dikman Report post Posted April 16, 2019 Scarve didn't work, but I don't like the simple interface anyway. Guess I'll just work with what I've got. The customer liked the folder so now wants me to make him one. This time I'll leave it as "natural" colour, neatsfoot oil should darken it just enough to give it that warm look and let the engraving stand out. This one should be quicker now that I know what I'm doing. He said others might want one too but I said any more will cost more than I'm charging him! This engraver might be "cheap" and have flaky software but I'm impressed with what it can do (it can also cut stencils out of card, so that's got me thinking). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted April 16, 2019 14 minutes ago, dikman said: This engraver might be "cheap" and have flaky software but I'm impressed with what it can do (it can also cut stencils out of card, so that's got me thinking). Next you'll be needing another one or 2 to keep up. (Don't forget it cuts the masking tape on leather nicely).The variety of things that are possible are just mind blowing. Biggest headache so far with mine is that it is stuck cutting out product boxes nearly all of the time and I cant get to try enough of that more interesting stuff. Think I might have to make another smaller one next and try and squeeze it in somewhere........... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted April 17, 2019 Yep, sounds like you definitely need another one! I'm not overly interested in making too much for sale, it's too much like work! The only reason I'd do any is that it's an excuse to make things. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrisash Report post Posted April 17, 2019 Is there enough finess to copy photo's of family etc onto leather goods say wallets or belts and so on? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted April 17, 2019 The limiting factor is the type of material and the settings used to burn in. That logo I did was scanned from one on a police notebook. When I did a trial run on cardboard the detail was quite sharp, but burning onto leather lost a little bit (not much) detail, due, I guess , to the fibrous nature of leather. Burning a photo image onto leather it would certainly be recognisable but don't expect it to look like a photo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halitech Report post Posted April 17, 2019 I think the bigger issue is finding software to convert a color photo into a b&w image. I've seen some that have burned them onto wooded cutting boards and they looked really good. Part of that could be the more solid nature of the wood compared to leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jrjr2u Report post Posted June 5, 2019 If you guys have facebook, check out the group- 'That dude with a laser' There's lots of good info on laser engraving on there. My laser has the Ruida controller and I use Lightburn. Great program. There's a free trial of it if you want to check it out. $80 US to buy but its worth it I think. I do most of my dxf editing in it. If you only want to convert to black and white check out Gimp - https://www.gimp.org/ It's free and open source. Been using that for years. I also use Corel Draw and Paint shop pro for editing. Inkscape is another for vector work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jrjr2u Report post Posted June 5, 2019 Here's a few things I have made.... coasters, bamboo cutting board, and a couple ceramic tiles. Tiles are white tile painted black then lasered. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sbrownn Report post Posted December 11, 2019 On 4/14/2019 at 3:57 PM, RockyAussie said: Are you able to change the software in that engraver? I have been using T2 Laser for awhile and find it fairly good. I have been doing a bit of looking into Lightburn recently as they seem to have a fairly promising forum there. Here a link- https://forum.lightburnsoftware.com/ I have not tried it yet but I remember seeing something about the reduced size problems in there somewhere. Their camera software looks very interesting as well. Will your laser accept STL files? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted December 11, 2019 7 minutes ago, sbrownn said: Will your laser accept STL files? I will have to check and get back to you later. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted December 12, 2019 I don't see how a laser printer/cutter could accept/use .stl files. These files contain data for a 3-dimensional object, whereas printer/cutters work in 2 dimensions (ok, I know you can set depth but it's only a fraction of the Z height in most 3-dimensional .stl files). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sbrownn Report post Posted December 19, 2019 That's a good point. There must be a drawing file format, dxf or something that describes 2D objects so perhaps that would be better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted December 19, 2019 I can't say for sure as I have only ever used DXF and PLT - 2 dimensional drawings and images that get converted by the T2 Laser program to G code. The Z adjustment has only come into use for depth of cutting so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrisash Report post Posted December 19, 2019 I found this conversion file that seems to do the conversion stl to other formats at $60 which might work, have no need myself so have not tried it https://3d-viewers.com/index.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted December 19, 2019 Interesting, although it doesn't actually say what it converts from and to, just says it can read a heap of different file formats? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jrjr2u Report post Posted December 19, 2019 .stl files are 3 dimensional files for 3d printers and lasers only do 2 dimensional. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrmCa Report post Posted December 19, 2019 (edited) STL is only 3D when you need it to be. It is just a bunch of triangle coordinates and if they all lie on a flat surface then you get a 2D. the fact that you do not always need solid lines but a bit map is a different story. And the use of STL is not limited to the 3D printing industry. It is just a common format for any models be it 3D or 2D. Edited December 19, 2019 by DrmCa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
