So I did a test of my Potentiometer percentage gauge thing & well, let’s say it didn’t work so well.
First things first, the size was too large (only fractionally). I had it at 26mm on the inner circle, which was perfect. The outer edge of all the points was at 59.something mm. It was too large to fit around the potentiometer because it would push up against the mA meter & the Test Fire button.
So, basically I need to shrink the outer size by at least 1-2mm so it fits.
Next problem is that the original font I used was very illegible after cutting/engraving. The numbers 0-10-20-30-----100 were too small. So I revised my original idea & changed the numbers to 0-1-2-3-----10 in a more legible font.
This sorted that problem, however then there was the problem with it not cutting all the way through the leather. I was using about 6mA power, 10mm/s cutting speed. Went about 3/4 through the 3mm leather (which turned out to be closer to 5mm on the scrap I was using). Then I tried a thinner leather (about 2mm). Still didn’t go all the way through (which was totally unexpected).
Also, I used painter’s masking tape over the top of the entire working area of leather to minimise soot marks on the top of the leather. Someone suggested that to me here (can’t remember who, but +1 to them for that, since it works perfectly).
Here’s some pics of the results anyway. I will repost etc once I get it all worked out.
