Thanks to comments from my viewers, I've had to make another video talking about a third type of Fill. Hope this helps you as much as it did me. Please subscribe and like if you find this helpful. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for covering this. I have had a problem with Offset fill in leaving a line in the midle of what I am filling and burning through at the top of an arc. I think this may be what your people were talking about. I saw flod fill but didn't know how it worked. Will give it a shot.
Something I've started doing since this video is, when using offset fill I use a lower line interval. Instead of .08 I use .10 on my offset fills. And I use a little less power, not much, but a little less. I found this helps with the problem you're talking about. Thanks for watching.
Glad it was helpful! Good thing is it's really easy to grasp. It is a LOT of information. And it's due to the fact that the software is capable of so many things. Feel free to reach out if you have any simple questions I can help with messaging. I am considering offering one-on-one support. Let me know if you'd be interested.
It should be noted: The flood fill is only twice as long as the offset fill because it's actually honoring your cross-hatch. It's going over the fill twice. If you want that cross-hatch, you almost have to go with the flood. I often won't use it because my machine isn't precise enough to come back and necessarily start at exactly the right point to continue the fill and I'll be left with extra material in some spots near corners on my mirrors and glass that I engrave. Offset fill doesn't seem to do this, but I have to set the overlap a little closer than default to assure a clean and total fill.
flood fill may be a good option for small particles to fill when you got more of them on one piece, but for this item you got here, the offset fill is of course the best. 11:08 as you said time is money. and you want to compare a two time direction change in the middle bone to an all the time direction change when side by side engraving? the offset fill is way better for the machine. sharp corners do nothing, the machine is set to accelerate and also decelerate in a matter that it doesnt take any damage from that. if so, the settings are wrong. also the chance of getting any flaw or computer shut down or what ever are 3 times higher when time is 3 times longer. so i allways go for the shortest time if quality is good. and offset looks much better to me, then normal engraving.
If the only downside of using offset fill is potential damage to your machine then just reduce its speed and power, still be able to beat flood fill's time and you'll be using less power too,
offset fill is the lowest quality fill setting, ok on small pieces but the bigger the piece the more misses show up, it isnt the laser jumping, if you zoom in on the preview you will see all the misses in the preview
Since I made this video I've learned this trick... Raise the focus slightly increasing the spot size. And increase the LPI . This can still save a lot of time when using offset fill and it resolves the issue with the misses. I've also learned a huge time saver when designing the roman/greek borders. One simple difference on a layer changed the engraving time from 1 1/2 hours to 30 minutes. And it wasn't with offset fill. Check out that video and that tip is at the end of the video. Create A Greek Border Using Lightburn. Learning something new every time I use Lightburn.
Your engraving is done on a "fill" layer. Open that layer and add a sub-layer to it. Run it in "line" mode. I do it at a lower speed and power. This adds a defined line to the edges and creates definition to the engraving. It makes a HUGE difference on the appearance of text.
Thank you! @@HoboWithWood I added this to my program file, I'll let you know how it turns out. Making little name tags. Needs to be small and accurate.
This is true. I use offset fill mainly on borders or frames. I use 254 LPI and one the project it finished I use a small brass bristle brush to clean any patterns left in the burn from using the offset fill. This helps a lot and saves a ton of time.
LOL. I was a "baby-face" when I started this adventure. I didn't shave or get a haircut during the first year of my lasering. Needed to embrace the "Hobo" persona.
That "risk of laser jumping...etc" with offset fill is BS. Offset fill works great. Honestly has anybody had their laser jump unexpectedly and damage the substrate? I have been using offset fill a while and it's an amazing time saver. No risk of anything happening unexpectedly to note whatsoever.
I've experienced both outcomes. Both excellent results and uneven burns. No doubt it is a huge time saver. But if the belts aren't tensioned properly, any slop will be evident when using offset fill. I've even experienced lack luster results after an extremely long burn. I recommend making sure you've got proper belt tension, and when using offset fill, it is high on the priority order. As the belts can experience some stretching after warming up during a long job.
This video is nearly 6 months old. Nick had a different feel to his channel back then. He is great entertainment. But his channel does have a different style these days. I learn a lot watching Paw Paw and LHG. I've been fortunate enough to actually team up with LHG for the new channel Laser Makers Realm. The only instruction on the new channel is strictly how to create the free project downloads on each video. We officially launch next week. But there are already videos and files on the channel. I would've loved to have had this resource available when I was starting out.
