Scale of cuts

[technomupet67]

Hello all,
This is my first post for help.
I am the proud owner of a recently acquired 6840.
Chris has setup my machine perfectly with the windows xp pc I have in my workshop.
As I have also a spare laptop, I have installed the laser cut software on this laptop and made my first cuts.
Unfortunately the results are not as expected, the scale on the Y axis is simply wrong. It is about 20% bigger than the file appears on the screen in lasercut.
I suppose there is some sort of detailed config file somewhere to be entered, but I have no clue of where to find this setup and what are the right values for the 6840.

Anybody with the same problem and got it sorted ? I could Not find anything on the forum past posts.

Thanks for your help.

Oli

[Spooky]

Hi Oli,

6840 is an excellent choice of machine very robust and easy to fix

Ok if I can ask, when you say scale on the machine? do you mean the black box surrounding the screen (cutting area)?

or is the Y axis simply cutting much bigger than it should?

Also if I may?? what format are the files your sending to the laser? they need to be AutoCAD 2000 compatible DXF files, DXF versions later than 2000 can cause scaling issues you mention.

best wishes

Dave

[technomupet67]

Dave,

Thank you for your mail.
The image of the cuts to be done appears correctly in the lasercut software. With the correct width and height.
So I do not think it is a problem with the files being created and transferred.
I think it is a setup thing in the lasercut software.

There is a config page with pulse numbers etc. Which I am sure I need to put the right numbers in there !
I just do not know which is the good ones for the 6840.

I suppose it is the same if I want to do rotary stuff.

Thanks
Oli

[Spooky]

Ahhhhhh,

Do you have the rotary attachement Oli?

The pulse figures really shouldn't be changed, thats the "Pulses Per Inch" the tube will fire, setting that one wrong can kill your tube

The rotary add on can cause just the problems your on about, it's a Y axis issue to do with rotational distance rather than linear distance if so then it's not a problem with the machine, more a problem with thinking in 3d rather than 2d. The rotary units do take some getting used to.

Let me know if your using a rotary attacement and I'll see if I can help

best wishes

Dave

[technomupet67]

Dave,

I am sorry if I have created confusion.
No I am not using e rotary attachment (yet)

I have purchased it but put it on a shelf until I understand fully how this machine works in detail.

At the moment my issue is simply that I have loaded the lasercut software on a new laptop.
And when I send a file from it to the laser cutter it does not cut in the same way as if I was sending the same file from the already configured pc that Chris installed.

I think I just need to compare the setup values of the 2 softwares and check that they are the same.

I just wish there was some clear documentation that provides the explanations about all those technical fields, to prevent burning any tubes...

Thanks for your help
Oli

[Spooky]

humm strange Oli,
It's not something I ever had to get into to be honest. Are both machines running the same operating system?

If so then in the past I've had good results from copying over all the installed files from say c:\lasercut\ to the new laptop. (not done it with laser kit but have had to with other hardware in the past)

The config of lasercut should be automatic (I have it installed on 3 machines) so I'm not really sure what's going on. I think in this case a call to Chris may be in order my friend.

best wishes

Dave

[technomupet67]

Ok got a mail from Chris
Will try this weekend when I can and will let you know if it worked.
As expected I need to copy the configuration pulse rate from the already installed machine
I will try that
Thanks again
Oli

[technomupet67]

All updated the setup as on the machine that Chris installed and it all nice and perfect now.
I am now cutting with the correct scale in x and y axis.
I made a small file with simple squares to be engraved it all works perfectly.

I use a Mac to create the files using adobe illustrator and saving using the version 8 file setup
I then transfer to a Mac laptop running wi dowse xp.
I import the adobe file in lasercut
I get a warning message about the unreadable image file but it does not create any issues with the cutting.
Everything is nicely to scale etc...

The only thing is that the file looses it's knowledge of "colors" and i therefore have to set this up in the lasercut software rather than in illustrator. Small annoyance but nothing more.

I have started cutting a Xmas card and been playing around with various engraving speeds etc...

Thanks Dave and Chris for your help
Best
Oli

[Spooky]

Good news Oli

hope all goes well for you

best wishes

Dave