Some print problems with my EggBot

Bob2299

I have owned my EggBot with engraving and Kiska accesories for several years.  I have used it annually for holidays thus every season is somewhat of a relearning curve.  I also use Inkscape with the same relearning curve.

I am currently doing several Christmas themed goose eggs and had run into some printing problems which Windell has helped me with, but...

My newest concern is the final printing.  I scanned my art and imported it into Inkscape and turned it into vectors, colored certain elements (layers) and began printing only to find the lines of my "art" printed as an outline rather than a solid single pen stroke.  

• Is there a way to convert my "outline" lines to a single penstroke line?

• If not I can possibly do it with the Inkscape "Hatch Fill" extension although this adds considerable time to the print.

My other concern is the actual egg print.  I have always placed the wide end/bottom of the egg at the headstock/motor end and the "pointed" top end at the tail end of the EggBot.  This is my recolection and seems the way others do it too.  The problem is that the entire print, prints upside down.  Is there something I am doing that is wrong or should I reverse how I mount he egg or it there something in Inkscape that is causing this?

Suggestions would be appreciated.

Bob

Bob2299

I tried using hatchfill and it did the job, but did not print well.  The outline printed, then the hatchfill printed but out of register (about 1/8" lower down the image) and added to print time.

I do not see any slippage of the egg or misssing or added stepper motor steps.

Any suggestions as to why and how to correct this?

In searching the site I found a suggestion to set outliine and hatch as 2 separeate layers and just print the hatchfill.   Is this a good solution, it does seem to add a lot of complexity.

Windell Oskay

You are asking about several different things here; I'll try to catch them all.

1. "Is there a way to convert my "outline" lines to a single penstroke line?"

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. Outlines on art work normally should print as single penstroke lines. If you are seeing multiple lines on the outline, you probably have more than one line outside of each object already, and you will need to remove them.

If you are asking how to fill objects with pen strokes, you can use the Hatch Fill extension, or some of the other methods discussed on our wiki: http://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/Creating_filled_regions

Yes, the Hatch Fill (or any other methods of adding lines to fill a region) does add considerable time to the plot.  The fastest printing of these (where it can be used) is the Hatch Path Effect method: http://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/Creating_filled_regions#Hatch_Method

2. "The problem is that the entire print, prints upside down."

Under the "Options" tab of EggBot Control there are options to reverse the direction of the two motors. Check both of those to flip the image upside down.  (We normally keep those two checked and put the base of the egg or ornament towards the headstock.)

3.  "The outline printed, then the hatchfill printed but out of register"

This sounds exactly like slippage of the egg.  Or, possibly, something else loose on the machine. Try printing your outlines over themselves several times: Do the outlines line up over themselves? Well? A little bit off? What you're probably seeing is a very small amount of slippage that is being amplified by a very much longer plot when you're filling those outlines. 

Skipping of steps is an extremely unlikely event (unless you have loose wires or things are going very wrong in _everything_ that you're doing), and using additional layers won't make a difference.  But it does sound like something is loose

See also our quality troubleshooting guide for additional suggestions and things to check: http://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/Eggbot_Quality_Troubleshooting

Bob2299

Hi Windell,

Thanks for your help.  There is a lot to digest, will do so over next day ot two and let you know how I make out.

Bob

Bob2299

Hi,

Well, this was not easy.  I got the printing right side up on the egg being guided by your tip, but since my first two settings in options were already checked I reasoned that I should uncheck them, success on that item.

Re my outlines problem, to explain a little better.  When I scanned the art the lines were fairly thick so when I went to print them they printed as outlines.  I found a way in Inkscape to make it show the lines as outlines and was then able to fill them using hatchfill.

The printing out of register was out of position in the length direction ie. the fill was shifted towards the tailstock.  I did not think this was from egg slippage and was able to resolve by changing the hatch fill to 180 deg instead  of the 90 deg.  Problem solved.  Then as I was doing a print the pen began doing weird things and it was slippage of the pen arm and motor.  The set screw holding the arm is in a metal washer which is glued in place to prevent movement.  The glue/wood/metal bond failed, (looks like minimal adhesive).  I scraped it clean and epoxied it.  This I think was what caused the out of register printing, as the pen arm moved rapidly back and forth from head to tail stocks it caused slight movement ot the loose fit of the shaft and pen arm of about 1/32". 

Your direction to the trouble shooting wicki certainly helps as well.  It is surprising how comlex this "simple" little device is and both how accurate and reproducible it is when dialed in properly.

Finally I was able to do what I wanted.  I am having a friend who has a wood lathe turn a finail and woden top for a screw-eye.  When complete I will send you a photo.

Again, thanks.

Bob