Ultimate Neje Laser Rotary Pen Jig

thingiverse

This is a Rack & Pinion driven Rotary Pen Jig for the small Neje Laser Engraver (and its derivatives). I would like to give credit to @Bob Pace for the very first elastic band driven rotary jig : https://youtu.be/-AJpfxNPLgI, Also to Mike Shortness @Shorty's Creative Corner for his version of the 360 overhung gear driven jig: https://youtu.be/SGLZqveXE88. I designed this with two objectives in mind - I wanted something more 'consistent' along with being 'easier to repetitively use and set up' than the friction driven method seen in belt drives. I do feel I have achieved both objectives in this design, although it does have one small caveat. It causes the item being engraved to reverse direction which in-turn mirrors the engraving along the horizontal plane. But all is not lost. Because I have two fairly simple options to work around this, one is a more permanent solution than the other: 1) Before you engrave your chosen design simply mirror it along the horizontal plane (flip NOT rotate the image) just as you would if you were creating an ink stamp with the engraver. There are lots of freely available software to enable you to do this. The result will then be engraved the correct way around. 2) The more permanent solution... Watch My How-To Video: https://youtu.be/iohoXWmCQPE. As I use my engraver 99% of the time to engrave pens and small turned items, I use option 2, and then I just flip the images if I wish to engrave anything flat. The choice is yours. The gearing is optimal for ~14mm diameter material, meaning you will get a 1:1 scaled replication of the design engraved. Should you wish to engrave on a narrower (<14mm) diameter, then you will need to slightly stretch your design; if engraving on a wider (>14mm) diameter, you will need to shrink your design (all vertically only - The width will never be affected no matter what diameter material you use), doing this will result in the correctly scaled image being engraved. Again, there is plenty of software freely available to enable you to do this. Once set up, it's fit & forget, along with being very simple to use; it's just a matter of placing the drive shaft on to the brackets to engrave, then lift straight off and rinse-repeat. Plus, being gear driven, it's totally consistent. If anyone wishes to support my designs, I am selling both the Complete Ready-To-Use Kit and the 3D Printed Parts only: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/790933408/ultimate-neje-laser-rotary-pen-jig