Cutting a square template for aligning engravings

There are many different ways to find the right place to put your engraving. One of the simplest methods is to cut a square, with a few markers. Using this square you can place your object to be engraved, overlay it with the template in the position you are about to engrave, and then use the engraver preview function to align the preview laser with the square template. This article shows one of the most simple templates. It's also a good exercise for practising alignment, one of the keys to a perfect result.

Firstly, create an 80mm x 80mm square, with 0.2 point lines marking out 1,2,3,4 and 5mm in from the edge. This is printed out onto the card or other material that you will use as your template. You can download the image here.

The next step is to cut a hole by following the 5mm line. This will remove the central 70mm of the template (80mm minus 5mm from each edge).

Put the printed card under the engraver, and tape it down if it is raised from the surface underneath. Remember you are cutting, so you need something protective beneath it.
Using the shape tool, create a 70mm square
Align the card in exactly the same way you will when you are using it as a template for other engravings. Use the preview to very carefully align the laser to the inner square. This may take 2 or 3 minutes to get it just right, but it is a good discipline to learn early!
The cutting settings will depend on the material. While doing this I discovered that shiny white card is difficult to cut. I turned the card over the matte side which was much more receptive to the laser. I settled on the following parameters:

Note we are only concerned with the cut settings. The shapes are always engraved in cut mode, where the laser follows the line. I cut at a low depth 3 times, to prevent burning the card. I needed to cut 3 times because even the matte white side of the card was still quite reflective for the cutting laser. I also found that where the laser hit my black printed line it cut easily. Where it missed the line by a fraction of a millimetre, it still didn't cut the whole way through:
The final result is a template you can use for aligning items by laying the card on them and previewing the laser.

Comments

Computer software versions - Windows & Mac

There are numerous versions of the software as it evolves. The package is developed in Java and so requires the installation of the Java virtual machine. As I already have this, I can't comment on whether it will automatically install if it is absent. The versions are listed below with the most recent first. December 29 2020 The latest downloads are found in the link below. At the time of writing, these are extremely slow, and can take 2-3 hours to download. Make sure you select the downloads for "K6" and the operating system you are working with. There is a mirror of the field here on a Google drive. It is the same files, but download many times faster than the Wainlux-provided site. Google Drive mirror Wainlux download site November 15 2020 *** As of December 29 2020, THESE LINKS ARE NOW GONE *** The following software and firmware versions are tested by several owners and working. This is version 1.1.2 There are 2 identified issues: The maximum engraving area is 80mm w

Alignment Template II

In a previous post I uploaded my Simple Positioning Template to align objects with the position of the laser. Although useful in my early tests and trials, I came to realise this is - in most cases - the wrong way around. I have found that it is better to create a template that sits on top of the object to be engraved. Here you can see my latest template in action. By using the preview function in the app, I can quickly align the engraving area to the template. Another little tip here is to reduce the power of the weak light to 3 or 4. you get a less intense beam that is easier to view and align. As you can see, the template has plenty of holes to view the surface below. The lines of the cutouts also help to align areas smaller than the full square. The image for the template is linked below. You can create your own from this image, I would recommend using card to create it. On a darker card like that shown in the photo, you can use cut mode (Panda 3 in the interface) at a power o

Carving and Cutting - what's the difference?

There are two ways of engraving in the apps. You will find settings for carving and for cutting. This is a screenshot from the Android app: Carving Depth You can think of the carving mode as a printer. It takes an image and it "prints" it to the material, moving left to right, top to bottom. The strength dictates how deep the engraving is etched into the material. Carving applies to the following Picture Processing modes: Black and White (Panda 1) Grayscale (Panda 2) Sketch (Panda 4) Cutting Depth This setting applies to two engraving actions: Picture Processing mode Cutting (Panda 3) Shapes When in cutting mode, or when engraving shapes, the engraver head will follow the contour of the image. The laser will not try to replicate the width of a line or fill a coloured area, it will draw the finest line possible around the contour. Depending on your Picture Processing mode and content of your image, you will only need to set the related settings. For example, when in sketch mo

Wainlux K6 User Information

Search This Blog