Setting Up Your Page
We’ll start by creating a new file. On the Welcome screen select the New Document button. You can also press Ctrl + N to create a new document.
Now enter your page dimensions. Enter 4” for the page width and 4” for the page height, then click OK.
Creating a Keychain Jig
To create our jig we need to create a hole the same size as the keychain so we can accurately secure the keychain in place. Start by measuring the width of the keychain you received in your Training Suite packet. Use a set of calipers or a ruler to measure the keychain. The keychain should measure 1.6”. We’ll use this later to set the diameter for the jig circle.
Now we’re going to draw a circle in CorelDRAW. Select the Ellipse tool in the toolbox on the left. While holding down the Ctrl key, click and drag across the page to create a circle. The size is not important as we are going to manually key in the diameter.
Once you’ve drawn the circle, click on the Lock Ratio button in the Properties bar at the top of the screen. Turning on the Lock Ratio option will ensure the width and height of the circle remain equal when we change only one of the values.
Now enter the Width of the keychain you measured earlier into the Object Size box at the top of the screen. We’ll enter 1.6”, then press the Enter key.
Make sure the circle is still selected, then press the letter P on your keyboard to center it to the page.
Next we need a spot in the jig for the eyelet and ring to rest. This notch will ensure the keychain remains in the same orientation when we flip it over later. Select the rectangle tool in the toolbox. We’ll need the rectangle to start about 0.25” above the circle and be about 0.25” wide.
Click and drag from above the circle down into the circle to create the cutout for the eyelet and ring.
If you need to adjust the size of your rectangle by manually entering a width into the object size box at the top of the screen.
Confirm that the rectangle is aligned to the center of the page horizontally by selecting ‘Object’ > ‘Align and Distribute’ > ‘Center to Page Horizontally’.
Printing to the Laser (Jig Cutting)
Now that we’ve completed the outline for our jig, we want to print this file to the laser.
Click and drag around the circle and rectangle to select your jig design. Select File, then Print from the dropdown menu.
Be sure that your print range is set to Selection, and set Epilog Engraver as your printer, and make sure “Match orientation and size” is selected as the Page setting. Then click the Print button.
The Epilog Dashboard will open with our file. In the left-hand sidebar, select the video box to turn off the IRIS camera feed. Since we’ll be positioning everything using our jig, we won’t need IRIS assistance.
Over in the ‘Vector’ process in the right-hand sidebar, let’s set our vector cutting parameters. We’re using a 120w laser, so we’ll set our speed to 50%, our power to 50%, and our frequency to 10%. To determine the right settings for your wattage of laser, test settings with some extra scrap cardboard. It doesn’t take much to cut through cardboard, so be sure to start with high speed and low power, then gradually decrease your speed or increase your power until you achieve a clean cut through the material.
Once your settings are good to go, click “Print” to send the job to the laser.
Cutting the Jig at the Laser
At the laser, place your cardboard in the top left corner of the machine. Keeping your jig in this corner will guarantee the hole we are about to cut is always in the same position and orientation.
At the control panel, select the Jog icon, then use the Joystick to move the laser head out slightly over the cardboard. From the open Jog menu, select “Auto Focus.” The machine will automatically adjust the height of the table by using the plunger to detect the material, then moving the table to the correct focal distance.
Select the Reset icon to reset the laser head.
Select the Job menu icon to see the list of available jobs, then select the job you sent to the machine. Press the Go button to start the cutting job.
Importing Graphics
With the jig for the keychain cut, it’s now time to set up our graphic for the keychain itself. Keep your jig design open in CorelDRAW. We’ll use it as a template to help us properly size our graphic.
Let’s import a graphic, center it to the jig circle, then resize it for engraving on the wooden keychain. We’ll use a sea turtle graphic (sea-turtle.eps ) for this example, but you can use any graphic you prefer.
To import the file, select “File”, then “Import”.
Navigate to the file you’d like to Import, then select the file and click the Import button.
When the Import EPS options pop up, you can leave the defaults as they are. Press the OK button to continue.
Now, click anywhere on the page to place the graphic in the work area.
Aligning and Resizing the Graphic
We need to align our turtle to the center of the circle and resize it to fit within the bounds.
Make sure the object is still selected, then click Object at the top of the screen, then Align and Distribute, then Center to Page. You can also press the letter ‘P’ on your keyboard to center the image to your page.
Now we’ll resize the turtle to fit within the bounds of our jig circle and to account for the bevel on the edge of the wooden keychain. To resize the graphic, we’ll click and drag on the top right resizing handle. With the bevel on the wooden keychain, we have about 1” of space to engrave within.
By clicking on the top-right sizing handle, then holding the Shift key and dragging toward the center of the image, we can keep the proportions of the image the same as we make it smaller.
Click and drag the sizing handle, while holding the Shift key, until the turtle is small enough to fit inside of the circle.
You’ll notice we have a little extra space to the bottom right of the turtle, so we’re going to click and drag the turtle down to the right a bit to visually center the turtle to the circle.
Printing to the Laser (Front Engraving)
With the graphic ready to go and still selected, we’re ready to print to the laser.
Select File, then Print from the dropdown menu.
Set Epilog Engraver as your printer, and make sure “Match orientation and size” is selected as the Page setting. Also make sure your Print Range is set to “Selection”. Then click the Print button.
The Epilog Dashboard will open with our file.
In the left-hand sidebar, select the video box to turn off the IRIS camera feed. We are using a jig and we have our dimensions set properly in CorelDRAW.
Over in the ‘Engrave’ process in the right-hand sidebar, let’s set our engraving parameters. We’re using a 120w laser, so we’ll set our DPI to 500, our speed to 85%, and our power to 100%. Let’s also set our Dithering type to Stucki and our Engraving Direction to Bottom-Up.
Refer to your system manual for the recommended settings for your laser’s wattage.
Now that our settings are good to go, we can click “Print” to send the job to the laser.
At the Laser (Front Engraving)
At the laser, place the keychain into the jig. Make sure the jig remains in the top left corner of the work area.
At the control panel, select the Focus Menu icon, then use the joystick to lower the table slightly, ensuring you have vertical clearance to move the laser head out over the keychain.
Then select the Jog icon and use the Joystick to move the auto focus plunger on the laser head assembly above the wood keychain.
From the open Jog menu, select “Auto Focus.”
The machine will automatically adjust the height of the table by using the plunger to detect the material, then moving the table to the correct focal distance.
Select the Reset icon to reset the laser head.
Select the Job menu icon to see the list of available jobs, then select the job you sent to the machine. Press the Go button to start the engraving job.
Engraving the Backside with a Name
There are great time-saving advantages to using jigs when you need to engrave multiple items, or you need to engrave on the back side of an item.
Let’s go ahead and personalize our keychain by engraving the back side with someone’s name.
Start by flipping the keychain over in the jig.
Back in CorelDRAW, we’re going to use the Text tool to add a name to our keychain. Select the text tool from the Toolbox options on the left side of the screen, and click anywhere on the page. Type out the name you would like to add to the keychain and select the typeface you’d like to use.
We’re going to use the name Charlotte in Birch Std (Standard) for our example.
Once you’re finished typing out the name and selecting the typeface, click and drag the turtle outside of the page bounds to get it out of our way.
Then select the name and press the ‘P’ shortcut key on your keyboard to center the name to the page and the jig bounds.
If you need to, resize the name to better fit it to the keychain’s engravable area. Remember to hold down the Shift key while resizing to keep the proportions of the text the same as you resize it.
Printing to the Laser (Back Engraving)
Once the text looks the way you’d like, select the text, then select File, then Print from the dropdown menu.
Set Epilog Engraver as your printer, and make sure “Match orientation and size” is still selected as the Page setting. Also make sure that your print range is still set to “Selection”. Then click the Print button.
The Epilog Dashboard will open with our file.
In the left-hand sidebar, select the video box to turn off the IRIS camera feed.
We’ll use the same engraving settings as last time, so make sure you set DPI to 500, speed to 85%, and power to 100%. Also set the Dithering type to Stucki and the Engraving Direction to Bottom-Up.
Then click “Print” to send the job to the laser.
At the Laser (Back Engraving)
Since we’re just engraving the other side of the keychain, our material thickness hasn’t changed and our laser should still be at the correct focal distance. So all we need to do is select the job that we sent over, then press the Go button to start the engraving job.
Once the job is complete, you’ll have a keychain engraved on both sides!
