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View Full Version : Laser Cutting Madrone burl Veneer



Ed Maloney
01-04-2010, 3:58 PM
Hi folks - I have customer that wants me to laser cut some 3mm birch plywood that has a veneer of Madrone on it. Is the Madrone laser safe and doable?

I'm also now wondering if the glue the person is going to be using pose any problems?

George Brown
01-04-2010, 6:12 PM
Madrone is a type of wood. Should not be bad for the laser. Doubt if the glue would pose a problem either, it might char or make it a little more difficult to cut.

Dan Hintz
01-04-2010, 8:15 PM
Madrone is a type of wood. Should not be bad for the laser.
True, but don't make the same assumption about whether or not it's good for you... some woods can have some extremely toxic fumes. Not the case here, but something to be aware of...

Michael Hunter
01-05-2010, 7:49 AM
Dan is right, but I just assume that ALL fumes are bad for me and act accordingly.

Scott Balboa
01-06-2010, 1:29 PM
I've never engraved Madrone, but I'm sure it's fine. Madrones are everywhere here in Oregon... they are a very hard wood with a nice deep orange-red color (when mature). The wood is super dense and burns hot from what I hear. It is considered PRIME firewood so that should tell you that the fumes are safe (as safe as smoke can be). May take a little more laser power than usual - but like most things you are safer starting low and doing multiple passes than one big hot pass.

Are you worried about the glue fumes or the smoke "sticking" to your lens? If your system is ventilated the fumes shouldn't be a problem. As for the lens... We've burned through lots of stuff before on our laser and I've never had an issue cleaning the lens with the standard cleaner.

Lee DeRaud
01-06-2010, 1:55 PM
With the number of people on this forum (and probably this thread) who routinely vector-cut MDF and plywood, worrying about fumes from wood veneer seems a bit pointless.
I'm surprised we're even having this discussion.

Scott Balboa
01-06-2010, 2:00 PM
Lee,

I completely agree :D. If you're uber health-conscious, laser engraving is gonna be tricky to do completely "clean".

Dan Hintz
01-06-2010, 3:51 PM
With the number of people on this forum (and probably this thread) who routinely vector-cut MDF and plywood, worrying about fumes from wood veneer seems a bit pointless.
I'm surprised we're even having this discussion.
Lee,

Thin veneer or not, some (luckily a very limited amount) woods have such caustic fumes they can can cause death if breathed in large enough quantities. Some of those woods cause allergic reactions even on the skin, and if you're allergic, breathing it in can cause anaphylactic shock.

I doubt 98% of the people here will come across those exotics in their work, but I have seen several posts in these fora from people who have had such an allergic reaction through handling the wood (I probably read it in the turner's forum). Because of that, I think it is something that should at least be mentioned in passing.

Lee DeRaud
01-06-2010, 5:27 PM
Thin veneer or not, some (luckily a very limited amount) woods have such caustic fumes they can cause death if breathed in large enough quantities. Some of those woods cause allergic reactions even on the skin, and if you're allergic, breathing it in can cause anaphylactic shock.The key words in that paragraph are "large enough quantities": the kind of thing that, in the turner's forum, is typified by literal clouds of dust generated by sanding. The exposure represented by whatever vapors evade the ventilation system of the typical laser is many orders of magnitude smaller.