Darker Engravings

[Bert Kemp]

Right now I stain baltic birch put on 3 coats of clear poly then engrave . I've tried more power, and more scan gap. But no matter what I try the engraving just burns thru to the light colored BB underneath. I'd like to get a darker almost burnt in effect. I'm wondering if theres something I can coat the wood with after I stain it that will darken it.Thanks for any ideas in advance.

[Scott Shepherd]

Right now I stain baltic birch put on 3 coats of clear poly then engrave . I've tried more power, and more scan gap. But no matter what I try the engraving just burns thru to the light colored BB underneath. I'd like to get a darker almost burnt in effect. I'm wondering if theres something I can coat the wood with after I stain it that will darken it.Thanks for any ideas in advance.

Take it out of focus a little. That'll make the spot larger and it will help with making it darker. Might not get you to where you want to get, but it will help some.

[Jiten Patel]

I second Scott - take it out of focus until you get the balance between darkness and clarity. We do it all the time and works a charm.

[Bert Kemp]

I kept dropping the table bit by bit till I was a 1/4 inch below my gauge and saw no difference in darkness or clarity for that matter. should I keep going lower?
?

[Bill George]

Is this the 3 or 6 mm ply stuff?
I use cedar (not red) for not critical signs and art and it burns dark. Put a light coat of spray lacquer on first.

[Bert Kemp]

3mm and I have 3 coats of clear poly on it

[Kev Williams]

I haven't done a great deal of wood in my laser life, but I've never found de-focusing to help much when I can't get a dark burn. You've dropped the table so the beam went in then out of focus, have you tried raising the table, so the beam never reaches focus? Probably won't help, but it's all I got!

[Bert Kemp]

yea thats about it. I've now tried black powder coat which works but I really don't like the out come, kind makes the engraving look slightly blurred and I've tried all 3 of my different power glasses.
I just spray painted a sheet and tried that and I like this look so maybe I'll go with paint instead of stain.

[Mitchell Tutty]

Hi Bert.

Why don't you stain using a darker stain, then invert any images, and engrave through the stain so that you still get great contrast, but as a negative.
I just did a large run of table centres in pine, where I engraved a table number through the stain into the lighter colour of pine, then clear coated afterwards.

Cheers,
Mitchell

[Gary Hair]

Try running slower with less power - maybe 20% power and 35% speed. Out of focus will help but it tends to leave things a bit fuzzy around the edges.

[Scott Shepherd]

Out of focus might not work on Chinese lasers since they pulse differently. Just a guess. It normally doesn't take much out of focus to make a difference.

[Bert Kemp]

I'll try that tomorrow I have some red oak stain thats pretty dark if I don't wipe it.

Hi Bert.

Why don't you stain using a darker stain, then invert any images, and engrave through the stain so that you still get great contrast, but as a negative.
I just did a large run of table centres in pine, where I engraved a table number through the stain into the lighter colour of pine, then clear coated afterwards.

Cheers,
Mitchell

[Glen Monaghan]

Bert, since you have 3 coats of clear on it, you could color the engraved areas after lasering.JDS sells LazerDark spray in brown and black, as well as a clear top coat/sealer. I've experimented with them, didn't think the brown did anything for the wood I was using (basically no color change) but the black was very effective (I just really wanted a very dark brown, not black). I've skipped the clear coat and not noticed any problems such as the color coming off when rubbed but haven't tested that extensively, such as for water proofness. Probably any stain would do, spray or wipe, and you could select or mix just the color you want. With the LazerDark, I hit the engraving with a short burst and, for the black, I immediately wipe down the surface with a paper towel to remove overspray. I left the brown on long enough for the overspray to dry, hoping for a darker color on my wood samples, but didn't happen.

[Bert Kemp]

Hi Glenn ,
I find that BB has these fine little veins in the grain and even with 3 coats of poly if I try color fill some of it fines its way into those veins. These are key rings I'm doing there small with a lot of detail and I'm doing 48 at a time, so it really needs to be a one shot deal engrave cut and done.
do you put the laser dark on the bare wood and then engrave and it just darkens the engraving or does it darken the wood also?

[Mike Null]

Bert

I think you're going to struggle with BB and other light woods such as maple. If you can increase your dpi to maximum that may help but I would find a wood that'll produce the result you want or get comfortable with color filling.