To Chuck or to Roll, that is the question!

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One of the most common questions we hear from makers that are starting with tumblers is

What is the difference between a chuck and a roller-style rotary and which should I get?

Should you get a chuck rotary or a roller rotary attachment?

It’s a great question because the differences between the two styles of rotaries are not huge but fairly subtle. Think about what projects you’re planning to run, read through the pros and cons below and decide on the best rotary for you. Remember, many makers have both a chuck and a roller in their arsenal to make sure they can handle a wide range of objects.

Before we dive in, let’s review what they both have in common and what you need a rotary for in the first place.

What is a Laser Rotary Attachment?

When we say “Rotary” we mean a special attachment to your CO2 laser machine that you place inside the laser. It helps you engrave on cylindrical objects like drinkware (think tumblers and mugs) and other stuff (baseball bats and even nunchucks!). Instead of the two-axis movement you need when cutting or engraving a flat object, the rotary spins the object so that the laser can engrave it line by line. Since the laser fires the beam straight down, you need to rotate your object.

Both the chuck and roller rotaries will hold your object and rotate it as the laser fires.

Both are placed inside the laser and plugged into a port in your laser, either a dedicated rotary port or the one that is used to control the Y-axis.

Now, let’s explore what sets them apart.

The Chuck Laser Rotary Attachment

The Chuck laser rotary (or Jaw Chuck) has a metal clamping system, the same as you see on any drill – holding the drill bit secure. But in this case, it holds the cup or mug secure while rotating it around its axis. You can position the jaws on the inside or outside of the object. Usually, you should try to grip the item from the inside as this leaves more room to engrave on the outside of the object.

Benefits of the Chuck:

• Can handle heavier objects, especially if there is a back support system.
• You can engrave using the crosshatch technique and the scoring method, this is where the rotary turns back and forth instead of just one direction.
• Better on smaller objects such as pens.
• Holds the object very securely, for high precision. Walking and slipping is not an issue, even with heavy handles.
• Can clamp on the inside or outside of the object.
• It can do some objects that rollers can’t, like non-cylindrical objects.
• You can usually frame and idle at higher speeds since the object will not slip.

Drawbacks of the Chuck

• Needs an Allen wrench (aka Chuck Key) to operate the jaw.
• It is usually very bulky and may not leave much clearance when engraving objects in smaller laser machines.
• Usually needs a lot of adjustments when the object is not perfectly even – since the angle of the jaw is not adjustable people need to either prop up one end or another to level out the object for the laser.
• The powerful Jaws can crush glass, so it’s not ideal for thinner champagne flutes or wine glasses. Be careful not to over-tighten!
• These rotaries can get very expensive because the chuck jaw itself is expensive.
• You need to change your diameter in the settings each time you engrave a cup with a different diameter.
• It takes a bit of time to swap out objects as you need a Chuck key to first open and then secure the chuck jaw. Consider this when you have  a lot of tumblers to run.

UPDATE:

We have designed and built a chuck that eliminates virtually all of these drawbacks! Check out the PiBurn Grip!

Above: PiBurn Omni with the Grip mounted on the PiBurn wheels.

 

The Roller Laser Rotary Attachement

Roller-type rotaries (as opposed to a chuck) work on the principle of friction between the motorized wheel and the object you are engraving. The beauty of the roller is its versatility and ease of use. The problem, often is that you don’t have enough friction to perfectly rotate an object with unbalanced weight distribution, like a mug with a heavy handle. A clamp increases the friction between the mug and wheel, thus reducing slippage. When we built the PiBurn, we took this into account and designed a metal clamp –  stronger than any alternative, and with the ability to adjust your tension, up to extremely high friction levels for the really challenging objects to rotate perfectly. Think beer steins with heavy handles.

It is worthwhile to mention here that there are two styles of the Roller rotary, just to make things a bit more confusing! We will talk about the wheel version of the roller, not the “hot-dog” roller. The wheel version is much more versatile. Also, keep in mind that the highest quality rollers have a clamp, without a clamp it is hard to engrave objects with handles.

Simple eBay roller rotary:

Top of the line Roller, The PiBurn 4.0:

Benefits of the Roller

• You can engrave on cups, mugs, wine glasses, and tumblers with handles (if your rotary has a clamp)
• No worrying about damaging the drinkware.
• The Roller is easier to master and use for beginners. It has less moving pieces and is very easy to use. 
• You can adjust the height (on the nicer rollers) so that the object is level with the laser even it tapers. No need to prop anything up.
• You do not need to change the object diameter after you dial in your rotary the first time.
• The roller is usually smaller and lower profile than the chuck, this means you can engrave larger items even with smaller lasers.
• With a quality rotary, like the PiBurn, it is a snap to swap out objects so you can get through tumblers quicker.

Drawbacks of the Roller

• Since you are relying on friction, you have to go SLOW when framing, slow your acceleration, and max speeds down a lot to make sure the object does not shift or even fly off the wheels. Yep, we’ve seen it happen.
• Even with a high-quality roller, really heavy objects can be tricky, and doing complex designs, especially full wraps can be challenging because you can’t afford to have the object slip at all. Thankfully though, the PiBurn comes with the only clamp that lets you adjust tension. No other roller can do that, so get ready to add weight inside your cups with handles if you are using a lower-end rotary.
• Harder to accomplish Full Wraps. Tiny slips on a roller rotary may cause your designs to have a seam.
• Because the roller rotary must only turn in on direction, you can’t do the cross-hatch technique.
• Walking is an issue for many rollers. This is when the object shifts horizontally and your design appears skewed. Again, after a lot of thought and customer feedback, we solved this problem on the PiBurn with an adjustable front-end stopper and the only back-end stopper that has a wheel to allow for better rotation of the object.

But what if you wanted both?

Very few rotaries offer both chuck and roller systems. The rare exception is the PiBurn Omni that you can get here: Lensdigital.com

We hope you found this article helpful! Share it with someone who is thinking of getting into engraving tumblers or mugs.

Let us know what you think of the Roller vs Chuck debate in the comments section.

 

Want to learn how you can make money using your rotary? Read on!

 

Ready to buy a rotary? Grab one now!

Need help choosing the right one? Read This

Not ready to jump in quite yet? Join our community and ask anyone why they love the PiBurn and what it did for their business.

Best,

Len and Stan @ LensDigital