Laser Engraving Wood

[mikey-Oh]

My employer's have an Epilog and I've been toying with the idea of etching some works into raw wood, even found some cheap bare wood boxes at Michael's for experimentation.

Not planning on some Aaron Horkey's masterpiece just yet, starting with baby steps.

Any have some tips/suggestions/settings?

Thanks!

 

[SignManiac]

Friend of mine does some fun stuff with his. This should give you a few ideas!
http://www.rslasercuts.com/index.html

 

[mikey-Oh]

Ha, using the same boxes from his Gallery 2 page, six down from center.

Got the ideas, just need some coaching with the technical execution.
Well, to execute flawlessly... some boxes will probably end up sacrificed in the process otherwise.
:Big Laugh

 

[jrsc]

When we do wood we usually mask the top of it to keep any residue from getting on the wood. We just use the pre mask tape we use for vinyl cutting.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Wow, what an inspirational video on Aaron. The hardest part of all of that, is actually the creation of the artwork! The rest is relatively easy.

As for tips... just use black/white art, no greys (unless you want halftoning). Stay away from any lines less than around 0.1mm thick - they don't show up too well (depends on your lens too). Apart from that it's pretty straight forward. Have fun.

 

[mikey-Oh]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Kevin-shopVOX]

Not that I dont think you can find a ton of info here but check out sawmillcreek.org another forum. There is good info there on the forums about engraving from laser to rotary. You'll find templates power setting recommendations etc etc it wasa great resource for us when we first got our laser engraver