Long Plate

***Special Note to XOT 13x13 owners***

 

Long Plate uses the physical dimensions of the material mounting surface (the T-Slot surface) to perform the calculations for material placement. Although named "13x13", the size of the T-Slot engraving area is actually 13.5" by 13.5". To achieve predictable results using Long Plate, you will need to place a physical mark on either the left material guide or on the T-Slot table surface. The position of this mark needs to be 13 inches down (towards the front of the table) from the inside edge of the back material guide. This will be the mark you will align the calculated marks placed on the material as supplied by the Long Plate feature. Please do NOT align the marks to the end of the T-Slot table. Using Long Plate without having made and used the above mark, typically places the actual engraving 0.5" off, left or right (the difference of the actual table dimensions versus the software set values).

 

 

What is Long Plate?

 

There may come a time when you get a request to engrave a job that is larger than your table size. Long Plate provides us with a means of engraving jobs larger than the actual table size. For instance, a plate measuring 12 inches high by 24 inches wide will engrave on a 13 x 13 inch machine using Long Plate. Upon download, Long Plate rotates the plate's orientation (see below ***) to Sideways Left (automatically) and splits the plate up into sections small enough to fit within the engraving area or 'view window' of the 13 x 13 inch table. Each 'view window' is actually a downloaded as a separate job indexed numerically along the x-axis. Upon completion of the first 'view window', the engraver will return to Mechanical Home, prompting you to move the material to the next indexed location, placing the next 'view window' on the 13 x 13 surface for engraving. This process of 'feeding the material' through the machine is repeated until the end of the plate has been completed.

 

(for Table Types 1-9, double digit Table types such as 11 do NOT rotate the orientation of the plate due to the nature of the moving gantry on the larger tables i.e. 24 x24, 24 x 48)

 

 

Long Plate Limitations

 

Physical Restrictions

Although we can engrave larger than the table size, there is a physical limiting factor - the width of the X Axis gantry. Considering the above example, Long Plate was able to turn the plate Sideways Left and still have enough room to fit the plate through the X Axis gantry. On the 13 x 13 engraving table we are still limited by 13 inches in one dimension, in the case of Long Plate, the height of the plate of 13 inches became the limiting dimension between the uprights of the X Axis gantry after having turned it Sideways Left.

 

Numerical Restrictions

The longest plate that will engrave in Long Plate is equivalent to 10 times the height of the engraving surface. So for a 13 x 13 table, the height of the engraver is 13 inches, thus allowing a 130 inch long plate; for a 16 x 25 inch table the longest sign would be 10 times 16 inches or 160 inches. For table types 11 (25 x 25 and 25 x 50), where Long Plate does not turn Sideways Left, their maximum lengths are 250 and 500 respectively.

 

 

Using Long Plate

 

One of the keys to using Long Plate is trying NOT to over-do YOUR part in the set up of your job layout. In other words, set up your job as if you had no idea what size table you own. Don't do anything special or different to accommodate the fact of engraving a larger plate. The software does all the rotating and calculating for you. So with that in mind:

 

  1. Set up a new job (or open an existing job).

Important: Prior to the next step, place your "Auto/Off/Start" switch on the Pendant to the "Off" position. Having this switch in "Auto" will not allow the table to pause in between 'view windows' for material placement and movement (steps 6 -10).

  1. Send the job to the engraver using 'To Engraver' under the File menu.

  2. Note the Status Bar: for both Long and Tall Plate, it will read 'Please Wait, Calculating...'.

  3. Next a dialog will appear indicating locations to 'Mark the Plate in the X-Direction' with values in inches (or millimeters if using metric). These values are the index marks that will be used to move the material from one 'view window' to the next. Using a ruler, mark the plate from the upper left corner at the specified locations using a temporary marker.

    

  1. 'Click' on 'OK' after marking the material, (the Engraver Setup dialog will appear) set or change your parameters  and 'click' on 'OK' to send the job to the engraver.

Since the material is turned Sideways Left in this example for a 12 x 12 inch table (as for all three of the smaller tables), the point of origin is also shifted to the bottom left corner of the engraving table surface. The bottom left corner of the table will be used to match the index marks on the material.

  1. For the first 'view window', place the material on the engraving surface, lining up the first index mark on the material with the bottom left corner of the engraving table.

Depending on 'how long' of a long plate you are engraving, supports both in front and back of the table may be necessary to accommodate the excess material not supported by the engraving table.

  1. Start the engraver by pressing the "Start" switch on the Pendant.

  2. Upon completion of the first 'view window', the engraver will go back to Mechanical Home and the green READY light will illuminate indicating there is 'more left to engrave'. At this time, move the material so that the second index mark lines up with the bottom left corner (for the second 'view window').

  3. Press "Start" to proceed with the second 'view window' or section of the job.

  4. Repeat step 8 until all indexed 'view windows' have been completed.