I see that this has been a previous topic of conversation but I have just purchased a Trocen AWC78S and I understand that the rotary function can only be controlled through the controller. I have tried setting off a few simple engraves to test it but the Y axis (circumference) parameters seem to be way off the programmed settings.
I was wondering if anyone on here has already gone through the pain of this and has any hints or tips for combining the lightburn settings with the controller settings to get an accurate rotary engraving? Even if it is something very basic, I may have missed it.
The thing that most get wrong is the step count (I can’t recall what Trocen calls it). Basically you have two numbers:
Diameter: The diameter of the object you’re cutting if using a chuck rotary, or the diameter of your rollers if you have a roller rotary.
Circle pulse / steps per rotation: The number of motor pulses required to make the rotary spin exactly once.
The second value is generally set once and never again. The first number won’t change if you have a roller rotary, but will change with each object if you have a chuck rotary. The steps number is trial and error - you make a guess, then run a simple rectangle on the rotary and measure it.
If the length of the rectangle in the software doesn’t match what you got from the rotary, you adjust the step count accordingly and try again. If the output was half as big as it should be, double the pulse count. If it was 3x too big, you’d divide by 3.
I have reset the machine after changing the numbers. I’m getting a strange result where the size and proportion of the engraving will be correct but the machine registers anything over the size of 127mm as larger than the bed size even though the Y axis is set to 300mm.
When you turn the rotary through a full revolution it even gives a reading of 300mm circumference.
I’m not sure what settings to change other than pulses per rotation and Y axis length.