Black Tile does NOT engrave

[Dan Hintz]

During my last Borg run, I decided to pick up some random stuff to see what would engrave. One of those items was a glossy glazed black tile (I can check the UPS code for anyone interested, but I know it came from Home Depot).

Even with my 70W+, I could not make a dent in that stuff! I engraved the same image 4 times at 100P and sometimes going as low as 25S and nothing more than a faint image in the top glaze. Never once did I break through to the white tile base. That's some tough stuff!

Just a warning to those wanting something new... don't waste your money.

[Stephen Beckham]

Dan,

Have any rub-n-buff? Rub some Gold in that now - you might be surprised to find out you busted the glaze with micro-fractures that will hold the RnB in place... I do that on customer owned ceramic mugs and fill with black or gold...

Or... You really did find an immovable object and your laser couldn't get through the surface.

[Joe Pelonio]

Tile from the borgs may or may not engrave, as you found out. Best to buy just one and try it. If you find one that does work, buy a few boxes because they may not always have it. I still have some of a few boxes I bought of one white tile called "calypso" from HD that engraves a nice dark brown. I have not seen it there again since.

[Dan Hintz]

Joe, my HD seems to stock the white tile many have had good results with (not Taglione, but some similar name), but I decided since the black was a few pennies I'd try it out.



Stephen, No Rub-n-Buff yet, but I have no doubt my next trip to Michael's will result in a larger than usual basket at the check-out counter. I first tried images on a 12x12 black granite tile, but so far the results have been less than stellar... at best, I can see some okay detail, but it's obvious I have a lot of learning to do. I decided to try my hand at glass, and while the single-color logos turned out beautifully, the pictures came out way over-developed... the entire square was touched by the laser, with zero untouched spots, so the look was almost holographic. You could see a faint image if you turned the glass just right, but other than that it sucked.

Time to pick up some more granite and glass to play with settings. I don't yet know if it's my laser settings or my pre-processing for the images that's at fault, but it's obvious there's a screw loose with the nut behind the keyboard.

[Stephen Beckham]

... but other than that it sucked.....

Now Dan, don't hold back any, tell us how you really feel about it....:D