Vision ve810 manual

To hold down irregular shaped objects, you must use some other method. Ask your Vision Distributor or Vision if you need more information on this feature. In the first section, the machine will be set up to perform a diamond drag operation on coated aluminum and a simple plate will be engraved.

In the second example, engravers plastic will be rotary engraved to make a small sign. The material used for this example application is black painted aluminum. Starting with a new file in Vision 9 software, the first step is to adjust the plate size to match the plate to be engraved.

Click on the Current Selection drop down list and select Custom. Enter the plate size to be engraved - for this example 3" x 2". The flyout icons will appear, then select the Text Compose icon. Page 59 The user should become familiar with the various ways fonts can be formatted with the toolbar options. For this example, the only change was for the font height, which was set to 0. Begin typing text to be engraved. Page 60 Center as shown below from the top toolbar.

Note that there are several ways to align objects within the Vision software. The Break Text warning may appear. If so, select No. If Yes is chosen, and more than one line of text has been entered, each line will align on top of one another in the center of the plate. Page 61 Select the Engrave icon from the left toolbar.

The Cut Toolbox will appear and the options for engraving will appear on the top toolbar. Make sure the Device selected is for your machine, then select the Tool Setup icon. Page 62 Stop Button on the machine. If either of these occur, make sure that Dry Run was selected in the Cut Toolbox shown as the letter "D" and that the spindle has not been turned on.

The Spindle icon on the Cut Toolbox is show below for reference. Page 63 Sensor see the Prox icon below is enabled, then select the Engrave icon on the Cut Toolbox to send the file to the engraver.

Page 64 VE Series 4 User Manual Make sure the material is positioned properly and secured on the engraving table, then press the Start Button on the engraver to begin engraving. The finished piece should appear as shown below. Page Rotary Engraving The cutter is now zeroed. To run a job, turn the machine on, then set up the job in the Vision Software. For more information on this, see the Vision Engraving Software manual and the example job file in the next section.

Put the material on the t-slot table as described in the previous section. As with Example Job 1, the first step is to set the plate size in the Vision 9 software. Page 67 All of these adjustments are available when entering text in the Frame Text Compose mode. Page 68 If the Dry Run showed no set up errors, the job can be re-sent to the engraver with the Dry Run disabled. Place the material on the table shown with Multi Mat on the t-slot table to hold the engraving material in place , and press the start button on the machine to begin engraving.

Page 69 When the file is complete, remove the material from the table. HINT - Use a light bristle brush to clean out any debris that may remain in the engraved characters. The Vision VE spindle with burnishing cutter Burnishing is different than standard rotary engraving mainly because the nose cone is not used to set the depth of cut.

Page 71 You can then jog the Z down until the proper pre-load is achieved, then press Set Surface to set the surface. Pressing Start will begin the engraving process. In the following example job, a burnishing file will be set up and run on coated brass material.

Page Example Job 3 - Burnishing also known as black brass or trophy brass. The plate will use a text import function from an external text file that will be copied into a plate template and the Vision software will automatically format the imported text.

Page 73 Apply. Note that the page margins on the toolbar are located such that the top field is for the top margin, the left field is the left margin, etc. The screen should then appear as below. Select the Text Compose Icon. Page 74 Enter any text in the format you wish to use. In this example, two lines of text are entered as variables it does not matter what you type. The text entered is only for formatting and will be replaced with the text imported from the. Page 75 Width Compression, select the text, then click on the Toolbar Mode icon shown below.

Select Frame mode. Select all text and select the Width Compression Mode by clicking on the drop down list as shown. Deselect Word Wrap, then select OK. For a detailed description of all the font modifications possible, refer to the Vision software help or user manual. Page 77 Step by Step Operation In this example, a text file was created in order to copy and paste the variables into the Vision software.

Highlight the text and select copy from the edit menu or right click and select copy. Note that in this example, the two variables are entered as subsequent lines in the text file and that there may be difficulties when importing from other file formats. After clicking in the center of the plate, all fields are merged and multiple plate objects will be created based on the number of text variables selected.

Page 79 Step by Step Operation Also, if there are more variables than can be fit into one plate in the Vision software, multiple plates or pages are automatically generated for individual output to the engraver. The lower right corner of the Vision software screen allows the user to view the individual pages. Page 82 Mat. DO NOT place the material to be cut directly on the t-slot table. If you do, then the cutter will cut into the t-slot table and permanently damage the surface.

Other methods for holding material down are in the section Holding Down Material. First, the plate size will be adjusted to the standard Vision VE 10 x 8 inch area. A single Plate Object will be created from the top toolbar menu - Layout Page 84 Windows Explorer and drag the file to the engraving area on the plate within the Vision software. Page 85 To re-size the text frame, click and hold with the left mouse button on the black edge of the text frame and drag the frame to the appropriate size.

Page 86 The two text fields are now non-editable graphics and will not be replaced when importing a text file with variable text. Next, copy the list of text variables from a Notepad text file and select Paste Clipboard Into Plate, then click in the middle of the Plate Object.

Page 87 red in this example , select the Plate Object frame, then click on the Red color icon on the bottom toolbar of the Vision software. It is also a good idea to verify the color of the other objects on the screen. Page 88 After changing the plate frame color. If you try to send this file to the engraver at this point by clicking on the Engrave icon , a warning screen may appear as below. Page 89 Filter by Color window will appear.

Select the color to send to the engraver in the Filter Layer drop down box. In this example, all text and graphics are Black, so the color Black P1 was selected from the drop down menu in the Filter by Color window. Page 90 VE Series 4 User Manual After clicking on Select, the Vision software window will show only the color being sent to the engraver, in this case, black. Make sure all options are turned on in the Cut Toolbox, including Dry Run for this example file.

Page 91 Dry Run turned off. Use the proper cutting tool for the engraving application. Note that the nose cone for the vacuum chip removal system has been installed in this picture. After pressing Start and finishing the job,the engraved portion of the file should appear as shown.

Page 92 To change to the material setting for cutting, select Engrave from the top toolbar menu, then Tool Options. Or, you can click on the Engrave icon, then open the Tool Setup Window and select the material.

When the file is complete, is should appear as shown. Since we have no further colors to send to the engraver, select Stop Cutting. Page Vectorizing Bitmaps And Creating Vector Fills It is often required that a scanned image or a bitmap file is requested to be engraved. Since the Vision engraver is vector based and requires vector lines in order to follow a path for engraving, these bitmaps will need to be converted to vector images before being sent to the engraver.

Page 96 The next screen has only one adjustment - Alignment Bitmap Density. There is a slider bar for darkening or lightening the image to show more or less detail. The default slider position is recommended. Select OK and the bitmap will be automatically converted to a vector outline for engraving. Page Vector Hatch Fills When an outline of an object needs to have the interior, or sections of the interior engraved, the Hatch Fill tool is used.

As an example, if a simple circle is drawn in the Vision 9 software, but the user wants to engrave the entire circle, not just the outline, a hatch fill is used to create the vector fill path for the engraver to follow. Page 98 Less overlap will be faster, but the background can become rough. If the Tool width is greater than the cutter tip width, portions of the background will not be engraved. Doing so creates a visible hatch fill, which may be desirable for some applications.

Page 99 Hatch fills can be applied to outline text, but not single line text. In the below example, Arial text was used by selecting the Frame Text Compose icon and clicking in the middle of the plate to create the text as shown.

Page Before filling text, the user must first select the text with the Select Tools icon. Click on the Select Tools icon and select the text to apply the hatch fill to. Select the Hatch Fill icon. Page Some graphics have portions that do not need to be engraved and are within the boundaries of outside vector outlines. Using the Flower example file, import the file to vectorize the bitmap, then select the Break Path icon to separate the individual outlines.

The Vision 9 software has an intelligent path tool that will automatically detect portions of the graphic that are within outside vector lines and will create a hatch fill with the center portions left as unfilled.

Page If this looks correct, select the Hatch Fill icon. The hatch fill will be applied. Adjust the tool options as desired and select Close from the toolbar menu. The file is ready to be sent to the engraver. To use this feature, turn on the engraver and press the Go to Home button. Open the Vision 9 software with a new drawing and select the Plate Size icon on the top toolbar. Page Then, click on Next in the Measure Wizard window.

Move the laser pointer to the lower right corner of the engraving are you wish to define, then click on Finish in the Measure Wizard window. Page If the area appears to be correct. The plate size in the Vision 9 software now shows the area defined with the measure feature. Page Custom Home Positions - Using Set Offset In this example, the user has identified the engraving area on an item, and the home 0,0 position of the machine will be set to match the upper left corner of the engraving area.

Referencing the drawing above, the engraving area is 1. Page If it is, you are ready to engrave the item. If the positioning is not correct, you can either adjust the graphics within the Vision 9 software, or reset the custom home position to the proper location. Page The Red Dot Laser Pointer will follow the path of this rectangle and outline the engraving area. This can make it much easier to properly position your custom home and graphics before sending the final job to the machine.

Page Creating A Center Driver Referencing the drawing below, the job will be quickly set up using a custom "Center" driver. First, we need to create and save a custom Center driver. Open up the Vision 9 software and select Engrave, then Engraving Defaults from the top menu bar. If this driver has not been installed, refer to the section - Installing Additional Drivers Select Setup.

Page Set the plate size to match the engraving area you determined for your item. In this example, a 1. Page In this case, it is the center of the 3.

Press the Set Offset button on the engraver. This is now the center of the engraving area for our job. The below picture shows the spindle positioned over the center of the engraving area. Page Center Driver from the Device drop down list and set the home position set offset on the machine to the center of the engraving area on your item before running the job.

Page Installing Additional Drivers If you need to install additional drivers, such as the VE S4 Vise driver or for another machine, in the Vision 9 software, select File from the top menu bar, then select Install and click on Cutting Devices. The Installation Wizard will begin. Page If you wish to uninstall driver s , simply follow the above procedure, and deselect the drivers by removing the check mark to the left of the machines you want to uninstall from the Manufacturer section of the Driver Installation Wizard window, then click on Next to remove those drivers.

Page Part Vi Maintenance VE Series 4 User Manual Maintenance Vision strives for the highest quality in their manufacturing process to provide you with the most cost effective, reliable engraving machine in use today. Please remember that proper maintenance and care is necessary to achieve maximum product life expectancy. Page General Cleaning Do not wash either filter. Place the paper filter back inside the cloth filter, and place the cloth filter back inside the vacuum canister.

Spindle Cover To remove the spindle cover, slide the cover up. Squeezing the sides of the cover will facilitate removal. Page Apply isopropyl alcohol to a paper towel and wipe down the X-Axis carriage leadscrew and the stainless steel rails for the carriage. Move the carriage by hand to access all areas of the leadscrew and rails.

Page Apply isopropyl alcohol to a paper towel and wipe down the sides and front of the spindle rail. Move the Spindle down to expose the Z-Axis leadscrew for cleaning. Apply isopropyl alcohol to a paper towel and wipe down the Z-Axis leadscrew. DO NOT oil the stepper drive motors. None of the motors on the machine require lubrication. Oiling the stepper motors can permanently damage them. Carriage Cover Remove the four screws on each side of the Carriage Cover. Page To replace the belt, align the belt in the motor pulley and pull the belt forward and roll it down over the front edge of the lip on the top of the spindle.

If you press this button while a job is engraving, the table will return to the home position and wait for you to press the START button to re-engrave the job. When the light is red, the spindle is off. When the light is flashing green and red, the spindle is on. When the light is green, the spindle will automatically turn on and off at the beginning and end of the engraving job.

Page 35 Chapter 4. The quick lock vise is included with the VE See figure 3. Figure 3. The edge guides should be level or slightly below the engraving material. If they are not, loosen the edge guide thumbscrews and lower the edge guides.

Set up the job you would like to engrave in the Vision Software. For more information on this, see the Vision Engraving Software manual. Put the material on the T-slot table as described in the previous section. From the Vision software, press the F9 key to send the job to the VE engraver. The following screen will appear: Click OK You will see the green light near the start button start to flash.

This means that there is a job in the VE Do the same fo the AUX button if you are usuing a vacuum system. You will get the following screen: Click OK You will see that the green light near the start button will start to flash. Page Burnish Engraving Chapter 3 - Operations Burnish Engraving In this section, we will set up to engrave with a burnishing cutter.

Page 42 Turn the VE Engraver on by flipping the switch on the back left side of the machine. Page 43 Chapter 3 - Operations Engraving a job at a position other than the top left corner of the t-slot If you would like to put your material to be engraved at a position other than the standard home position, place your material on the t-slot table in the position you desire.

Use the XY jog buttons to move the spindle to the upper left corner of the piece you would like to engrave. Page Chapter 4 - Optional Accessories Some of the other types of clamps are explained later in this chapter.

For a complete list of holding clamps, please ask Vision for an accessory catalog or visit our web site at www. One way is to use a top left origin and the other way is to use a top center origin. Page 47 Chapter 4 - Optional Accessories Figure 4. Here are some figures that show different configurations.

This clamp may be used to any diameter of notary seal. Figure 4. Page 50 Chip removal also prevents the cutter from skipping over letters due to stray particles. This vacuum chip removal system is available with or without a Vision vacuum nose cone. Page Chapter 5 - Maintenance Chapter 5 - Maintenance Removing Chips Vision strives for the highest quality in their manufacturing process to provide you with the most cost effective, reliable engraving machine in use today.

Please remember that proper maintenance and care is necessary to achieve maximum product life expectancy. Failure to clean the nose cone regularly will result in premature spindle failure. Cleaning the Vacuum Filter only with the vacuum chip removal option On systems with a vacuum chip removal system, frequent cleaning of the vacuum filter is necessary for proper performance.

Page 53 Chapter 5 - Maintenance Figure 5. DO NOT attempt to lubricate the spindle or the spindle bearings. When the motor belt wears it will stretch and cause the spindle to slip or stall. When this happens, the motor belt generally needs to be changed. Page 55 Chapter 5 - Maintenance Figure 5. S pindle Cover Remove the front spindle cover as seen in figure 5.

Figure 5. Remove the old belt and put a new one on. Next, put the three covers that you just removed back on. The motor belt change is now complete. Remove the front spindle cover as seen in figure 5. See figure 5. Inspect the motor brush for length.

Follow the procedure below to change the external fuses. Unplug the power cable that goes into the back of the VE Page 61 Chapter 5 - Maintenance Figure 5. Page 62 VE Engraver Manual Possible solutions: 1. Check material for squareness. Maybe your shear did not cut squarely. Check to see if the material on the table is indeed at a true home and is square to your T-slot edge guides.

Leave the protective film on the engraving material during engraving. Use a plastic nosecone instead of a metal one. The nosecone may be damaged. Inspect for burrs or roughness. Try using an emery cloth to polish the nose. Page 65 Chapter 6 - Troubleshooting Problem: Poor letter quality. You may be engraving too fast.

Engraving quality improves with the right engraving and spindle speeds. If you are diamond drag engraving, you have too much down pressure or you are engraving too deep. There is possibly a bad microstepper board in the machine. Contact your distributor or Vision.

Isolate the cause o f the unusual noise by: a. Page 67 Chapter 6 - Troubleshooting roblem: Spindle is hot. Ensure that the nose co ne area is free of debris.