The xTool P3 is capable of engraving on curved surfaces. In this tutorial, a basketball will be used as the curved surface to demonstrate the setup process.
Curved Surface Setup Process
First with auto process enabled, place the working material on or between the slats to secure it. For the basketball, some of the slats were moved to the sides and then the ball is secured between a set.
After the P3 sets the initial height using auto process, first set the material. In this case one of the leather materials was selected (specifically Deep Brown Top Grain).
Then click on the mode to change from lift platform processing to curved material.
To measure the curve of the objects surface, click on curve-measure. This will open a new window to set the two vertex points to start the measurement.
In this window use the arrows to move the laser module so that the red dot is over the working surface. The slider should be used to fine tune the positions before they are marked.
First mark vertex 1, then move the laser module to the second point for vertex 2. These points will be used to build a grid for height measurements.
Clicking next once the vertex points have been set, will provide a preview of the grid that will be measured. Changing the number of rows and columns will affect the number of measurements. The default calculation for the area between the two vertex points is pretty good.
The laser module will then measure the points along the grid.
Once the measurements have been taken, a new window will show the curve that was measured.
Clicking next will save the current data and show the working area for the laser bed. This window will be where scoring or engraving will be done.
Laser Power & Speed Settings
Some of the materials that are known to work with the laser do not have profiles for the preset settings. To know the outcome of the power and speed a grid test should be run on the material first.
For a basketball, the below settings have worked well for doing an engraving.
- Power 10%
- Speed 80mm/s
- Pass Count 1
- Line per cm 100
- Airflow 25%
Once the design, text or which ever has been entered into the work space has been completed, click process to start the laser.
Reminder: For engraving the nozzle should be removed from the laser module. This will interfere with engraving the curved surface.
Once the laser process starts, the focal length is seen changing the distance based on the previous information from the measurements.