Marble and Granite Engraving

[Linda Creatore]

Hi All

I have seen lots of examples of engraving on marble and granite and much of it looks nice and bright and almost white. Was wondering how you get that look! Everything I've ever engraved is grayish...apparently because the unpolished stone is grayish. So how do you get that very bright look that I seem to find showing in so many places on the web?

Thanks
Linda

[Lee DeRaud]

I'm under the impression that marble does that automagically: the laser actually 'bleaches' the stone....not sure because black marble is scarce and expensive hereabouts.

For granite, I've had good results rubbing in artist's oil paint (titanium white). I don't know yet how durable it is, but reapplying it wouldn't be that hard either.

I've also got a couple of outdoor pieces in my garden that I went low-tech on: just took a piece of chalk and rubbed down the piece, then wiped off the excess with a cloth. Needs to be reapplied every couple of months, but it only takes about 30 seconds. (Note: if it rains a lot, you might have to reapply more often. I'm in SoCal, so that's really not an issue.)

FWIW, every piece I've ever done photographs quite a bit brighter than it looks in person, so keep that in mind too.

[Bill Cunningham]

For some reason, etched granite when photographed tends to look a LOT brighter than it does in the real world.. Granite almost always requires the addition of white to make it look like the photographic representation. I also find that the titanium white increases in whiteness as it ages in the granite..

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[Larry Bratton]

Hi All

I have seen lots of examples of engraving on marble and granite and much of it looks nice and bright and almost white. Was wondering how you get that look! Everything I've ever engraved is grayish...apparently because the unpolished stone is grayish. So how do you get that very bright look that I seem to find showing in so many places on the web?

Thanks
Linda

Linda:
Try putting a coat of Armorall on your piece prior to lasering, it will make it laser whiter (don't ask why, it just does). I usually fill my text with acrylic artist paint also.

I saw a trick in Sign Business magazine that I want to try also. To fill a wood plaque with color, this laser engraver sprayed the whole plaque with white spray paint and then while it was still wet, cleaned it with WD40! Wiped all the excess off and it helped to flow the paint into the engraving. (WD40 was actually originally developed as a cleaner ). I see no reason why this would not work on marble or granite.

[Bill Cunningham]

One thing I did notice when putting Armour All on black granite, is it highlights flaws and surface porosity.. I had one piece that had a previously invisible definite 'stripe' running across it. So, I thought I would just turn the piece around so the laser would burn solid over that area.. It did, but when I put the paint on, the strip showed up in the paint like a ghostly wisp across the surface.. The Armour All found, and highlighted micro porosity on the surface that was not visible in the polished stone before it was applied.. I only tried it on granite that once and I sure could have done without that highlighted stripe.. I think the Armour All soaked into the invisible porosity and effected the absorption of the paint, It may work for marble in brightening the bleached white, where no paint is needed, but I really seen no difference in brightening the gray colour of granite..

[Larry Bratton]

One thing I did notice when putting Armour All on black granite, is it highlights flaws and surface porosity.. I had one piece that had a previously invisible definite 'stripe' running across it. So, I thought I would just turn the piece around so the laser would burn solid over that area.. It did, but when I put the paint on, the strip showed up in the paint like a ghostly wisp across the surface.. The Armour All found, and highlighted micro porosity on the surface that was not visible in the polished stone before it was applied.. I only tried it on granite that once and I sure could have done without that highlighted stripe.. I think the Armour All soaked into the invisible porosity and effected the absorption of the paint, It may work for marble in brightening the bleached white, where no paint is needed, but I really seen no difference in brightening the gray colour of granite..

Bill:
With natural materials such as the referenced marble and granite, results can sometimes be rather unpredictable. Some come out good and some not so good. I think that's just a chance you have to take.

[Linda Creatore]

Thank everyone for the suggestions and info. I just got back to the forum to read these replies!

I have some pieces of granite that I will try...will see what we see!

Linda

[Zeev Goldin]

Hello I am trying to engrave a Photo into black marble Tile .
I am using the Photograv program the old version of it .So I guess my question is
1. What kind of material I should choose in the Photograv becouse there is no Mable option there?
2.What power and speed I should engrave it with a 35W Epilog Mini?

Thank Zeev

[Zeev Goldin]

Any body have any ideas?

[Frank Corker]

Zeev there is a prm file there for black marble - here it is

[Zeev Goldin]

Thank you so much.

[Mike Ireland]

Go to Michaels and get some Titanium White oil paint. Apply sparingly to the lasered surface and wipe clean. The oil paint will adhere to the engraved areas and not to the finished surface. Leaves a nice black and white photo!

[Lee DeRaud]

Go to Michaels and get some Titanium White oil paint. Apply sparingly to the lasered surface and wipe clean. The oil paint will adhere to the engraved areas and not to the finished surface. Leaves a nice black and white photo!

The word "sparingly" cannot be overemphasized: a pea-sized blob will do an entire 12"x12" tile, no problem.

(I'm really glad I didn't buy the big toothpaste-sized tube of the stuff!)

[Bill Cunningham]

If you use a plastic spreader of the type you get for spreading autobody filler, you can smear the "pea sized" blob all over your work, and even have some you have wipe off the spreader afterward.. Lee is Right, a 'very' little goes a long way..