I am trying to set up my FoxAlien Laser Rotary Roller R57. It is connected to my Y2 output from the controller. The Y1 is disconnected. I followed the instructions with 270 mm per rotation and roller diameter of 1.02”. When I have in move .125”, it moves ~.5”. I changed both setting and still the same ~.5”. Changing the mm per rotation and the roller diameter has no effect on the amount of rotation. What am I doing wrong?
The numbers you show are in inches, but the settings are in mm. Use mm for all measurements.
Ate you using the Test button? Do you have Roller and not Rotary selected.
Test Button: If you do not get this right, nothing else will be. You need to mess with the mm per rotation until you get it exactly right( one complete rotation). Close is only good enough for horse shoes, hand grenades, and atom bombs.
Roller Diameter: Measure this instead of taking the manufacturer’s word for it. If you do not have calipers, accurately measure the circumference with that flex tape that came with the machine and do the math. (DIA=Circumference in mm/3.14159, aka D=C/pi).
Keep your speeds down. It is easy for the rollers to slip under the part being engraved.
There is more to engraving with rollers, but you have to get through this part first.
Hello,
I guess you are doing your test using the move window and jogging arrows.
I just found out while trying to tune my rotary roller as you, that when the rotary is enabled and using jog arrow in the move window, the jog distance are not converted to comply with the rotary settings and act as if it’s a normal Y axis.
So changing the settings of the rotary seems without effect while moving with the jog arrow in the move window.
But if you simulate an engraving (with laser power set to zero to be sure not to ruin your target) the rotary settings are took into account and distance are correct depending of the rotary settings.
It is bug or it is intentional, I don’t know.
For information I’m on the latest LB version : 1.7.04
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Thanks for the quick responses. Yes, I was using the jog button and trying to measure the Y distance. I adjusted the mm per rotation and now have the correct Y distance. However, when I try to burn the object (a long box) the speed on the Y axis is at least 5 times faster than the speed on the X axis. Any ideas on how to adjust the cutting speed for the rotary motion?
Thanks in advance.
Cuts/Layers window.
Are you measuring the roller or the cup/mug travel distance?
The X speed is correct. But the Y speed is ~5 times too fast. How do I set different speeds for each axis?
Cup travel.
You are correct. I was using the jog control to measure the travel distance. While in the rotary mode the Y distance is way off. I adjusted the distance setting in the rotary setup and now have that Y movement correct. However, when I burn a project the Y movement is about 5 times fasted than the X movement. So only light lines on the Y axis. Any ideas on how to fix this?
It is not recommended to use line mode with a roller rotary. There is too much tendency for the tumbler to slip with the direction changes and your design will not align properly. Better practice is to use fill mode where it engraves the image one scan line at a time.
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It does not matter, if you use the jogging arrow in the Move window to move the rotary with rotary switch activated, whatever are the rotary settings, the distance is always the same.
However, if you make the rotary moving with engraving simulation, distance will be dependent of the rotary settings, that’s the expected behavior.
It sounds like you are scanning along the Xaxis. Are the rollers parallel to the Yaxis?
You can go into the GRBL parameters if the controller will let you change them. Enter $$ in the Console window. You should see a list of numbers with “$” in the front of them. If this works, copy that list and save it in a safe place. Then copy and paste that list here.
You can slow the Yaxis down with $111.
You can reduce acceleration (ramp-up rate) with $121. This helps if your cup wants to slip on the rollers.
If you switch these back and forth, consider creating a couple of Macros for Rotary IN and Rotary OUT.
I think you should already be changing some parameters when you use the rotary. You can include them in the Macros.
Don’t forget what @thelmuth said above.
Slowing down the Y axis independently of the X axis may cause issue with the laser engraving as the engraving effect won’t be constant as the speed will be different between axis (At constant power)
As Helmut said, it’s not a good thing to use line mode with rotary as you may have quick change of direction and the object on the roller may slip during them generating mis-alignment.
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Here are my settings:
$$
$0=10
$1=255
$2=0
$3=0
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=3
$11=0.010
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=0
$23=3
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=3.000
$30=1000
$31=0
$32=1
$100=320.000
$101=320.000
$102=800.000
$110=1500.000
$111=1500.000
$112=600.000
$120=300.000
$121=300.000
$122=100.000
$130=419.000
$131=457.000
$132=95.250
ok
How do I write a macro?
Thanks for your help.
How do I convert the image to be able to print lines in the fill mode?
Those look like leadscrew machine settings. I do not see a velocity/acceleration issue possibility in those numbers. Make sure you orientate you part program so the Xaxis is doing a majority of the work. Less mass to move.
- Easy. Right-click the Macro button.
- Give the macro a meaningful name.
- Enter GCode in the proper format,
- OR enter GRBL commands (like $1=255) on separate lines.
- Save the macro.
Mine are Yaxis Mode, Rotary Mode, and Retract (Yaxis move to get the laser out of the way during setups).
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It really depends on your image. The simple answer is select fill in the cuts/layers panel, but that might not give you the results you want. Sometimes a small offset of your image is required to get your desired results. I could guide you better if I saw what you were working with. Upload your lbrn2 file here if it’s not a copyright violation otherwise post a screenshot of your lightburn screen.
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My machine is a FoxAlien Vasto. It has lead screws on X, Y and Z.
Thank you.
QUEEN CINEMA original.lbrn2 (3.2 MB)
This is the original I was given.
Thanks in advance.
I am going to burn it onto a pen. Height will be ~3/4".