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Engrave objects larger than the bed

Snapmaker Original
#1

Hello,

Newbie here looking to buy the Snapmaker original as a first time printer with as main purpose printing custom stuff for my business.

One of the things I’m looking into is to engrave our logo in some wooden tablets. Problem is that these are bigger than the 12 X 12 cm bed.

Would it be possible to mount the corner of these wooden tablets on the bed so the logo can be engraved in the corners ?

I would of course provide support for the wooden tablet on the sides but I’m not sure this would work with all the moving parts.

Any suggestions ?

Also, if I engrave something with th CNC, I assume I can trace it again afterwards with the laser to “color” it ?

Thanks for your replies guys !

#2

This is my personal opinion.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to start a modeling business with snapmaker.

I recommend a dedicated machine.

Snapmaker has not grown beyond the realm of a hobby.

There is no pulse controller or emergency stop button on the CNC.

There are many issues that need to be resolved before Snapmaker can be used for business.

#3

Hi there,

Sorry, maybe it was not clear in my mail but I do not want to start a businnes in 3D printing with the Snapmaker, I want to print, engrave or laser stuff for my existing business.

For example to engrave the logo on things we use for our business like the wooden tablets.

Some of these are however larger than the 12x22cm bed and therefore I wanted to check if someone has experience and advise with engraving or lasering stuff that may stick out of the bed, especially in relation to the moving parts.

#4

Why not A250 or A350? they have larger beds.

#5

If you’re looking to engrave stuff there are better laser engravers. A CO2 laser is likely better for commercial products. It’s much faster, and cuts a wider range of materials, for example it can engrave glass and acrylic easily with no modification to the substrate. Additionally CO2 lasers behave different with wood - they ablate to a depth rather than charring and darkening like diode lasers - which is better is up to what you want to do.

For CNC there are also better dedicated machines.

If you see yourself going back and forth frequently between the multiple modes, keep in mind the changeover time and recalibration between processes is not instant. I don’t have a good number in mind, but it’s certainly longer than having separate machines set up for each purpose.

#6

I know but they cost a lot more also and I don’t think that at this stage (remember I’m a newbie :smirk:) the higher cost is in line with my goals and ideas.

Maybe within time if I have enough applications which might justify the higher cost, I may upgrade.

At this time it’s more to see what the possibilities an applications might be in relation to our business.

#7

Tanks for your thoughts all !

I understand there are better machines dedicated to the different functions of the Snapmaker, but in the end I assume they will cost more, will take up more space en may require different skills and applications to produce decent output.

Again, maybe in time when we have explored the possibilities we might move on to dedicated machines which may provide better results, features and flexibility.

#8

Everything you asked in your original question is possible. It will require jigs for precise alignment, and will likely take a day per part engraved (at the start at least) unless you get an efficient workflow going to batch produce parts. SDJ here on the forums is the only person I’m aware of regularly doing multi-process parts with CNC and laser, he has a nice writeup on how he does it here: Some info on cnc tool changes and combo cnc/laser projects

It’s possible, but understand that the machine you order will show up, and it will require many different skills and applications to produce decent output. Usually we’re using Fusion360 for modelling and generating CNC toolpaths, Lightburn for doing laser. Luban technically can do some things, but dedicated pieces of software for each process will give much better control over the results. There are of course many other software packages outside just those two.

#9

I think some of the answer would depend on how much larger than 12cm x 12cm the work piece is.

Keep in mind that the bed is only about 1cm away from the Z axis. If the work piece hangs off the bed to the left, you’re going to loose some of your Y range or have a collision.

Because of the clearance, I wouldn’t try to work anything larger than 16cm x 16cm (the clamps take up some of the working surface). You might be able to get up to 25cm x 25cm if you design your own work and clamping system. Also because of the clearance and cables, I think the work would need to be indexed from the back left corner, not the front left corner. Not difficult, but it’ll add some extra mental effort to the the layouts and rotations to cover the whole surface.

Laser would probably work better than CNC. CNC should be very well clamped. Only clamping on the left and back of the object (so it can hang over the bed on the front and right) might cause the work piece to rotate or slip. You could probably mitigate that with a custom clamping system, but it would take some trial and error.

#10

Have a look at this post:

I guess it would be possible that you don’t need the bed or a additional module for laser engraving.