Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.
Are you sealing the wood first?
Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving
Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.
I was engraving a bunch of rosewood and found that it tended to vaporize with little color change. I had to run slow and low power to "toast" the wood, but found a couple of pieces that still didn't have any contrast. I experimented with hand-darkening those with shoe polish, Rub-n-Buff, and a couple other options, but it's much quicker to spray-and-wipe (assuming you have a finish that doesn't react to your tint spray). I initially tried masking when a tint reacted with the finish, but the weeding was too onerous. Either apply a finish that doesn't react to the tint, or find a tint that your existing finish repels, and you can simply spray and wipe off the excess. Plus you can run the engraving much, much faster since you don't care what contrast it creates, only that you get the desired depth.
Instead of engraving for a piece for 90-100 seconds, slow and low power, and hoping for good contrast (but having to re-run, replace, or hand-tint the occasional piece when the rosewood simply wouldn't darken), I found that I could engrave in 20-30 seconds at high enough power for the depth I want and spend 10 seconds to spray and wipe for a consistent, dark, high contrast mark every time. Sure takes the fuss and bother out of the process...
That Laser Dark spray in the current give-away is supposed to be good for this sort of application. I think it has a clear over-spray that is supposed to go on afterwards, in case you need to seal the color in the engraving.
Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving
Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.
If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine Oh wait its a 3D Printer my bad LOL
Lasercut 5.3
CorelDraw X5
10" Miter Saw with slide
10" Table Saw
8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander
If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine Oh wait its a 3D Printer my bad LOL
Lasercut 5.3
CorelDraw X5
10" Miter Saw with slide
10" Table Saw
8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander
Hey Bert, this is what I usually aim for on BB (250dpi). The last pic shows the walnut material.
IMG_6547.jpg
IMG_6549.jpg
IMG_6551.jpg
IMG_6422.jpg
IMG_6559.jpg
These look fantastic Steve!
Those are really cool and beautiful Matt! What type of laser and power are you running?
I agree about taking it out of focus a bit. With my helix 24, I lower the table a bit (usually .2"). It burns much darker and also has the added benefit of less smoke residue on the wood (not sure why, but it happens). I would suspect that most of the residue is staying within the burn, which is why there is less smoke.
Epilog Helix 24 - 50w
Kern HSE 50x100 - 400w (rated at 479w!)
If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine Oh wait its a 3D Printer my bad LOL
Lasercut 5.3
CorelDraw X5
10" Miter Saw with slide
10" Table Saw
8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander
If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine Oh wait its a 3D Printer my bad LOL
Lasercut 5.3
CorelDraw X5
10" Miter Saw with slide
10" Table Saw
8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander