xTool F2 Tumbler Engraving with the RA3 Rotary: Full Wrap Guide

This is the full process I use to engrave a full wrap design all the way around a tumbler with the xTool F2 and the RA3 rotary. It covers building the rotary, measuring and leveling the tumbler, setting the F2 up over it, and the two pass settings that gave me a really nice shiny finish on a black powder coated tumbler.

A rotary takes a cylindrical object and turns it while the laser engraves side to side, so you get a full wrap with good quality all the way around. The same process works for metal cups, standard pop off lid tumblers, the bigger screw top ones and the Stanley style with handles.

Jump to: What you need · Assembling the RA3 · Measuring · Mounting and leveling · Setting up the F2 · xTool Studio · Settings · Design and layers · Engraving

What you need

The RA3 comes with a lot more attachments than this, but these are the only parts you need for a tumbler:

• the base plate;
• the main chuck housing and the chuck itself;
• the T bars and studs (that's what I use, there are other options);
• the spirit level;
• the cable that plugs into the F2.

You'll also need a tumbler and something to clean it with. I use isopropyl alcohol (IPA). I picked a tapered tumbler on purpose, because it lets me show you how to level one, and it's a very common blank you can buy and sell.

1. Assembling the RA3

One thing I really like about the RA3 compared to the RA2 is that everything is modular. You're not taking screws in and out all the time.

1. Housing onto the base plate. The underside of the chuck housing has four holes and a retaining screw. Line the holes up with the four studs on the base plate and push it straight on so it sits flush. Then turn the thumb screw until you meet resistance. That locks it in place.
2. The chuck. The chuck has a bayonet connection: two little studs on the chuck and two openings on the housing. Line them up and push it in. It locks into place magnetically.
3. Studs and T bars. Press the studs lightly into the ends of the T bars and they'll snap on, as they're magnetic. Then line each T bar up with the jaws of the chuck. There's a rail down the middle that locks it on, so once it engages it can't go anywhere.

That's it, assembled. The gold knurled ring on the chuck opens and closes the gap between the jaws, which is how you grip the tumbler.

2. Measuring your tumbler

xTool Studio needs to know the size of your tumbler. You can give it either:

• Perimeter: the distance all the way around.
• Diameter: the distance straight across the middle.

Measure the part you're actually going to engrave. xTool provides a tape measure, so I wrapped that around mine and got about 27.3 cm (273 mm) perimeter. There are more accurate ways to do it, but this works right out of the box and it was good enough.

Before you go any further, give the surface a clean with IPA. It gets rid of fingerprints and grease, and you'll get a cleaner engraving.

3. Mounting and leveling the tumbler

1. Adjust the jaws so they're roughly the right size and slot easily into the open end of the tumbler.
2. Push the tumbler right up against the flat edge of the T bars. This is why I like them: they make the tumbler sit square to the chuck.
3. Keep light pressure on the end and twist the gold ring towards you. The jaws push outwards and grip the inside of the tumbler. Mine was tight enough to lift the whole rotary by it.
4. Check it's touching evenly all the way around, so it sits square to that edge.

Now level it. This tumbler is tapered, so if you focused on one end the other end would be out of focus, and that hurts the quality. You want the part you're engraving to be level.

5. Sit the spirit level on top of the tumbler. It has rubber caps on the ends, so it sits nicely.
6. If the bubble is off to one side, loosen the knob on the side of the RA3 (turn it to the left until there's no resistance).
7. Lift or lower the tumbler until the bubble sits in the middle, then tighten the knob to lock it.

4. Setting up the F2 over the RA3

This part is a bit fiddly. On the F1 I could put the machine on top and focus on the tumbler. On the F2 I found it hard to focus on top of a tumbler that way, so this is what I do now, and it works for most tumbler sizes:

1. Tilt the F2 back and take out the base plate.
2. Carefully slide the RA3 underneath the machine.
3. The F2 will rock a little, so lift the back slightly and slide the base plate under the rear of the machine. That gives it a solid footing.

Focusing on a curved surface

Turn the knob on the side of the F2 clockwise to lift the head. As you do, the red and blue dots on the tumbler move closer together. When they join into one, you're focused on the top of the tumbler. Then decide where you want the center of your design along the tumbler. You can slide it one way or the other if you want the engraving higher or lower.

Keeping it straight

There are lines on the base of the F2. Line them up with the edge of the RA3 base plate. That way the laser travels exactly left to right along the tumbler and your design comes out straight.

Plugging in the cable

You might prefer to do this earlier, before you line everything up. If you do it now, be careful not to nudge anything.

• The small connector goes into the back of the RA3, with the two little locating pins facing up.
• The xTool connector goes into the top port on the side of the F2. It only fits one way.

5. Setting up the project in xTool Studio

1. Click New project in the top right. You'll hear a beep and see a green dot when the F2 is connected.
2. Click the mode in the top right (normally Process on baseplate). This might be the first time you've changed it. Pick the Chuck option (use rotary attachment).
3. The workspace changes. The green line is the center of where the camera looks, and the long shape is your tumbler as if you rolled it out flat.
4. On the right, open the dropdown and pick Perimeter or Diameter, whichever you measured. I picked perimeter and entered 273 mm.
5. Click the camera to update the picture. You've already focused by hand, so you don't need to do anything else there. You should see the middle of your tumbler.

6. Finding the right settings

Before the real job I ran a few material test grids on the same tumbler (I've got a material test tutorial if you haven't done one before). The first was with the IR laser and I wasn't happy. Turning the power up and the speed down helped, but it still wasn't as shiny as I wanted. A blue diode test gave shinier results, and I liked those.

Then I did a text test three ways: IR only, diode only, and diode followed by a fast IR pass. The diode then IR combination gave a really nice shiny finish, so that's what I went with.

These are for a black powder coated tumbler on the xTool F2 with the RA3. They're in my free Laser Settings Library too, along with the rest of my xTool F2 settings. Tumblers vary, so run a quick test on yours first.

At the time I recorded this, I believe the RA3's top speed was limited to 400 mm/s when used with the F2, which is why both passes run at 400. That may change with future updates.

7. Setting up the design and the two layers

1. Size it to the tumbler. My floral design needed to be 273 mm long to match the perimeter, so the two ends meet and make a full wrap.
2. Set the height. At full size it was too big, as the laser can only travel so far. I turned off the aspect ratio lock and set it to 110 mm, which sits safely within the F2's travel.
3. Line it up. Center it on the tumbler, and line the start of the design up with the green line.
4. First layer. I made the design red so it stands out. Select it, pick your material, and set the blue diode settings from the table.
5. Second layer. Copy and paste the design, right click and give it a new layer color (I used green), then set the infrared clean up settings.
6. Stack them exactly. Select both, open the align dropdown and choose Align center, so they sit exactly on top of each other. This is critical. Then check the design still starts on the green line.
7. Layer order. Open the layers panel in the bottom left. Drag the red (diode) layer above the green (IR) layer, so the diode runs first.

Update the camera picture once you've finished, so you can see the design sits safely within the tumbler.

8. Framing and engraving

1. Click Frame and watch where it moves. Check the engraving sits where you want it and starts and ends in the right place.
2. Next to the Process button, click the down arrow and set Processing path to By layer. If you're only doing one pass you can leave it on auto planning, but with two you want the diode done first, then the IR.
3. Click Process. Mine said 1 hour 44 minutes, because it's a full wrap at about the full width the F2 can handle, with two passes. A simpler design would be a lot quicker.
4. Click Start.

Safety: with the rotary under it, the F2 is running in an open state. Close the shield as far as it will go without it hitting anything, wear your safety glasses, and make sure you have good extraction, because this makes a lot of fine particles.

Cleaning up and the result

When it's done, give it a quick spray of isopropyl alcohol and a gentle wipe to take off anything left on the surface.

You can just about see the seam line as it rotates, but it's barely noticeable, and I was really impressed. In the end it took about 2 hours. That's a long time, but it's a fairly small machine with a lot of area to cover, and I think it was worth it.

Have you tried a full wrap?

If you give this a go, or you get stuck on a step, let me know in the comments on the video. For more tested settings on other tumblers and materials, have a look through the free Laser Settings Library.