Melting Garnet in the laser?

[Shawn Conklin]

So its sunday and why work when you can play!

I had some garnet stones laying around the yard and threw them into the laser. Much to my suprise they almost seem to melt. I am at a loss for why. Only guess might be other materiels. We got these garnets from an old mine, they arn't decorative quality they are garnets used for sandblasting and such so the purity is low. I am guessing some other materiel in the stone is creating the melting?

Its nothing more then another day in 'what can I put in the laser today saga' but I found the results interesting. Should I get my hands on some higher quality garnets at some point I may try and see what the difference is.



Here are some pics to see. Raster and some vector lines.

[Dee Gallo]

Wow, I find that fascinating, Shawn! How big are the pieces you have there? Where did you get them from? How can I get some to play with?

What were your settings and laser wattage? Too many questions? Don't post things like this next time - hahahaha!

Thanks for showing us this new discovery - LOVE it!

cheers, dee

[Art Crowe]

Shawn,

I picked up some polished pieces from a North Creek, NY garnet mine and thought it would be easy to run in the laser. Ended up with the same situation. I tried a combination of power and speed settings but never got anything that looked good. I ended up running out of samples and hadn't been back up to the Adirondacks in awhile to pick more up...

[Joe Pelonio]

It is very interesting, in an ugly sort of way. It would be fun to see attempts at engraving other minerals/rocks. How about Jade, Turquoise, maybe rubies?

Unfortunately I have some work to do today, but I did get some time to visit with out-of-town friends yesterday.

[Shawn Conklin]

Woops, I guess some perspective could help with macro photos. They are actually of the same rock but different sides. its apprx 3/4 - 1 inch depending on the edge you measure.

The raster ends up making it so deep in color it looks like coal with a red hue. The vector lines as you can see give an almost molten edge look. I find it strange that the material must actually be melting, expanding, solidifying in order to get the look.

These came from a mine in central CT. can't recall the town name now.

[Dee Gallo]

Shawn,

I picked up some polished pieces from a North Creek, NY garnet mine and thought it would be easy to run in the laser. Ended up with the same situation. I tried a combination of power and speed settings but never got anything that looked good. I ended up running out of samples and hadn't been back up to the Adirondacks in awhile to pick more up...

Art, North Creek is not too far from where I am... I'll have to go over and see what I can find there, thanks!

I like the rustic almost pre-historic look of this, I'm eager to try it.

Thanks Shawn and Art, dee

[Dee Gallo]

It is very interesting, in an ugly sort of way. It would be fun to see attempts at engraving other minerals/rocks. How about Jade, Turquoise, maybe rubies?

Unfortunately I have some work to do today, but I did get some time to visit with out-of-town friends yesterday.

Joe, I've done a bit of jadite (green with streaks) and get the same as marble, a white pure mark. I make ID tags out of that, for MJ collectors' cases.

dee

[Greg Bednar]

The Ten Commandments would look great engraved on there; a la the Charlton Heston type tablets.

[Deane Shepard]

Joe - I have done a number of slices of Brazilian agate. They have all given a nice white mark like marble. I did the first ones as souvenirs from a Black Hills trip and was kind of let down to find out that my "straight from the Black Hills" agate slices were Brazilian imports.

Deane Shepard
Universal M-360