I am making handheld “Mickey Mouse” mirrors for children for Christmas. I have laser cut the mirrors and they came out perfect. Now I am cutting pockets in pine for the face. The pocket for the face and one ear came out great. But one ear is out too far in the Y-axis and is a different size. The design has the ears the same size and symmetrical. I have tried rotating everything 90 degrees, importing a DXF, and doing an entirely new design in Easel. But, the same ear is always bad. I am doing this using a 3018 router. HELP!
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Can you share your project or gcode and original DXF?
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Here is a zip file for my latest attempt. As can be seen in the picture (hopefully), one of the ear pockets is too far out. But, the model shows it correctly.
Easel pocket 0727.zip (19.6 KB)
Maybe it is the angle of view but it looks like the metal insert has uneven ears and maybe the wood pockets are same size?
What happens if you flip the metal over and into the pockets?
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I was able to modify the pocket such that the mirror fits perfectly in the pocket. I did that by moving one of the ears 1/8" in in the y-axis. Now the design is not symmetrical but the end product is. Weird! When I am done, I will post a picture.
this is what Neil meant when he asked to share the project. the steps depicted in the 2nd half of this video show how to Share and Easel Project. there you can copy the share link and then paste that link here for us to be able to see the actual Easel Project you are using.
Thanks, Seth. I’m giving you two projects. The only differences should be the pocket depth and the location of the upper ear. I laser cut mylar mirror stock that I get from Amazon for the mirrors. They fit perfectly in the final one.
Thanks for looking at this. Mike
https://easel.inventables.com/projects/pf_sphA1SVq6Rt9g8KfRiQ
Easel - mm pocket 0802 - final)
Michael, I would love it if you could do an experiment on your machine using your original 0727 file.
Select all 3 circles that make up mickey then Edit->Combine. Now Edit->Flip Vertical
Cutting on some scrap material run this again and see if the different size “Ears” moves to the other side.
I have taken your design and it is perfectly symmetrical. I verified by combining the shapes then cutting in half, finally I mirrored one half and compaired these to your original and it’s a perfect match. I am stumped but it would be good to know if the difference moves to the other side.
I did that. The offset is still there. But, it isn’t obvious whether or not it flipped because everything is round and symmetrical, I can put the offset in either ear. Although it kinda feels like ir did flip. I have a solution that works for me - the final project. The only thing I can suggesr is that you could cut a piece of scrap just a scosh smaller than the projects (to simulate the mirror) and see if you can reproduce the problem. I’m happy my work around. Mike
You’re saying this works if you move one ear 1/8"?
Are you measuring? Are you sure your laser cut job is correct?
Basically, using two machines and different software, it looks like one machine or design is off.
What kind of laser are you using? looks like you might need to adjust some settings there.
0727 is aligned correctly aligned symmetrically…
0802 is asymmetrically aligned.
I think this is the issue here. Either the design used for the laser cut was not performed using the same design as 0727 OR the calibration of the machine is such that it is causing the issue.
The Mirror you have should be measured for whether it is symmetrical or asymmetrical, based on the information provided it seems as though the Mirror workpiece is not symmetrical and you’re being forced to make the same modification to the Carve to accommodate this error in the original design (or calibration of the equipment)
I thought so, too. Especially because I import a jpg into the laser sw and I’ve had problems with that in the past. But, the mirror fits nicely into the pocket whether it is face up or not. My first pocket was an imported dxf. I thought there was an importing problem. So, the final design uses the circle draw tool in easel. That worked really well, giving me better control. This whole thing is so bizarre!
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