Roller and Chuck Rotary Guide: REDLINE MIRA S

Applies to: REDLINE MIRA 5S, MIRA 7S and MIRA 9S

This guide shows how to install and use a roller rotary or a chuck rotary with your REDLINE MIRA S. A rotary lets the machine engrave or mark around the circumference of cylindrical or rounded items, such as cups, glasses and bottles.

What you need

• Rotary device
• Allen key set
• Computer with LightBurn
• Metric measuring device (calipers recommended)
• 20.5 mm focus gauge
• Laser safety glasses

Basic rotary setup

1. Lift the lid and remove everything sitting on the honeycomb. Carefully remove the honeycomb and set it aside somewhere safe. Do not stand it upright, lean it in a corner or leave it in any position that could damage it.

2. Remove blades from the blade table. You do not need to remove them all, just enough for the rotary to fit comfortably in the bed. First lift the blades to their standing position.

   

   Then gently lift them out of the bed. You can unlock and lower the front access door if that helps.

   

3. Power the machine on and let it complete the initialization sequence.

4. Press and hold the Z Down button on the keypad until the bed is fully lowered.

   

5. Carefully place the rotary in the machine, with its motor towards the right side of the machine.

   

How rotaries hold the workpiece

Most roller rotaries follow the same principles. The workpiece sits on the rotating wheels, held by a light clamp or by gravity. A second stabilizer supports the rear of the workpiece, holding the other end and bringing the engravable area level.

Chuck rotaries work on a similar principle. A chuck with jaws grips the workpiece firmly, and the chuck can then be angled to bring the engravable area level.

See the manufacturer of your rotary for details on fitting a workpiece to it. This guide uses the AEON Laser Smart Rotary as its roller rotary example, and a PiBurn Grip as its chuck rotary example.

Smart Rotary configuration

1. With the Smart Rotary unplugged, turn the rollers by hand until the set screws on the wheels face upwards.

2. Use a 2.5 mm Allen wrench to loosen the set screws on all four wheels. Loosen them only 2 to 3 turns, until the wheels slide freely along the rollers. Do not remove them completely.

   

3. Adjust the wheels to suit the size and shape of the workpiece, as described in the sections below. Make sure no bumps, ridges or raised logos on the workpiece are in the direct path of the wheels.

   

   

4. Once the workpiece is set up on the rotary, plug the rotary into the rotary port.

   

   

Choose the wheel setup

Different workpieces need different setups on the Smart Rotary. A tumbler with a sharp taper from base to mouth, for example, needs a different setup to get its engraving surface level than a perfectly cylindrical cup. Work out which setup you need before you go on, then follow its section.

4 wheel setup

Ideal for perfectly cylindrical workpieces with smaller diameters, which rest on all four wheels and stay level. If the workpiece feels unstable on all 4 wheels, a 0 wheel setup may be a better choice.

1. Slide the rightmost 2 wheels to the right end of the rotary, close to the motor.

   

2. Position the top of the workpiece towards the wall of the rotary to prevent shifting, but do not let the workpiece touch the frame. Leave a small gap, just wide enough to slide a piece of paper in, to help prevent binding.

3. Move the other 2 wheels under the bottom of the workpiece, adjusting the spacing as you place the workpiece on the wheels. Keep adjusting until the weight of the cylinder is evenly distributed.

4. With all 4 wheels in position, use a 2.5 mm Allen wrench to tighten both set screws on all 4 wheels. Do not overtighten, which can damage the rotary shaft. The wheels only need to be snug enough not to slide. Remove the workpiece for better access if you need to.

2 wheel setup

A workpiece that is not perfectly cylindrical must be leveled with the 2 wheel setup. The wider end rests on the rotary shafts, and the other end rests on two of the wheels.

1. Slide the rightmost 2 wheels to the right end of the rotary, close to the motor.

2. Position the wide end of the workpiece directly on the metal bars and against the sides of the 2 right wheels to prevent shifting. Adjust the other 2 wheels under the opposite end until the engravable area of the workpiece is level.

3. With all 4 wheels in position, use a 2.5 mm Allen wrench to tighten both set screws on all 4 wheels. Do not overtighten, which can damage the rotary shaft. Remove the workpiece for better access if you need to.

0 wheel setup

If the cylinder is too big to sit on all 4 wheels and stay in focus under the laser head, or if it seems unstable on 4 wheels, rest the workpiece directly on the metal bars. The wheels then hold the workpiece to the rotary instead of carrying it.

1. Slide the rightmost 2 wheels to the right end of the rotary, close to the motor.

2. Place the cup in the rotary, resting directly on the bars. Slide the left pair of wheels towards the end of the cup. They act as a rear clamp to help keep the cup from shifting while engraving.

3. With all 4 wheels in position, use a 2.5 mm Allen wrench to tighten both set screws on all 4 wheels. Do not overtighten, which can damage the rotary shaft. Remove the workpiece for better access if you need to.

Chuck rotary configuration

1. Loosen the mounting bolts of the chuck motor so the chuck can angle freely up and down.

   

2. Fit the workpiece to the rotary. Make sure the chuck jaws hold it tightly in place. Reposition the grips of the jaws as needed to fit the opening of the workpiece, while still holding securely and without the teeth of the chuck coming out of the assembly.

   

   

3. Move the rear leveler towards the workpiece and adjust it so its rollers gently support the end of the workpiece. The motor should move freely and adjust itself as the leveler is raised and lowered. For pieces with a large diameter, such as a dog bowl, you may need to leave the rear leveler out if there is not enough clearance.

   

   

4. Once the workpiece is level, tighten all the mounting and lock bolts to lock the rotary and workpiece in position.

   

Configure the machine settings

After setting up the rotary, the machine settings must be configured to activate it. Most rotary settings have been preconfigured by the Quality Assurance team at AEON Laser USA, but some must be set by each user.

Roller rotary settings

1. Connect your computer with LightBurn to the machine by your preferred connection method. This guide used a USB connection.

2. In LightBurn, check that the correct Device Profile is selected, then open the Rotary Setup laser tool.

   

   

3. Set Roller as the rotary type.

   

4. Switch Enable Rotary on. The little switch turns green.

   

5. Set Steps Per Rotation to 12800.00. The one exception is a 2 wheel setup on the AEON Smart Rotary, which needs 10042.69.

   

6. Set Roller Diameter to the diameter of the wheels driven by the rotary motor. Measure it in millimeters, or check the wheel size with the manufacturer of your rotary.

   

7. Click OK to save the settings and close the Rotary Setup window.

   

Settings for the AEON Smart Rotary:

Chuck rotary settings

1. Connect your computer with LightBurn to the machine by your preferred connection method.

2. In LightBurn, check that the correct Device Profile is selected, then open the Rotary Setup laser tool, as shown above.

3. Set Chuck as the rotary type.

   

4. Switch Enable Rotary on. The little switch turns green.

   

5. Set Steps Per Rotation to 12800.00.

   

6. Set Object Diameter to the measured diameter of the workpiece. The Circumference value fills in automatically. For a tapered item, such as a 40 oz cup, use the larger diameter. If you prefer, measure and enter the circumference instead, and the diameter fills in automatically.

   

7. Click OK to save the settings and close the Rotary Setup window.

   

Prepare a file in LightBurn

With the rotary settings in place, prepare the file you want to engrave. The settings given here are suggestions and examples to get you started. You will need to run your own tests to find the settings you prefer. For a deeper guide to testing tumbler settings on a rotary, see Optimizing Tumbler Settings.

1. Open or import your design in LightBurn and scale it to size. The maximum engravable area equals the circumference of the item (file width) by its height (file height). A file as wide as the circumference wraps fully around the item. See How to Configure a Full Wrap Design When Engraving Tumblers.

   

2. Rotate and position the design so it is oriented the way you want. With a rotary, the design often needs rotating 90 degrees so its top matches the top of the workpiece.

   

3. In the Cuts / Layers section, choose Fill mode to engrave the design. Line mode gives an outlined result. This guide used Fill mode.

4. Set the speed. A wide range of speeds works with a rotary, but higher speeds can cause wobbling or jittering. This guide used 400 mm/s.

5. Set the power to suit the material, tube type and tube wattage. This guide used 45% on a 60 W glass CO2 tube, on a powder coated aluminum cup. For glass, see Glass Engraving.

6. Set the Lines Per Inch (LPI) for the result and finish you want. Between 250 and 400 is a good starting range, but 700 to 800 may be needed to smooth the edges of curves in a design. This guide used 400.

7. Make sure Fill all shapes at once is selected in the layer settings, towards the bottom of the window.

   

8. In the Advanced tab, make sure Flood Fill is off. We recommend using only the internal air pump with a rotary, so make sure Air Assist is off too.

9. Click OK at the bottom of the window.

10. In the Laser window, set Start From to User Origin and choose the Job Origin start point you want. This guide used Top Right.

    

11. Check that the Laser window shows a connection. It should say Ready in the top left corner. If it says Disconnected, make sure the laser is powered on and connected to your computer by USB, Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Check that the selected Device Profile matches your connection method, then reset the connection by right-clicking the Devices button in the Laser window.

12. Click Send to name the file and send it to the machine. The file is saved in the internal memory of the controller.

Final rotary setup

1. If you have not already, plug the rotary into the rotary port. Route any spare cable clear of the rotary, gantry and laser head.

2. Use the arrow keys on the keypad to position the laser head and gantry over the rotary and workpiece.

   

   

3. Square the rotary and workpiece to the gantry. There are many ways to do this. A popular, easy one uses the red dot from the laser head:

   Pick a long, straight structural part of the rotary and put the red dot at its edge.

   

   Using the Left and Right arrow keys, jog the laser head to the far left of the rotary and line the edge up exactly under the red dot. Adjust the rotary itself, and do not move the gantry forwards or backwards. Remove the workpiece if you need visibility or clearance.

   

   Jog the laser head to the far right of the rotary and watch whether the red dot travels parallel along the whole edge.

   

   Adjust the rotary until the red dot stays parallel to the edge along its full length. The rotary is then square with the gantry.

   

4. Jog the laser head over the highest point of the workpiece.

   

5. Focus on the workpiece. Use the manual focus gauge, or auto focus. It is common practice to defocus slightly, by about 1 to 2 mm, when using a rotary, though this is personal preference.

   

   

6. Turn the rotary and workpiece to the position you need. Hold SHIFT on the keypad and use the Y Up or Down arrows to spin the rotary.

   

7. Use the Left and Right arrow keys to move the laser head to where you want the design engraved. Keep in mind the origin start point you set when you made the file: the file frames and runs from it.

   

8. Press Origin on the keypad to set the starting position. It corresponds to where the Job Origin, the little green square, sits on the design in LightBurn.

   

9. Press Frame on the keypad to check that the perimeter of the job matches where you want the engraving. If it does not, adjust the origin as in the previous step.

   

Pre-launch checklist

• The correct rotary settings are loaded on the machine.
• The workpiece is set up on the rotary properly.
• The workpiece is level, and no bumps, ridges or raised logos are in the direct path of the wheels.
• The rotary is plugged into the rotary port.
• The rotary cord is clear of the rotary, gantry and laser head.
• The rotary is aligned with the gantry.
• The red dot is over the highest point of the workpiece.
• The file was sent to the machine. Its name shows at the top right of the keypad display.
• The laser is focused on the workpiece.
• The origin of the design is where you want it.
• The design frames where you want it.
• The workpiece turns smoothly with the rollers without losing traction.

Launch

Gently close the lid and put on your laser safety glasses. Press Start on the keypad and watch the machine run the job.

When the job is complete, move the gantry out of the way, remove the workpiece from the rotary and inspect the results. Clean the piece carefully.