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There is a drop-in
Engraving Tip
for the original silver blade holder or the ACS-24UHF blade holder, or you
can use the
Zing Engraving tool
in the ACS-24UHF.
The same basic guidelines apply to engraving as in embossing and scoring:
You will probably need to use the
WYSIWYG
cut mode.
You will need to turn off the
Blade Offset
setting for engraving.
You will probably need to use multiple passes to get the desired results.
On softer metals, you may not want the engraving tip too far above the metal as it can leave a pock mark
when it drops to start engraving. If possible, test on scraps first.
Refer to the
Suggested Settings
table at the end of this chapter or force and speed settings on various
materials. Note that you can engrave on materials that cannot be cut on the ACS-24UHF, such as jewelry
charms, dog tags, and trophy plates.
The open path fonts available in MTC should work well for engraving. They contain single path lines and
curves versus outlines and are usually more desirable when engraving letters. Refer to
Section 5.11.
Project: Engraving a Dog Tag
When engraving items that are already cut (such as the items listed previously), it can sometimes be tricky
getting the perfect alignment you need. Here’s a method that works well (thank you to Michelle Hessler for
posting this technique):
Carefully measure the dimensions of the item. For example, it if is a circular dog tag, then measure the
diameter. Recreate the shape in MTC and size it to be the same. In the follow example, the diameter of
the dog tag is 1-
1/8”, so a circle of the same size is drawn:
Because this shape will be cut from another material to use in the alignment process, the shape is
resized to be a tiny bit larger. For a circle, you can simply resize it in the
Sel Properties Bar
. If the
shape is something non-symmetrical, then use the
Shadow Function
with a
Shadow Width
of about
0.04”.
Next the desired lettering and/or shapes are added.
In this case, the dog’s name and a phone number
with “Please Call” are chosen. Because there is also a hole near the top of this dog tag, a ¼” high
square is added just to show the top limit of where the lettering could be located. This is deleted as soon
as the lettering is added and positioned:
The lettering is placed on one layer in MTC while the circle is place on a different layer. A sheet of thin
chipboard is placed on the cutting mat. Using
WYSIWYG
cut mode, the circle is sent to cut:
Tape chipboard
to top of mat
Circle layer is sent to
cut and removed from
the rest of the
chipboard.
Photo of actual
dog tag
Circle created in MTC at the
same diameter as the tag
Summary of Contents for ACS-24UHF/Eagle
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