Wood Engraving

[Patricia Eitel]

I would like to engrave wood that has a distressed look to it. I paint the sign then engrave it. I can distress the painted part fine however when I try to distress the engraved part, it doesn't turn out very nice. You can't paint over the engraving but that doesn't work either (or at least for me). Is there a way to set up the laser to give it a distressed look when it engraves - maybe by changing power, speed or ppi combination? Also, I painted the sign Blue and then painted it white. I was hoping that the blue would show up when I distressed it. The engraving takes away all of the paint. I have a 50 watt ULS. Any ideas?

[Bruce Volden]

Patricia,

Not quite sure I follow what you're attempting to achieve?
The purpose of the laser is to "obliterate" stuff in it's way and make a sharp design/text...
You may have "some" success in de-focusing the beam, masking (blue tape).
Is the wood already in a distressed state and you then paint, and laser?
A pic would certainly help though.

Bruce

[Kev Williams]

the problem with distressed wood, or wood you're trying to make look distressed is, once you "work" it, with a saw, router, or laser beam, where you've sawed, routered or lasered is now 'fresh' wood and no longer distreseed.

About the only way I can think of is to 'distress' wood is some careful work with a propane torch and a brass wire brush--

[Bert Kemp]

Patricia you don't have your location But If your in a Hot climate maybe try wetting the wood after engraving and then place in hot sun for a few days. I know here in AZ if I place wet wood out in the sun it takes on a weather or distressed look in a few days.Just an Idea.

[Joe Pelonio]

Place 0000 steel wool into a pint of white vinegar, and leave overnight or better yet, 24 hours. Strain and use a small artists brush to paint the engraved lettering, and it will look like old weathered barn wood.

[Lee DeRaud]

the problem with distressed wood, or wood you're trying to make look distressed is, once you "work" it, with a saw, router, or laser beam, where you've sawed, routered or lasered is now 'fresh' wood and no longer distreseed.

About the only way I can think of is to 'distress' wood is some careful work with a propane torch and a brass wire brush--

Or an airbrush, wielded by someone with a lot more skill than I have...

[Joseph Shawa]

Maybe the engraving is too uniform? If so you might try ( I haven't) 3 separate engravings with different settings. 1st one to get the right shape 2nd and 3rd to destroy the uniformity with lower DPI setting or increased distance.

Also how about sprinkling shavings of steel wool onto the 1st engraving so that the 2nd engraving is not so clean. Maybe even try it on the 1st.

[Patricia Eitel]

I have a client who wants a sign s that has a distressed look similar to this the sign below. However, they want it engraved. Like Kev said below, as soon as you engrave it it looks "fresh" and then doesn't look right. I could probably paint it separately and then distress it except its a longatude, latitude design they created.

[Keith Downing]

I have a client who wants a sign s that has a distressed look similar to this the sign below. However, they want it engraved. Like Kev said below, as soon as you engrave it it looks "fresh" and then doesn't look right. I could probably paint it separately and then distress it except its a longatude, latitude design they created.

You're probably going to have to play with this some, as there is no "distressed" setting on a laser. LOL

First, I would find a font that looks distressed to begin with. I have plenty with jagged edges on the letters or a unique look. Then I would engrave.

Afterwards, I would either try sponging on some white paint, or possibly Joe P's steel wool trick. Let it sit for a day, then rough it up with a little sandpaper to remove any "finished" look that still remains.

As others have mentioned, if you don't want any hint of production you may have to actually expose it to the elements for a few days.

Let us know how it turns out.

EDIT: I'm assuming you are taking this sign and engraving something into it (like a name or quote). If you're trying to MAKE this sign, my advice would be a little different.

[Lee DeRaud]

I have a client who wants a sign s that has a distressed look similar to this the sign below. However, they want it engraved. Like Kev said below, as soon as you engrave it it looks "fresh" and then doesn't look right. I could probably paint it separately and then distress it except its a longatude, latitude design they created.

My first reaction looking at the picture is that the "distressed" look was just somebody hitting it with a pressure washer after the paint dried. Also note that the rope is still perfectly sharp from the crossbar down...I don't think this is any kind of natural weathering.

[Kev Williams]

Funny thing, without even trying hard I can make glass engraving look distressed

I have a dumb idea but who knows-- How about taking a handful of saltine crackers in your hands, and crumble them all over the wood where you'll be engraving... the crumbs will be totally random, and should buffer the laser. Might take a couple of passes--- maybe move the crumbs around or vacuum up and crumble more fresh ones..

Might work?

[Mike Null]

The easy way is to change the drawing. Try youtube tutorials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFfAim92LAo

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Similar to what Mike found on youtube, you could try experimenting with a Texture Fill such as "SoftWater" so the laser has different shades of gray where it doesn't engrave the same as the black. You would also experiment with different thickness of paint so that the laser will go all the way through some of it, while other areas will look distressed.

[John Lifer]

Mike has it right, make drawing distressed, I know I've tried to use some terrible graphics a d usually give up as they won't engrave good, take the graphic and run thru Corel changeing to bitmap an the do a trace. Change settingto get distorted image and try a few different engravings..... Good luck

[Patricia Eitel]

These all sound like great options I didn't think of. (I'm still a newbee lol) I will test this on some scrap wood. I made the sign out of pine planks. The sign itself turned out good...even after distressing. I made my own chalk paint using plaster of paris water and acrylic paint. It worked well. I used a sander and some steel wool on it to get the distressed look. The pic that I am engraving is basically a compus (without the N E S W on it) but with the latitude and longitude coordinates on it for the city she lives in. The sign will be 28" x 32". and yes...it was difficult to set up so I could engrave the top part then rotate to do the bottom since my laser bed is only 32 x 18. It had to be centered perfectly or it didn't line up.

Thanks for the tips. I will let you know how it works out.