle where it comes into contact with the rubber wheels.

I am thinking some wide fat rubber bands might give me even more traction.

They are full wine bottles so there is plenty of weight to them.

Any help would be appreciated !

[Lee DeRaud]

They are full wine bottles so there is plenty of weight to them.

Is there a weight limit on the rotary attachment? I'd try it with an empty and see if that's the problem: you may simply be overloading the motor that drives the rotation.

[Scott Shepherd]

I don't think it's a weight problem, it's a problem in what you're trying to do. You're pushing the limitations of what that type of unit it made to do (in my opinion).

It's held in place by gravity. I think you'll have a hard time holding something in place with gravity, then having it raster, then "rapid" back to a new starting point for the vector to start. The process of relocating the rotary axis, with a item being held in place by gravity, is where you'll get some slight slippage and it'll be off.

I think you can probably overcome it to some degree, but it's a tough one (once again, in my opinion).

The one's with the headstock and tailstock are better suited for this type of work, but the one you have is also well suited for things that aren't well suited for that type. You know how it all works, right? The work you get will always be perfect for the other style

I'm sure with the brain trust we have here, someone can help, but I do think it's an uphill challenge. You need to figure out a way to hold the bottle in place. If that little tension roller would work, that would be a step in the right direction, but that doesn't fit for that item, does it?

[Pete Simmons]

Something Epilog could add to the Rotary Software would be the ability to slow down the tool movement when is is moving past blank areas or going back to the home position.

The sudden fast movements hurt any chance of staying in position.

Maybe you could place a color coded line in the image and set the color code to engrave at a slow speed and zero power.

[Mark Plotkin]

Anthony,

I have the rotary attachment and think you are pushing the limits of what it will do. If I understand your post you are running the job as a combined job, Raster and Vector toghether. So what the machine does is raster then "reset" to zero to vector. This reset happens rapidly and with a wine bottle having the small end and large end and being full, I don't think you are getting to true zero each time, hence your image not being lined up.

Here is what I would try. Run the job as two jobs one raster and one vector. I would use masking tape on the bottle and rotary and make my own zero mark with a straight edge and fine marker. Then run the first job, manually line up the mark and run the second job.

good luck!!

[Darren Null]

Maybe you could place a color coded line in the image and set the color code to engrave at a slow speed and zero power.

That'd work. Particularly if you have a range of colours.

First vector line, slow, zero power, just after the raster, or on the bottom edge.

If your machine works like mine, it'll then be in 'slow' mode until it gets a speed change. Second vector colour, slow, zero power right at the top of the job.

3rd vector colour, the vector bit of the job. Good luck.

[Anthony Scira]

Well this one has me beat for the day. I am getting close and like I said once I get the thing dialed in the end product should be awesome.

I think rubberbands like the ones they use to keep lobster claws from opening. They would be small and wide. That should give enough gription
(is that a word?) to make it work.

The other problem there are little nibs on the bottom of the bottle. This was causing some problems so I vectored a peice of acrylic in a circle the diamater of the bottle and secured it on the bottom of the bottle with some double stick tape.

I am getting there, I just need to play with it a little more.

I will try and play with the diffrent color lines in the morning.

[Rodne Gold]

This is what I would do , run the job as a single , make the outlines of the building solid black and then the lesser detail a shade of grey , convert to a bitmap and then run at a suitable power once.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Anthony

I would run the bottle twice

First make sure the bottom of the bottle does NOT touch the back side of the rotary attachment. ( this can cause drag )

1. Make a start mark ( something you can use more than once)
then run the raster

2. relocate back to the start mark and run your vector.
run slowly the faster it goes the more likely it will slip.

Just what I would try

ken

[Michael Wintermute]

The other problem there are little nibs on the bottom of the bottle. This was causing some problems so I vectored a peice of acrylic in a circle the diamater of the bottle and secured it on the bottom of the bottle with some double stick tape.

If you have clearance for a stop to be attached to the acrylic and use a block to touch from there and a stationary location for starting locations ... do this between the raster and vector cuts.
IMHO Mike

[Dan Hintz]

Rather than doing it manually, can you add in a vector line with (near) zero power as the last cut (assuming the machine doesn't optimize cutting order or you can manually set order)? If you can, lead that cut back to the zero position. A very low power should make no cuts on the bottle but automatically line it up for the start of the raster cut.

[David Fairfield]

Perhaps you could run the entire operation as a raster, and simulate your vectored line by color coding it, and giving it slower speed and higher power than the other parts of the drawing.

IMHO the Epilog rotary tool leaves a bit to be desired. I hope they design a new one, as I like the quality of their products, but this rotary thing just isn't engineered for the real world where imperfectly shaped stuff slips and wiggles.

Dave