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4.03 Scratch Engraving
•
The Skycut engraving tool can be used to engrave
vellum, foils, acrylic, and most metals, including trophy
labels, dog tags, and jewelry charms.
•
On softer metals, you may not want the engraving tip too far above the metal as it can leave pock marks
when it drops to start engraving. If possible, test on scraps first.
•
Refer to the
Suggested Settings
table at the end of this chapter for
Force
and
Speed
settings on various
materials. Note that in some cases you may want to use more than one pass for a deeper engraving.
•
To design an engraving fill pattern, use the
Engraving Module
. Refer to
Section 5.03
4.03.1 Engraving a Metal Tag
•
When engraving items that are already cut (such as metal tags, trophy plates, charms, etc.), it’s very
important to have precise alignment before proceeding. Therefore, the camera on the Skycut will be used to
set the origin for engraving. If you haven’t already calibrated the camera, go to
Section 3.03.
•
The following is a list of the items you’ll need for this kind of an application:
The item to be engraved
The Skycut engraving tool
Double sided tape to secure the item to the cutting mat. Thermo-web is perfect for this.
•
Create a replica of the item to be engraved:
If it’s something simple, like a square or a rectangle, use the basic shapes available in SignMaster:
If it’s not a shape that can easily be recreated in SignMaster, then trace it onto paper:
Scan or photograph the trace and use the instructions in
Section 5.01
to import the scan and create a
contour of the heart:
Photo of actual tag
Replica of tag created
using two circles
