acm2000 Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 Hi all, what settings do you use on this machine for engraving glassware? i find using the default glass engraving seems to eat through diamonds way too quickly, 25 pint tankards and the diamond had given up the ghost or is this normal? using about a gallon of furniture polish on each one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 Sounds about right to me. I did a massive job during lockdown 1 for well over 100 glasses and went through about 5 or 6 composite diamonds. Some lasted longer than others. Sandblasting or laser is probably a better choice for large jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted June 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 ouch, always figured they should be lasting better than that, default setting is 12,000rpm and 3m/m on the feed, wondering if slowing those down would help prevent the burn out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 No, I always set my feed to 0.5 -1.0 (each glass was taking too long at 0.5 so upped it 1.0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldEngraver Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 I set the feed to around 0.3 - 0.5 to help lessen burn out same as Michael. Set the z feed higher to compensate for the slower x/y feed so the job doesn't take so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted June 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2021 default is: depth: 2mm, chip: 2mm, feed: 3m/m, feed z: 3m/m, spindle: 12,000 will do a test with 2/2/1/3, lowering spindle would probably help a lot but unsure what you could get away with while keeping the lines clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 Not wishing to state the obvious but are you using a light touch cutter knob? I use these settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted July 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2021 yes to the light touch, those are default settings ive always used was just wondering if theres a better setup that lessens the burn out. Is there a work around to fixing the performance in windows 10? its so slow to move/resize when theres any moderate amount of text, im not holding out much hope that the software will get updated to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 5, 2021 Report Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/2/2021 at 9:30 AM, acm2000 said: Is there a work around to fixing the performance in windows 10? its so slow to move/resize when theres any moderate amount of text, im not holding out much hope that the software will get updated to fix it. I think the Vistool software is a cracking piece of software. Easy to learn and use, but not updating it regularly with new or improved features really lets it down. Some of the sign making software is updated quite regularly but I don't think I've seen an update on Vistool 8 yet and I've had it a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 5, 2021 Report Share Posted July 5, 2021 I've just looked on an old complicated job I did on a tankard and used these settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 5, 2021 Report Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/2/2021 at 9:30 AM, acm2000 said: yes to the light touch, those are default settings ive always used was just wondering if theres a better setup that lessens the burn out. Is there a work around to fixing the performance in windows 10? its so slow to move/resize when theres any moderate amount of text, im not holding out much hope that the software will get updated to fix it. I agree with the painfully slow resizing with Windows 10. I'm sure there was a way of opening Vistool with an earlier version of Windows that might help. I think I may have just found it. Right-click the program's icon. ... Choose Properties from the pop-up menu. Click the Compatibility tab. ... Place a check mark by the top item, Run This Program in Compatibility Mode For. Choose a Windows version from the drop-down list. Set other options. ... Click OK. I used Windows 8. Seems faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted July 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2021 tried all this before, doesnt make that much of a difference unfortunately, installing windows 7 seems to be the only way round it which is very frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 5, 2021 Report Share Posted July 5, 2021 1 minute ago, acm2000 said: tried all this before, doesnt make that much of a difference unfortunately, installing windows 7 seems to be the only way round it which is very frustrating. Have you tried running in Windows 7 compatibility mode? before I waste any more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted July 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2021 yep, along with run as administrator, disable full screen optimisations etc etc all the usual tricks for apps that arent properly coded for newer windows. Microsoft changed something between windows 7 and 8 which broke the software unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 6, 2021 Report Share Posted July 6, 2021 5 hours ago, acm2000 said: yep, along with run as administrator, disable full screen optimisations etc etc all the usual tricks for apps that arent properly coded for newer windows. Microsoft changed something between windows 7 and 8 which broke the software unfortunately. We are fucked then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 6, 2021 Report Share Posted July 6, 2021 I was looking to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 but don't think I'll bother for now, though sooner or later Windows 7 will be defunct and we'll have no choice!! Vistool developers need to pull their fingers out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted July 7, 2021 Report Share Posted July 7, 2021 19 hours ago, Michael said: I was looking to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 but don't think I'll bother for now, though sooner or later Windows 7 will be defunct and we'll have no choice!! Vistool developers need to pull their fingers out! Windows 11 is on the way.... I'm still using Windows XP with my Roland EGX300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 7, 2021 Report Share Posted July 7, 2021 So chances are, unless Vistool is significantly updated it won't work with Windows 11 at all if it is struggling with 10??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted July 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2021 you can get windows 7 key dirt cheap these days so that would be the easiest option for a decent experience if you are stuck on windows 10 or 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco78th Posted July 26, 2021 Report Share Posted July 26, 2021 I always felt the default glass settings were way overkill on the Umarq I use - Depth/Chip 2.00 Feed 0.3 Speed 12000 I can get around 30 jobs from a drag diamond...however I specalise in pretty detailed images so I think I could get around 60/100 jobs out of each tip if it was a line of text only. until recently I only had a Gem-CX5 but i picked up an old Rotation S which I now use for most of my glass work. If they took the best parts of both machines in my opinion you would have virtually the perfect diamond engraving machine. The selecting and resizing is my biggest gripe with Vistool....running on Windows 10...I only got my Umarq 2 years ago so never ran it on anything else, but I am dissapointed with the performace at times concidering its hooked up to a desktop rig that can still run the latest videogames at medium detail but can't resize a drawing. From a software design perspective the change that would make all the difference in my opinion is to switch resizing and moving a selected element to a bounding box. The problem is Vistool is rendering every drawn line with those slection lines everytime. thats ridiculous. just put a bounding box round the selected element and be done with it. Also .PDF import would be amazing, when I got my machine I w as told the new version of Vistool (which I assume never saw the light of day) was going to have .PDF imports. I use EngraveLab on the Rotation S and its a different level in terms of optermisation compared to vis...so much faster...also has an amazing .PDF import system. One area Vistool does trump EngraveLab is on the Curved text tool...that is amazing in VisTool! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted October 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2021 thanks @Bronco78th ive been using 0.3 feed and seems to be going nicely, out of interest do you bother with the .003 diamonds or just the normal 120? i have to say i cant see much difference in the engraving but the .003 cost so much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco78th Posted October 10, 2021 Report Share Posted October 10, 2021 Its taken me around 2 years but I'm finally settled on using the 120 drag. though I keep a .003 for use on some work. There is a difference depending on glass, the 120 is more susceptible to slight flaking especially around thin lines. For example I have some helicopter artworks I've drawn and to represent a spinning rotor I made thin lines and they tend to get abit ragged with a 120 drag unless its been bedded in and is well within its service life. Text generally no issues...unless the tip is on the way out. I also found with the 120, unlike the .003 it takes a couple of jobs to bed in, I found with a brand new tip it would chip abit along the lines but as soon as it dulls off, after a job or two its basically as good as a 4 facet .003...at least the untrained eye won't notice it. Oh and never mix materials with your 120...make sure to keep it only for glass....I've been there too many times I had a long chat on the phone regarding this with Matt Blackman formerly of Mastergrave recently. He confirmed my own finding there is an improvement between a 120 drag and .003 4 facet but its minimal, you also have to account for the difference in quality between tips and manufacturers etc. He also sells an 8 facet glass cutter, which is premium quality but also a premium price. Id quite like to try one for the crack but right now can't justify it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm2000 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2021 yeah thats what ive noticed with a little experimenting, ive got a 120 i use just for glass but for type of work i do here i really dont think theres any point in spending the extra money for the .003, the only artwork i do is basic logos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted October 12, 2021 Report Share Posted October 12, 2021 I hope that you don't mind if I jump in here and ask a question I got a IS400 gravograph recently and does anyone know if it is able to engrave/drag on glass? Is there a rotary attachment for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted October 12, 2021 Report Share Posted October 12, 2021 Only if it is upgraded to Volume spec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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