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Wish me luck! 1st time engraver

twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
in Challenges
My little project for tonight will be to try my hand at engraving. I'm hoping the design I've cobbled together will look good, but one never really knows until the scratchin' is over. I think my first effort will be on clear film - see how we go from there.

I will let you know how it all turns out.
Cheers,
Twit on a mission




photo screenshot_34_zps2cf179cb.jpg
No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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Comments

  • AnointedHandsAnointedHands Member Posts: 806
    LUCK.
    I purchased an engraving tool in Feb 2012 and haven't used it yet. Will it just do an outline or will there be a fill?

    Althea
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  • twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
    edited May 2013
    @AnointedHands
    Hi Althea,
    The design will be filled - thanks to rachellann_ID714's fill box file. I used the boooooooolean join as described in one of the many posts on here.
    Thanks for LUCK!
    I need it!!!!!

    Cheers,
    Twit the Scratcher
    No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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  • KimKim Member Posts: 2,488
    You will do fine. Engraving is super easy. The hard part is over...the designing. Just takes a little time to figure out how to do the fill and then after that, it is super easy. Be sure to post pics.....oh, actually that is the hard part. LOL.
    Proud Owner of a Silver Bullet Professional Series 24 inch cutter rated #1 by Top Ten Reivews http://die-cutting-machines-review.toptenreviews.com/ Tigger the Black Cat Cougar 24" - the cat with attitudeTM As Yet Un-named Silhouette Cameo Hot Stuff the Foil Master
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  • AnointedHandsAnointedHands Member Posts: 806
    I think I see it. Those white lines are the fill. I thought it was a fluke in the photo.
    Can't wait to see it when you are finished.
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  • twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
    Before I can trust myself with the engraver will the wise among you please give me a rough idea on settings? My shiny new Maxx β’Άβ“˜β“‘ will do all the work, I just need to make sure she sings the right tunes as she lays down some scribe :-*
    Cheers,
    Bob

    No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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  • KimKim Member Posts: 2,488
    I don't have a Maxx, but when I engrave, I set my force to about the same setting as light cardstock or sometimes a little heavier, depending on the effect I want. You can set the speed to as high as you want!!!! Let it sing! I would suggest that you let it "air cut" first to make sure that the design isn't so big that MTC times out. I haven't tested the new update but in the past, MTC would time out on large engraving files and quit halfway through the engraving. Better to air cut than ruin whatever you are engraving on. If you are first engraving on mylar film or something similar, I would put your force at the lower end of the light cardstock setting. Metals, I usually bump up the force.
    Proud Owner of a Silver Bullet Professional Series 24 inch cutter rated #1 by Top Ten Reivews http://die-cutting-machines-review.toptenreviews.com/ Tigger the Black Cat Cougar 24" - the cat with attitudeTM As Yet Un-named Silhouette Cameo Hot Stuff the Foil Master
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  • twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
    Hi all,
    Just to let you know the engraving went really well, apart from the computer crashing on the "air cut" everything worked out fine on the clear plastic sheet.

    I will post up a picture when I find time.
    Cheers
    Bob

    P.S. @Kim, you saved my bacon with the "air Cut" - thanks!
    No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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  • debzdebz Member Posts: 3,310
    yes, please post it. :)
    Deb http://krapikreate.wordpress.com/ Cutting with 24" KNK Maxx, Silhouette SD, Expression, Cameo, and Zing Team KNK Designer
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  • supermumsupermum Member Posts: 797
    Goodluck TBob :D
    Proud owner of a Silhouette Cameo 1 and 3 and now A Brother Scan'n'Cut. Gallery ID number 8013
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  • KimKim Member Posts: 2,488
    Glad I could help and can't wait to see your project. Engraving is such fun.
    Proud Owner of a Silver Bullet Professional Series 24 inch cutter rated #1 by Top Ten Reivews http://die-cutting-machines-review.toptenreviews.com/ Tigger the Black Cat Cougar 24" - the cat with attitudeTM As Yet Un-named Silhouette Cameo Hot Stuff the Foil Master
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  • brianna_c1brianna_c1 Member Posts: 3,670
    this sounds very exciting...lol...cannot wait to see what you do!!!
    Stampin Up Demonstrator
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  • NittyPearlNittyPearl Member Posts: 1,391
    What's the fill box file?
    Sandra
    Sandra
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  • BelindaBelinda Member Posts: 558
    Sounds like fun...........waiting to see your pic!!
    Belinda Australia Zing and a Craft Robo
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  • AnointedHandsAnointedHands Member Posts: 806
    edited May 2013
    @NittyPearl
    If you look at the pic he posted you will see thin white lines. I thought it was a fluke in the photo but it's the gaps between the lines the machine will follow to create the fill. Since the machine will only follow a cutline, someone created a file with closely spaced lines that the machine will follow (you can probably use the same file to have the machine color inside a shape).
    To fill a shape, you would open the fill file (he mentioned it in his post), then open the file you want to fill on a separate layer, select both layers and do a boolean join.

    HTH
    Althea
    Post edited by AnointedHands on
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  • NittyPearlNittyPearl Member Posts: 1,391
    Thanks where would I find such a file?
    Sandra
    Sandra
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  • twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
    Here we go!
    I'm very happy with the results and sooooo easy to do >:D<
    Cheers,
    TB

    photo eagle_zpsb243ad6a.jpg
    No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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  • KimKim Member Posts: 2,488
    That looks AWESOME!!! You are gonna be hooked. LOL. If you run into a problem with a file being too large to engrave...like the one you did where it has two separate pieces, you might want to try putting them on different layers and "cutting" separately to see how that does. Mine have always been one large engraving, but this kind of file might work for engraving each on their own.
    Proud Owner of a Silver Bullet Professional Series 24 inch cutter rated #1 by Top Ten Reivews http://die-cutting-machines-review.toptenreviews.com/ Tigger the Black Cat Cougar 24" - the cat with attitudeTM As Yet Un-named Silhouette Cameo Hot Stuff the Foil Master
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  • NittyPearlNittyPearl Member Posts: 1,391
    Looks great! Can you point me to the fill file?
    Sandra
    Sandra
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  • KimKim Member Posts: 2,488
    there is one in the gallery. Just do a search for "fill tool" and it should pop up. Basically, it is just a square of tightly spaced lines (basic shape rectangle at a height of a very small amount to make a line and then duplicated ALOT. Then take that area and do a join. Then do a boolean join to the shape that you want to engrave.
    Proud Owner of a Silver Bullet Professional Series 24 inch cutter rated #1 by Top Ten Reivews http://die-cutting-machines-review.toptenreviews.com/ Tigger the Black Cat Cougar 24" - the cat with attitudeTM As Yet Un-named Silhouette Cameo Hot Stuff the Foil Master
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  • NittyPearlNittyPearl Member Posts: 1,391
    Thanks Kim
    Sandra
    Sandra
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  • twitbobtwitbob Member Posts: 509
    @Kim
    I'm hooked!

    I ended up doing the 'close the eyeball' method on each piece... Works like a charm #:-S

    Many thanks,
    TB
    No one knows his real strength till it is put to the test; the highest joy in life is to discover that the soul can meet the test, and survive it.
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