Best way to clean off burn after 3D carving?

[Zsolt Paul]

Has anyone found a good way to clean off the burnt wood after 3D carving? The pictures on ganryco dot com look amazingly clean, but I can't get clean results like that on my 3D carvings. They say to use a toothbrush and water.... wow. I don't get it. I have used alcohol, acetone with toothbrush and even steel wool. Its a lot better, but nothing like their picutures show. I actually like the cleaned burnt look, but there are times when won't want it and would be nice to know that it can be achieved, though I am skeptical. Thanks!

[Dan Hintz]

Have you tried a different type of wood? The heavier the sap content, the heavier the char... moving to a wood with less sap may allow you to brush away the reduced amount of burn.

[Zsolt Paul]

WIll let you know in a bit. Running a job on white mahogany, which is a pretty rare species. My previous experience was on maple mostly. I need light woods for this project. Of course, that is when its the most obvious....

[Rodne Gold]

When you do 3d use a polishing pass when you have done your main engraving , Ie a pass over the engraving at a much higher speed and lower power , this gets rid of a lot of the char and minimises ridging.

[Chuck Stone]

They say to use a toothbrush and water.... wow. I don't get it. I have used alcohol, acetone with toothbrush and even steel wool.

This might sound like a smart-alec answer, but did you actually try the water?

I just did a 3D this afternoon on maple and I used a toothbrush and water.
It came right off. Sometimes there's a tendency to skip over the easy steps
thinking it might be more difficult than it is. Not saying this is the case with
you, but from the way you worded your post it made me wonder.

[Larry Bratton]

Here is an article that was published by Epilog relative to the subject.
http://www.epiloglaser.com/tl_wood_residue.htm
Hope this helps.

[Frank Corker]

Have you tried a soft brass brush, the type that they used to supply with suede shoes, they are pretty soft and able to get into the nooks and crannies.

[Zsolt Paul]

When you do 3d use a polishing pass when you have done your main engraving , Ie a pass over the engraving at a much higher speed and lower power , this gets rid of a lot of the char and minimises ridging.

Great suggestion Rodne! I'm sure this would help in both cleanup as well as minimizing ridging as you said. I am going at near full speed already (100w laser) so the only bad thing aobut this is would take 2x the time to complete the job. Sometimes though I can see this will really be helpful.


This might sound like a smart-alec answer, but did you actually try the water?

I just did a 3D this afternoon on maple and I used a toothbrush and water.
It came right off. Sometimes there's a tendency to skip over the easy steps
thinking it might be more difficult than it is. Not saying this is the case with
you, but from the way you worded your post it made me wonder.

I am humble enough (LOL) to admit I did not try the water. I am not too crazy about the idea of wetting the wood this much and I figured alcoloh will be at least as good as water if not better without raising the grain. I will at least try water.


Here is an article that was published by Epilog relative to the subject.
http://www.epiloglaser.com/tl_wood_residue.htm
Hope this helps.

I wonder if my charring is "deeper" b/c I am using a 100w laser at 40-50 ips. 100w may burn deeper than what most folks are using.... It is pretty deep in there and just can't see how a gentle brushing some soap will remove it when hard scrubbing with steel wood and alcohol only does 50%. Of course I will try it and hope to be wrong. Thanks everyone!

[Hilton Lister]

On the little 3d work I have done, I used my sandblaster very lightly to clean up the burnt look. Seemed quite effective!

[Lee DeRaud]

It is pretty deep in there and just can't see how a gentle brushing some soap will remove it when hard scrubbing with steel wood and alcohol only does 50%.That soap also has pumice in it, which is a much more effective (and fine-grained) abrasive than steel wool.

[Frank Corker]

Here is something from Epilog on exactly this subject:
http://www.epiloglaser.com/tl_wood_residue.htm

[Dee Gallo]

Here is something from Epilog on exactly this subject:
http://www.epiloglaser.com/tl_wood_residue.htm

And you should note that this stuff is a waterless, solvent-less cleaner, so there should be no issue of raising the grain.

[Zsolt Paul]

On the little 3d work I have done, I used my sandblaster very lightly to clean up the burnt look. Seemed quite effective!
I was thinking about sandblasting. Very interesting....


And you should note that this stuff is a waterless, solvent-less cleaner, so there should be no issue of raising the grain.

Good points! Thanks Dee!