mikesc

Ah..lots of thin layers each molded to that complete shape..could work, but they'd all have the same outside and inside dimensions, so how would you Matryoshka* ( матрёшка ) "Russian doll" them into each other to glue them up ? * yes I know..verbing nouns weirds them

Update..I have now installed that software in 3 win machines..Two win 7 ulti Eng..and One win 7 home premium Fr. driver.EXE installs, but takes two goes in home premium.. diao.exe install sin all with messages from windows about "problems*" but can "ignore" and "continue" click through, which is hwo I had originally installed it..and done that way it engraves bit maps in B/W with no problems.. But, this time when I did the installs I trid to do something which I had not tried previously..the software is supposed to be able to do lettering ( if you have the typefaces that you want to use on your win PC )..I normally do not use it for lettering, so had not bothered clicking the lettering button..I discovered that it does not work..the software can only see the first typeface on the many thousands that I have, it dos not offer the others, nor can I change the size of the one it can see ( size is fixed at 24pt )..This is because it cannot create the drop down windows that you normally use to choose type style and type size..So..I went back to the "problems" that it mentions when installing..and this time I read through them..they are unusually detailed for windows..One after another in the details window during installation, it informs that the various .dll files in the folder with the Chinese characters cannot communicate with the windows window system drawing files..In other words, the software's files do not know how to "talk to windows system" in order to get it to create the "windows" that it needs in order to be able to allow you to change type styles and type sizes.. In the win 7 home Fr machine..it can only see "wing dings".. .on my others it can only see "comic sans".. So any work with text will have to be done in other software..and saved in that software as .bmp and imported as .bmp files into the laser software..No problem for me..But may be very inconvenient for others..I'm currently experimenting to see if any other laser software can work with it, and if they have text abilities.One looks promising..but..it seems to be constantly trying to "talk to" my scanner ( scanners use a transport system and code that is very similar to the code for lasers and CNC machines )..which makes irritating little beep beeps every 30 seconds or so because of it..even when the software has been closed..If I reboot the machine the polling of the scanner stops, but restarts when I launch the software..The software is "open source", so..I have access to the code..I'll see if I can track down what is doing the "scanner polling", and if so..fix it..Then I'll get in touch with the original dev and discuss..If that works out, there may be an alternative to the buggy Chinese software that is sent with these machines..if not..text will have to be added or set up outside the software ( on key and on computer ) that drives these in other respects neat little self contained laser machines. In the light of that..for the moment, I don('t think it is a very good idea for me to send software via the web, or on a key that is "buggy"..I could try to fix those .dlls, but that might be harder ( I'd have to disassemble the code ) than working with open source code.. Update 2...The "promising" alternative software does not connect successfully to the laser..it cannot see it on COM ports 1,2,or 3..So...back to "the drawing board" ( pun unavoidable )..

Multi layer..is what I was describing in my post of yesterday at 01.14...and my post before that one.

I Know they don't come into contact with the leather Chris, I've got two ( one for me and one fro the kitchen, which although I do the cooking in our house, the CFO still chunters about using "les trucs de la cuisine pour des bricoles".."kitchen things for DIY". I've learned that rational explanation is to no avail, the chuntering may lessen, but the looks and the "roll eyes" do not abate..So..I bought two :) Co-incidentally , they are on sale again this coming week at our local Lidl..€29.00..I like them, lets me cook and then bag a few portions of "whatever" to go in the freezer for if I'm going to be getting back from somewhere late, I can just phone to say " look in the freezer and in the 3rd drawer down, to the right, you'll find 3 portions of "X" labelled..take them out, defrost them, reheat 2 and don't wait for me to arrive before beginning eating"..Lidl never have enough bags for them when they are on sale, and being French Lidl, the bags are not stocked all year round, and other retailers here charge an arm and a leg for bags..I'm stocking up on various sized bags next week..if they had any bags delivered other than the ones in the box with the machines..I keep thinking that I ought to make a bigger machine ( they are pretty easy ) ..but never got a round to it..Lidl don't sell roundtoits, so I'd have to make one from scratch..if I have enough left.

OK.. I know..unless you deal with computers a lot this kind of thing will do that to you, especially late at night..no worries..I'll look into the thread around 14.00 Friday my time..Worst comes to worst..I can send you a key with working software via snail mail..and instructions..But..we'll try here first as the instructions and "walk through" can be useful to anyone else that comes along later with the same problem :)

Ok..go here https://www.7-zip.org/ choose Download 7-Zip 19.00 (2019-02-21) for Windows: .don't use the "19.02 alpha" pick the version 86 or 64 that works with your windows ..install it..and try again to open that .rar file but this time using7zip.. not winzip ..

OK..the .rar file downloaded from that last link contains a copy of what is on my key, same version of software, same dates etc....and your winzip craps out ( saying that it could not create driver.EXE etc ) when unzipping that .rar file from that link ?

OK..I'll try something..I have put the files that are in the folder 雕刻机软件 ( these are the software files ) and the working driver.EXE into a folder and compressed it to a 7z file ( that will "unzip" with winzip, or you can just click "open" )..I'll see if the server here at Johanna's will accept it as an upload..( it may not, that may be a blocked file type, or it may "quarantine" it , or alter it ) ..if it does accept it, you can download it and use the files in there..including re running the driver.exe to start.. You'll have to rename your current 雕刻机软件 to 雕刻机软件OLD..and rename your driver.EXE to driver.EXEOLD..windows will not like that, but it will accept to rename them..That way when you run my driver.EXE it will not "clash" with your current files, ..If Johanna's server "balks"..then pm me with your email address and I'll send you a complete copy of the key contents tomorrow afternoon. The latest link that you posted works..so I'll download the files there to see what they are first, before trying to upload that 7z file..back in 10 minutes or so..

Ah..you have one of the machines that got sold with the "you need to download the latest software from the internet" ? Your link gives me "400 Bad Request"

winzip should not be running..did driver.EXE install OK ' ( apart from whatever messages it came up with ) before winzip fired up, and did you do anything additional to start winzip up ?

Ah..sounds like you may have a corrupted USB stick.. Does your driver.EXE crap out with any messages if you select install as administrator ?

If the weight of that thing is 625kg, that is over 200 kg per caster ..What are they rated for ? Make sure that you never get caught in it's way if it starts moving..great job Love the acrylic knife boards..when I was a lad, they were always plywood..yours look cool .

That is probably because windows is usually set to hide certain file type extensions from the user..( a major mistake in my opinion, and that of many others ) .. OK I presume that the key is in the computer and you are using windows explorer to see what is on the key..so..stay in windows explorer on that folder..go to "organize"..click it..go down to "folder and search options" click it..you'll land in "folder options"..click the tab that says "view"..scroll down to "hide extensions for known file types"..put an X in it..then click apply and OK..now look at diao.exe and pei_zhi.ini ..they should now show their "extensions".. I had to fire up an English win7 ulti to know what those steps say in English.. I'll wait for your reply..I'm using a linux machine to type this , my win machines are in another room, I do not allow windows to connect to the internet.

Took 25 minutes..I had to type out what the key contents were..so.. Key is approx 127mb..depending on software version. On the key are .. 1 Folder "Picture" 1 Folder "system volume information" 1 Folder "雕刻机软件" 1 file "driver.EXE" 1 file "L1L2 u盘.rar" 1 file "MAC.zip" right click on driver.EXE..and select properties.. it says ..Modified 12/17/2016 it says size ...243,3 kB (243 290 bytes) In picture folder..there are images there is a bmp folder.. outside the bmp folder..there are images.. there are some .bmp files there are some .jpg files there are some .png files there are some .xj files When the key is in the laser machine, what are displayed are only the .bmp files, and you can only engrave .bmp type files.. But, when the laser is connected to the computer, and you are using the software without the key being in the machine, the software on the computer can see all the files types..and you can engrave with any of them.. In the "雕刻机软件" folder are the files that the software uses to run on both the key when it is connected to the laser, and also when the software is installed on the computer and the laser is connected to the computer.. in this folder there are 6 files. AForge.dll AForge.Imaging.dll CSkin.dll diao.exe nerDxf.dll pei_zhi.ini Question are you able to see the Chinese characters in my post ?..If so..do you have the same files ?

OK..I have that version in French on a machine..my other win 7 machines are English win7 Ultimate..But there should be no difference between an install on win home 7 sp1 French and win7 home sp1 English..If I remember correctly it installs in Chinese first time anyway and then I changed the language to English ( French was not available as an option ) .. So I'll install from the original key onto my win home 7 sp1..and then walk you through the steps.. First..I'll ..make sure we have the same files on our keys ( give me 10 minutes or so to find the original key that came with the machine..and I'll be back to you )

Your computer is a mac or a windows PC..if windows which one ? and which "service pack" ? Don't worry about the software on the key having mac in it if you are using windows, they ship the keys with software for both systems.. Ok just I re read your post ..you are using windows..which one..and which service pack ?

I'll bet that goes down a storm with the CFO , unless you have a machine reserved for leather.

Here they are called "pareuse"..or "machine à parer les cuirs", similar pricing to the UK new ( Chinese) or used ( usually Italian ) in good condition.. Sample current page from a site that deals in pro equipment.. https://www.lecoindupro.com/Search.aspx?c=6072 bell-skivers do not hang about waiting for buyers, there are a lot of them about, but they are sought after ( personally I have no use for one, but if I found one for under €500.00 I know I could pretty much double my money in less than 7 days re-selling it )..that page had one, needed work for €240.oo..Too far to drive ( busy ATM )..but I'd have been tempted..just to sell it on once I'd cleaned, tuned and sharpened it.

Let's hope that he is OK with that pin, because it is his copyright, you should always get written permission from the copyright owner first..He can post it anywhere, legally and ethically, no one else can unless he says it is OK every time before they do so ..I block pinterest members from being able to pin anything on any site I work on..If people "find" things on Pinterest less than 1 in a hundred go to the site that the pinner took it from. Pinterest should be shut down, what it does is illegal, it is crowd sourced Intellectual property theft.Set up by an ex-google employee ( with Google's blessing) to take images that people did not allow Google to take directly.They even offer to help pinners take images that are blocked on websites (from being pinned) by the original image owner.It is only "sharing", if it was yours to begin with.. Notice pinterest never have any images pinned by the big guys ( with powerful lawyers on retainer ) like Image bank, or Getty images. They know that if they did, they'd be in court, heavily fined , with damages awarded against them and in jail, because IP theft is a civil offence, and a criminal offence, even in the USA.. in all states..and in many other countries of the world..

He uses leather, ( not vinyl ) which, if he follows Chris's advice, will be fine ( would not get "chewed up" at all ).I send out my embroidery work on leather*( if it is really fine , or repetitive ) to a local guy who has the kind of machines that Chris is used to ..cost is very reasonable.. *lamb, goat, calf., nothing over 2mm thick ( back the leather with "stabiliser" ) ..need thicker,? Back the thin embroidered piece ( after it has been embroidered ) with thicker leather, or "inset" the embroidered leather parts after they are done into the item(s) you are making. There is a lot of embroidered leather done in the world, the technique began centuries ago, nowadays it is not all done by hand..luxury high end fashion and maroquinerie uses it.

Defining "affordable" may get you more answers. There appears to be quite a range of prices for them.

Btw.."cuir bouilli" despite what Wikipedia and other "sources" say..is not the French Translation" of "boiled leather"..Boiled leather is the English translation of the French phrase, the French phrase existed first..The original phrase is French, which was badly written in French ( modern French can be very "contextual", and sometimes quite "pidgin", old French even more so ) and translated to English..The "boil" refers to the bubbles that leather gives of when immersed in water of any temperature ( trapped air )..veg tan leather will do this "bubbling" in cold water or warm water ( veg tan leather is "porous" and the trapped air in the fibres escapes on immersion..However in boiling water , veg tan leather will instantly distort, shrink and be useless..Do not "boil" leather..Do not put it (unformed leather ) into water that is any hotter than you would be comfortable bathing in..and even that is a bit too hot..having formed the leather, you can then immerse it in water at around 55°C** ( depends on the leather ) briefly..when it comes out it's structure ( leather contains collagens, these are often mis-described as "plastic", like in the linked page ) will be altered..and it will be harder.. Best way to know what your leather's "change" temperature is to put small pieces of the leather that you'll be using very briefly ( 5 to 10 seconds max ) into water that is heated, begin with water at 50°c..then raise the temp of the water in 5°C steps until the leather comes out harder ( it gets harder the more it dries out after ) , but not distorted..test ..every time you use "new leather" or leather from a different part of the hide as it varies across a hide. *Example "kick" is "coup de pied"..literally a "hit of foot".."gust of wind" is a "coup de vent"..a "hit of wind".."coup d'état".."hit of state" etc. Another example..French "Le cuir pleine fleur"..literally in English.."the leather full flower"..true meaning in English.."full grain leather" ..another English "split"..the French "croûte de cuir"..which literally would be "crust of leather"..which would make you think that you were buying "full grain***" as the crust is usually the outermost layer, whereas a "split" is an inner layer, split from the outer full grain layer.. Translating literally "word for word" , especially from older manuscripts of "contextual" languages is not a good idea at all..that way lie errors and misunderstandings. There used to be a site ( in French IIRC ) about experiments in "cuir bouilli", I think it is offline now, I'll try to find it, or ( if it is offline) see if the IA has any pages . There may even be translations of it by someone who knew what they were reading. **those who still work in Fahrenheit can convert it ***grain is the same word in English and French, it came over "intact" from French into English via the Norman ( "northman" ..Vikings ) who inhabited the Northern part of Modern France..William the Conqueror was a Viking descendant..not a Gaul.He had more in common ancestry with us Celts..Dublin being the capital of the Viking world for a long time. Lot of red haired Normans ( like my mate Guy ) lot of red haired Irish, like my athair / dadaí ( btw note where "Dad" and "Daddy" come from, they are Gaeilge words ) .. Irish and Normans were / are a Viking / Celt mix. Dark and or fair /red..Welsh ( more Celt, less Viking) are darker.

Nope :)..I saw those / that line, but I think that is just "damage"..I mean this line ( the arrow points to the line, the line ( fine dark line with a slight curve to it, it goes around "the back"* ) itself is just above the slightly curved line I have drawn in red ) I think this line is a seam ( could be glued onto another "composite" shape underneath as I described above, made from thicker leather ) I think that this "seam" ( I don't think it is a scratch ..Goes right over the "crown" of the dome and down to the edge of the hand guard )..or at least to the edge which is covered by the "binding"..Obviously there is some sort of reinforcement structure under the top cover of thin layer ( the top layer , outer layer, is thinner than you are using, and thus more flexible ) You can see this from the line of stitching which goes right around the circumference of the hand guard about 1cm or so away from the inner edge of the reddish leather binding strip..This "ring" of stitching would be holding the inner heavier leather construction ( two hemispheres on stitched together with a ring of leather around their base ) to the outer "shell"..the outer shell is made from one piece, wet molded, but with a "split across the dome and down the back side which we cannot see..we can only see the "blind" end of that seam..where I have shown.. Made that way..simple * you might have to "zoom" the image a bit to see the line I'm talking about.

On the picture in your 1st link, I can see a stitch line going across the crown of the "dome" starting about 3 or 4 cm to the left ( as we look at the photo ) and slightly below the 9 o'clock position of where the stick enters the hilt..I think that the seam would continue across the crown of the dome and down the other side of the hilt, so that the hilt is maybe wet formed from one piece, but with a "split" which is then sewn up..Inside the dome part of the hilt you could have two hemispherical wet formed parts sewn together, with the seam at 90 degrees to the outer seam.This would be reinforcement.These two hemispherical parts could also continue on down to the wrist..and would incorporate ( via two holes ) the sewn in ends of the stick "tube".. This stitch line over the crown of the dome part would not be facing many incoming blows, and so would not get damaged..

My small laser is one of these..( got it to run without needing it connecting to a computer*) they work well, mine was an Aliexpress, even cheaper in euros ( under €200.00 ) inc delivery.Depending on what you are engraving in B+W you can run it at under 25% power and 10% depth most of the time..Halftones only need a setting of 1% or 2%..and the same 1 or 2% for depth. When you are setting it up, make sure that the horizontal arm is parallel to your base board..this is the 2nd "rail" that attaches to the 1st rail which the "feet" and the screen are on, when you take it all out of the box you'll understand..If the 2nd rail is not horizontal, then on larger designs the laser will not have the same focus at all parts of the design, resulting on bad "unsharp" images. The "box" with the cable coming out that goes to the laser module ( inside a "cable tidy" ) is what controls this alignment to the baseboard..it has tiny wheels which run on channels inside the 1st rail..as does the one "box" which the laser module rides on onto the 2nd rail..These "wheels" are on bolts which go through each box, get the bolts on the 1st box too loose, and the 2nd rail will "sag" down towards the left hand end by a few mm ( which means the left side is lower than the right side when you are setting the laser focus ) ..but, if you get these 4 bolts too tight, the 2nd rail will be parallel to the base board, but the machine will "squeal" and "judder" as the wheels will not be in the centre of their tracks..It's a "Goldilocks" thing, they leave the manufacturer mostly assembled compared with many "rail " laser systems, but not "tested" fully assembled.. Last..bear in mind that these are diode laser units..blue violet ( around 405 to 455 nm ) this wavelength of laser is actually more dangerous to your eyes than the bigger ones like my CO2 laser ( cost around 4 times as much, seen some cheaper at around €350- €400 inc delivery, but I don't know how good they are ) ..The CO2 lasers use a wavelength that can damage your cornea..( so do not look at it, that is do not look at it working without eye protection for the particular wavelength , not just do not point the beam hit your eyes ) but your cornea can repair if you get a "flash" ( think "welders flash" ) , from a CO2 laser.. But a blue violet diode laser , like these small ones, or the desktop "cube" lower powered ones that have been mentioned in another thread recently..use a wavelength that affects your retinas if you get a "flash", your retina does not repair anywhere nearly so well as a slightly flashed cornea..eye damage from these little ones is permanent. Always use the eye protection for their wavelength of laser..and don't let anyone else or any animals ( their eyes are as vulnerable to lasers as our eyes, and they do not know to "not look at the thing", it will damage their eye sight, or blind them and you, permanently, if they look at it working ) watch it work even for a few seconds..It can take a few days to realise that the damage is permanent..Bright spot "after image" ( like welding spot flash) that does not go away, eyes open, or shut.. If the software is the usual one**, it will have a large number of "Brand logos" included..the laser definition is 500 DPI laser dot is .01mm ( these are basically tabletop CNC units that run on 500 DPI with a laser where the cutter would be )..make a copy of all the data ( folders and .exe file on the USB that comes with it..save it in a folder on your computer, in case you lose the key ..you can put the software onto any USB key and it will work..If you have a windows computer, you may find that at first run the computer will say something about a missing file during installation..just carry on with the install, the software will probably work anyway. When working as they describe as "offline" ( not connected to a computer and running off just the key ) it will only see .bmp files on the key ( the other file types will be on the key, but "invisible" to the circuitry in the small screen module ) , when the laser is connected to a computer, it will "see" the other file types, and can engrave them. *my CO2 ( 40 watt laser ) machine requires a computer connection to run..and it "lives" in the atelier with it's dedicated computer..the 7watt "offline" lives in a corner of the veranda..inside a purpose built safety screen vented box.. **Some of the older versions only had Chinese available..later ones have a different GUI ( with other languages available ) but the manuals are for the old version layout..which can be confusing. Laser engraving a lot of things, including chrome tan leather and PVC ( plastic leather ) releases poisonous gases..so vent the thing to outside..also you cannot engrave transparent things with this model, ( although if you paint them first you can , then remove the paint ) and cannot cut acrylics, for that you'd need a CO2 laser. They are fun however :), and more practical ( engravable area ) than the "Cubes"..not as large an area as the small "box" CO2 units ( about 21 x 30 cm ) ..My next model laser ( I'll have to clear a dedicated space in the atelier to set it up ) is a diode model, but with a 15watt head and a 100 x 120 cm ( approx) rail system..Hopefully I can run a CNC cutting system head on it when it isn't running a laser head. I'm very tempted to buy another few of these small units and have them on shelves stacked vertically, each running off it's own key..their autonomous "offline" feature is very handy.Oh, and you can buy spare control board modules, screens and laser modules for these and other blue/violet diode laser machines from Ebay and Amazon.