PDA

View Full Version : My first official plaque (pictures)



David Arana
07-24-2009, 9:33 PM
Hi all, for my first week in business(with the laser that is) I think ive done fairly well. So far ive gotten some small jobs like lasering a tile. Or pieces of wood.
I just thought I would share my first official plaque and all the precautions I went through before doing the job.
First I got the plaque, placed it over a piece of cardboard and traced it out.
I then cut out the carboard to the same size of the plaque and then did a practice round on it at lower power. It's a good thing that I did a practice round with the cardboard because when I fired up that laser, it turned out that I had not set the print driver on Flexi to the dimensions of the laser and I would have completely fouled up a perfectly good plaque.
Once I fired up the laser I decided that one pass was not enough and gave it a second go. I am pleased with the results! :D

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s39/Bardman2007/step1.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s39/Bardman2007/step2.jpghttp://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s39/Bardman2007/step3-1.jpg

Stephen Beckham
07-24-2009, 10:49 PM
David,

Nice and clean - to save you some manual labor next time... Use your laser to cut the cardboard! :D Sissors are for......

Steve Clarkson
07-25-2009, 12:13 AM
Say it Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sissies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job Dave......ALWAYS better safe than sorry......if you have the time and material to do a practice run, I highly recommend it......especially for those hidden vector lines that cut when you least expect them too!

Here's a picture on a piece of leather that I did today.......check out the border closely........little buggers.

Dave Garcia
07-25-2009, 3:06 AM
David,

Very nice job! Was the plaque made out of bamboo?

Dave Garcia :)
The Wood Block, Ltd

Dave Garcia
07-25-2009, 3:11 AM
Say it Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sissies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job Dave......ALWAYS better safe than sorry......if you have the time and material to do a practice run, I highly recommend it......especially for those hidden vector lines that cut when you least expect them too!

Here's a picture on a piece of leather that I did today.......check out the border closely........little buggers.

Steve,

I've followed your laser engraver "start up" saga on this forum for quite sometime. You've come a long way. Hows the new business?

Very nice job on the leather piece. What were we supposed to look at with regards to the edge work?

By the way, your projects subject is very lovely! Your daughter? You are a very lucky man sir!

What power setting did you use for this project and where did you get your leather from?

Thanks in advance.

Dave Garcia :)
The Wood Block, Ltd

Frank Corker
07-25-2009, 5:59 AM
David on a positive note, the engraving has come out extremely nice, the second pass quite obviously works. For constuctive advice, I recommend that you increase the borders to give the item more impact, it looks better than being almost at the edge.

Mike Null
07-25-2009, 8:27 AM
I'm with Frank. Increase the borders all the way around so that the engraving appears to have a "frame".

The contrast could be greater as well. You may find that the bamboo requires a color fill to get the contrast you need. I haven't tried my sample yet.

For testing I use transfer paper and very light settings on the actual piece. That gives you the benefit of exact dimensions and placement.

But you've made a good start and had the good sense to test first.

David Arana
07-25-2009, 8:55 AM
Hey thats a good idea. I didnt even think about the laser to cut the cardboard :rolleyes:. And yes that is the JDS Bamboo plaque, I think I will order a couple of smaller ones and practice with color fill for my next job.

Thanks for all the comments, its got me pumped up. I feel more confident!

Garrett Nors
07-25-2009, 9:27 AM
Hey thats a good idea. I didnt even think about the laser to cut the cardboard :rolleyes:. And yes that is the JDS Bamboo plaque, I think I will order a couple of smaller ones and practice with color fill for my next job.

Thanks for all the comments, its got me pumped up. I feel more confident!

I have been using Tim's method of powder coating and it works FANTASTICALLY. I use a pencil to smooth it out over the plaque (I tried using a metal ruler because I thought it'd be a nice straight edge but I marred up the sides of the plaque :p) , run at about 14% power (for black, other colors are slightly cooler) and 100% speed on my 45w. Sticks in there great and with a few shots of lacquer it really gets the job done!

Here's Tim's instructions:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1145579&postcount=8

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1156626&postcount=11

And here's a link to black (the other colors are below in the "related items" column).
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93306

Steven Wallace
07-25-2009, 2:30 PM
Great looking job and concur with the others that more border would enhance your work. When doing maple or alder plaques I kick up the dpi on my Epilog to 1200 and get a darker burn that results in not having to go back and do a color fill. I have only done one bamboo item, coasters, I liked the subdued look so I did not do a color fill. An Award plaque would naturally be differrent as you want it to be noticed. Great job and remember each one is a learning experience. Take notes or make checklists!