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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 3:39 pm
by whmeade10
Here are some attempts at engraving a photo onto a light colored piece of wood I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The first attempt was converted to black and white. While you could recognize the girls in the engraving it wasn't what I was looking for. I forgot to check the dither photo box before I hit Go. :o I stopped the process at the halfway point and turned the piece of wood over and tried again. This time I checked the box. As you can see it turned out rather dark. I was told that the fast orange hand cleaner will clean up wood engravings pretty well. I am going to get some at lunch today and see what happens.

Since this piece of wood turned into a test piece, I turned it over for another try. I decided to convert the photo in CorelDRAW before sending to the Retina software. I changed the power setting from 30% to 18%. The outcome was lighter but still not to my liking. I will have to pick up some more pieces to test on. I may need to turn down the power a bit more or probably learn the CorelDRAW program better so I can processes the photo for better engraving.

front_bw2_eng.jpg
Color photo converted to black & white.
500 DPI, Speed 100%, and Power 30%
Did not select the dither image check box in Retina software.


front_bw_eng.jpg
500 DPI, Speed 100%, and Power 30%
Dither image check box selected in Retina software.


back_dith_eng.jpg
500 DPI, Speed 100%, Power 18%.
Dithered in CorelDraw before sending to printer.

Bill

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:58 pm
by whmeade10
I made a couple name plates for some equipment at my work last night. I installed one of the push buttons on the right.
It turned out as good as the mechanically engraved custom name plates they buy. Boss was quite pleased. :D

DSC_2475-2.jpg
Engraved and cut out with Retina.
500 DPI, Speed 75%, and Power 25%

Bill

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:02 pm
by r691175002
You might need to play with the curves before dithering.

On a monitor, a black and white image is displayed linearly. 128 gray is half way between 0 black and 255 white.

When you engrave this is not necessarilly the case anymore. Half power will not produce a color halfway between the bare wood and burnt wood.

The highlights are looking too dark so it will probably help if you blow them out a bit in curves.

I suspect that a local contrast or fake HDR filter will also greatly improve the engraving.

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:22 am
by whmeade10
I have a quick question for your guys.. I remember watching a video of someone lasing granite and marble, then wiping some sort of white substance on them making the lettering really pop out. They never said what it was but it worked really well. Anyone know what they may have used?

Just found the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piz7eHr4UPs

Found what to use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_-07z9wnKI :D

Bill

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:16 pm
by lasersafe1
Automotive wax is good. We all know it tends to turn white when it dries, plus it seals the granite so it will not absorb skin oils or moisture. Of course that ink looks good too and is whiter than the wax. Either way, the wax preserves the shine of the polished areas.

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:58 am
by whmeade10
I made a small credit card size new visitor info card for a local church a couple months a go with the DSP I had. I wasn't able to get it to look good enough for my taste so it fell to the weigh side. I attempted it once again the other night with the RetinaEngrave and it turned out pretty good. I found some small sticky back magnets to put on the back of the cards so they can be stuck on the refrigerator. The thin wood veneers are very easy to cut and engrave.

Retina_Visitor Card.jpg
Wood veneer thins bought on E Bay.
500 DPI, Speed 100%, and Power 25%

Bill

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:50 am
by steppenshoe
Well if that is the case currently and the Light object is going to be a pain to set up I just could not buy one right now. It seems way to much of a chance it will be a headache at this point. Is this a flaw in the current DSP 2012 from L.O. or an earlier version?

The Retina sure looks good in this example.

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:35 pm
by twehr
whmeade10 wrote:I made a small credit card size new visitor info card for a local church a couple months a go with the DSP I had. I wasn't able to get it to look good enough for my taste so it fell to the weigh side.
Bill


Having hundreds of hours of DSP use and experience, I believe your DSP example is simply a case of not being in "focus". In other words, your material was slightly high or low from where it needed to be.

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:37 pm
by whmeade10
twehr wrote:
whmeade10 wrote:I made a small credit card size new visitor info card for a local church a couple months a go with the DSP I had. I wasn't able to get it to look good enough for my taste so it fell to the weigh side.
Bill


Having hundreds of hours of DSP use and experience, I believe your DSP example is simply a case of not being in "focus". In other words, your material was slightly high or low from where it needed to be.


That is true, it may have been a little out of focus but no more than maybe a half mm at most. I use the depth measurement probe of calipers to set my focus. Pretty fast and accurate. I hope to get the auto focus up and running soon. I have the non-contact prox switch installed. Just have to find time to dial it in.

I believe that both controllers are great controllers. There are a lot of things that determine how accurate your laser will be, like how good your tube, optics, PS, mechanical setup, etc are. Some will see better results with a DSP while others, like me, will see a better result with the Retina. My point was not to put down the DSP, my system just seems to work better with the Retina.

Tim produces outstanding pieces with his 2.x and he uses the LO DSP. I always look to see what he comes up with next. :D

Calipers.jpg
Calipers used to set focal length to material.

Bill

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:16 pm
by lasersafe1
I just use a little block of wood that is cut to the proper focal length. I slip the wood between the work piece and the lens and crank my table up or down until the wood touches. Takes 5 seconds. No real need for autofocus.