Wood name badges - Undesirable burning effect

[Dave Yanke]

I have some wood I picked up at a Science & Surplus near me, meaning I don't know what kind it is but got a LOT of it cheap. The stock I have is about 0.12 in thick X 2 inch X about 3 feet. It has a grain much like maple however seems much softer.

I have a customer that wants name tags made from these. While having a "burning" effect in the letters is acceptable (even desirable), I am getting either a burning effect around the outside of the letters or not enough for the letters to show. I haven't even tried cutting the wood yet but have to assume there would be a big time burn around the edges.

I know some of you have done similar badges or nameplates. Any suggestions?

[Dee Gallo]

Dave,

Have you either used tape to mask it or sealed the wood before lasing? Both will reduce smoke and burn halos. Also, are the letters really thin? Bolder letters might help get better definition.

Additionally, some woods (like bamboo) will react to the laser by completely disappearing, so you have to use color fill if you want to see the grooves. I have found in the case of bamboo for instance, more power or slowing down will give me a darker image but more burnt edges. Sanding can remove it.

Hope this helps a little, dee

[James Stokes]

I have found for wood if I run at lowspeed, low power I get more burn out of the wood regardless of what kind of wood. I engraved some Mahogany bats today. I used 10 power and 30 speed. I got a very good burn out of it, I also raise my lens about 1/8 out of focus.

[Martin Boekers]

Make sure the wood is coated or sealed, you can clean the resin around the edges with Endust and a magic sponge.

Sometimes on Maple I do a second burn at a faster speed this helps a bit.

I do a fair amount of wood badges and nameplates mostly an inverted layout to give a raised letter effect. Pretty popular on base mostly out of .125 Alder or Cherry.

Keep frequency low when vectoring and you won't get "charcoaling" as much.

Marty

[Dave Yanke]

Knew it wouldn't take long to get some answers.

- Sanding only worried me for fear of damaging the engraving since I didn't know the type of wood.
- The minute I read it I remembered about the tape. I will try some blue painters tape.
- I think the wood is much softer than maple but will try to low/low on a scrap piece.
- What type of seal would you recommend?

[Dave Yanke]

I do a fair amount of wood badges and nameplates mostly an inverted layout to give a raised letter effect. Pretty popular on base mostly out of .125 Alder or Cherry.


I'd like to learn more about the inverted layouts. Do you have any pix?

[John Noell]

We do quite a few wooden tags. This is mahogany and the 2nd example is raised lettering with gilding (with flexibrass for the name). Quick, simple, and popular.

[Dee Gallo]

I have some wood I picked up at a Science & Surplus near me, meaning I don't know what kind it is but got a LOT of it cheap. The stock I have is about 0.12 in thick X 2 inch X about 3 feet. It has a grain much like maple however seems much softer.

Dave, it just dawned on me - this sounds very similar to some slats I got from American Science & Surplus - if so, this is basswood. A very fine grained wood, somewhat soft but it engraves nicely. I went with 40sp/100p on my 35w Epilog and it made a decent mark, not very dark, but It went deep enough to create very good contrast. Maybe what you have is basswood. Is it really lightweight?

I cut them in half lengthwise and 19" long for mah jong pushers. Mine were coated with whitewash, which washed off with alcohol very easily no sanding needed.

cheers, dee

[Dave Yanke]

Dave, it just dawned on me - this sounds very similar to some slats I got from American Science & Surplus - if so, this is basswood. A very fine grained wood, somewhat soft but it engraves nicely. I went with 40sp/100p on my 35w Epilog and it made a decent mark, not very dark, but It went deep enough to create very good contrast. Maybe what you have is basswood. Is it really lightweight?

I cut them in half lengthwise and 19" long for mah jong pushers. Mine were coated with whitewash, which washed off with alcohol very easily no sanding needed.

cheers, dee

Most likely it is. I have done wood carving in Basswood, however the grain is usually not as pronounced. I plan on playing with them today.

Ain't AS&E a great place!!!!

[Dave Yanke]

We do quite a few wooden tags. This is mahogany and the 2nd example is raised lettering with gilding (with flexibrass for the name). Quick, simple, and popular.

Those are excellent. I don't think it will work with what I have but definitely got me thinking on new products.

[Martin Boekers]

I'd like to learn more about the inverted layouts. Do you have any pix?

Here is a sample, on the inverts I usually put a raised border around them which is visable in the sample.

Marty

[Richard Coers]

I might also suggest that the wood may be balsa. I like to "wash" down the wood with denatured alcohol to remove the smoke/resin halo around the letters. This doesn't seem to affect the char in the bottom of the work and is cheap. This won't work with most pieces if they are prefinished.

[Dee Gallo]

We do quite a few wooden tags. This is mahogany and the 2nd example is raised lettering with gilding (with flexibrass for the name). Quick, simple, and popular.

Those are nice tags, John, what do you use to hold them? Are they heavy? Do they hang alright on "regular" clothing or are they more for suit weight clothes? I love the mahogany!

And yes, Dave, AS&S is great! They have stuff you'd never find anywhere else for cheap prices, lots of fun!

cheers, dee

[David Fairfield]

Hm, my solution to burned or smoke stained letters would be to change the font to this

http://www.dafont.com/flame.font

I'm lazy :D

Dave

[Cassondra Bennett]

We do quite a few wooden tags. This is mahogany and the 2nd example is raised lettering with gilding (with flexibrass for the name). Quick, simple, and popular.

John these are really nice can you tell me more about flexibrass? and how it works??
I haven't ever heard of it or seen it used

Very curious:confused:

[Dan Hintz]

If you look at AS&E's website, they're calling them Basswood blanks from a venetian blind company. No need to question anymore ;)

[Marc Myer]

There's a lot of cheapo lightweight balsa-like wood coming out of China now. The quality varies, as does the laserability. Sometimes it tends to burn more than one would expect. It's also a very large cell wood that doesn't handle detail very well unless it is coated.
The nice thing is that it's easy to make a good deep cut with less power.

[John Noell]

...what do you use to hold them? Are they heavy? Do they hang alright on "regular" clothing or are they more for suit weight clothes? They are quite light and can be used on thin clothing. We use the simple plastic pinbacks from namifiers. Now the pearl shell tags are a BIT heavier... :)

[John Noell]

...can you tell me more about flexibrass? It is a Rowmark product. It is a thin (.020" - 0.5mm) acrylic that engraves black. You can get it with or without adhesive and it's great for trophies as well. Easy to work with and people love the look.