Frustrated!!!!

[chuck shaw]

I've got 50 clocks to engrave for our customers as Christmas gifts. They were purchased from laserbits and I thought they were wood but there like a pressed sawdust with a very thin veneer and when I tried to engrave them it just cut about 1/8" deep and didn't leave the charring (black) I wanted.

I've tried masking them and doing an outline then removing the tape to reveal the names then putting on the foil tape to cut but it will not stick and just comes off. Any suggestions?

I have a morntech 50 watt laser.

[Bruce Volden]

Chuck,

If you're getting 1/8" of depth try lowering the power or upping the speed! Also I don't know the type of machine you have but I would think you could play with the dpi or scan settings? OK--50 W Morntech. Use less power.

Bruce

[Tim Bateson]

Contact Laserbits. They are very good at helping with their products.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Put a plate on it.

[Mike Null]

Chuck

I would use a color fill similar to the attached photo. It's fairly easy to do and won't show the particle board under the veneer.



Scroll.jpg

[Gary Hair]

I've tried masking them and doing an outline then removing the tape to reveal the names then putting on the foil tape to cut but it will not stick and just comes off. Any suggestions?

Spray paint would work really well since you have them masked. Mask, laser for a bit of depth and the spray with Krylon.

[Mike Troncalli]

I have found with this type of material if it is a rosewood covered veneer, I only use about 20% power and 100% speed. Just enough to burn off the top layer to expose the lighter wood below. I don't know if the clocks you are doing are light or dark, but if dark then try this method. A lot of people get caught up in the thought that everything lasered needs to be dark...

[Dave Sheldrake]

Morntech 50 watt

Try 12% power 600mm per second speed

cheers

dave

[Bryan Jater]

Have you tried running the job 8-10mm out of focus? You will get more burning as the laser spot is bigger and therefore more contrast,

[David Rust]

Hey Mike,
Looks nice. What color fill did you use? paint?, rub-n-buff?

Dave

[Mike Null]

David

That is a gold paint I found at Hobby Lobby called Precious Metals Gold Leaf. It is the nearest color to gold leaf that I've found and really pops. It's about $5 for a 1.75 oz. jar.

[chuck shaw]

Hey everybody, I'm so sorry I haven't responded to your posts, I did lower my power and increased my speed and that seemed to help a lot I also used the tape mask from laser bits which gave me a dark enough engraving that was acceptable. Hey mike, I tried the pro fill that laser bits offer and the larger company names looked really good but the smaller personal names below that didn't look as good, maybe I need to practice with this stuff (seems to dry very quick) and DUH!!! I never once thought of trying spray paint!!! Thanks to all of you for your imput and have a great Christmas.