Piano Finish Plaques

[J Porter]

I just picked up a relatively new item from JDS. It's a Rosewood Piano Finish plaque and has a really beautiful finish. The catalog states that it's laserable.

Has anyone laser engraved one of these and would care to share their experiences and laser parameters?

I have a 25 watt laser.

If this has been discussed before, just point me to the post. A search for "piano finish" turned up zilch.

Thanks
~Joe

[Mike Null]

These can be lasered but all I have seen and done were color filled. Lasering will take more power and passes to get through the heavy finish.

[Ian Wilson (AUST)]

They look great with a gold or silver romark plaque dbl sided to the face with about a 10mm cap all round.

Regards,

Ian

[Peter Meacham]

Joe

Attached is a photo of rosewood piano finish wine bottle boxes from JDS that I engraved with a vineyard's logo.

I used gold Rub-n-Buff to color fill. The mask has not been removed yet in this photo.

I have a 25 Watt laser - I don't have the settings handy, but I think it was 100 power and 40% speed (Trotec).

Pete

[John Frazee]

All the suppliers including JDS has had these for quite awhile. A few years ago our JDS sales rep told me the JDS ones were the only ones you could laser. He said the other suppliers' plaque boards had like a sleeve stretched around them and if lasered they would over time split apart where the plaque was lasered. He may have been saying that so that I would buy them only from him. So, I have done only a few of them but made sure they were JDS's. I guess he won!

[Dee Gallo]

Here is a photo of a test piece I did with various settings, fonts and photo preps. This was done on a 25w Epilog. They look a lot better in person than this scan shows.

The 2 top left are the same photo (just bitmap) with one inverted, the 2 top right are the same processed in PhotoGrav with one background removed. The bottom pic is PG processed. These were done before the Gold Method was introduced, but you can get an idea of the settings that create differing darknesses.

Hope this helps, dee

BTW- the reason the ZANE B&W looks green is that I tried to color fill it with gold Rub n Buff and it looked bad, so I removed it...mostly. But the words Beth Inverted ARE filled with gold.

[Bill Cunningham]

Michael's carries another product similar to rub-n-buff, it comes in a two part round container (Like some womens' makeup items) the colour is called Treasure Gold. I just compared the finished look to rub-n-buff on some glass, and Michael's stuff looks brighter and more 'goldy' My test piece (a shot glass) has also withstood 20 cycles in our dishwasher, and still shows a bit of gold..

[Barbara Buhse]

I engrave a lot of piano finishes. I don't offer photo engraving on this finish, but rather only graphics and words that will look nice color filled. (They look nice unfilled, but don't always show up so well). Be careful when lasering that the edges do not "melt". the finish can sometimes get sticky around the edges. it takes a lot of rubbing to get the residue off sometimes if I used too much power or too slow a speed.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I know this thread is a few days old, but hopefully someone would be willing to offer some guidance. I've spoken to Tropar and JDS and they all say "yeah, we just spray paint it" but when I do, it always looks terrible. The wood absorbs all of the paint and shows a ton of grain.

So my question, what's the trick? 7 coats? I was reading some older threads and one answer caught my eye on this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=122815&highlight=color+fill


On any wood that I engrave I cover it with transfer tape, engrave, Then spray a clear finish on it and let dry for about 15 minutes. I then spray any color fill that I need. Never have any problems doing it that way.

Is this the trick? Spray it with clear and then your paint? I'm running a plaque now and I'm going to try it.

[Todd Suire]

I know this thread is a few days old, but hopefully someone would be willing to offer some guidance. I've spoken to Tropar and JDS and they all say "yeah, we just spray paint it" but when I do, it always looks terrible. The wood absorbs all of the paint and shows a ton of grain.

So my question, what's the trick? 7 coats? I was reading some older threads and one answer caught my eye on this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=122815&highlight=color+fill



Is this the trick? Spray it with clear and then your paint? I'm running a plaque now and I'm going to try it.


Ross,

I'm reading up on all this color-fill stuff too. How did your test come out

[Ross Moshinsky]

Ross,

I'm reading up on all this color-fill stuff too. How did your test come out

Color fill was much better doing 2 coats of clear and then 2 coats of paint. I'd like to use a thicker enamel paint next time. Maybe something from the autoparts store. The big problem is the paper masking when the letters are close together. It lifts/bubbles when the paint it applied/looked at funny. I believe the answer is using green painters tape. I haven't experimented again. As much as I like the look, using brass coated steel is cheaper, faster, and easier. I might try it again in the next few weeks.

Also remember the masking takes a good bit of power to remove. I think I ran the job at 30 speed 100 power with 2 passes. I normally run steel at 100speed 50 power so it took probably 3-4 times longer to engrave this way.

[Martin Boekers]

I think you are talking about the newer plaque that has a wedge attached to the bottom so it stands upright. (not for wall hanging)

I have done a couple of those and used a standard type setting for wood. Made a couple passes to get some depth to hold the fill better. Make sure to mask. The fill looks nice,
there is some graining, but I think that will be part of the process it may be more visible on the "glue lines" as they burn at a different rate than the wood. JDS also makes a
Hi-Gloss Mahogany Composite Plaque. It is a bit easier on the burn and looks good with a fill.

I sell quite a few of these plaques 12x15 with a 8x10 (Picture CLTT) tile mounted at the top and the text underneath gold filled.

Nice looking plaque cheap to produce. High percieved value.


Marty

[Ross Moshinsky]

Martin,

How many passes do you have to make with your 75W machine? I could see these being much more efficient to produce with a higher wattage machine. If I could cut the engraving time in half, I might be willing to do this more often. 30W machine, it just takes too long IMO.

[Martin Boekers]

Typically 2-3 passes at 80 speed 100 Power. ( I do a feel and visual check to see if I think the depth is close to where I want it, if not one more pass)

I do that for extra depth as sometimes if it isn't deep enough when I pull the masking off sometimes some of the fill comes with it.

I do like the High Gloss plaque better as it is a bit easier to work with and it doesn't show the imperfection of the surface as the piano finish does.

I do squeegee the mask down with a plastic squeegee to make sure it is evenly and firmly in place. I also wipe the excess fill off the mask before it dries, then let it dry before removing the mask.

I do too have issues sometimes with the mask bubbling, it can take a bit of time cleaning up those edges with water and a Q-Tip.

I haven't played with embossing powders but that may work to give you a thicker fill.


Marty

[Dee Gallo]

I have not done this on lasered plaques, but whenever airbrushing heavy paints like oil-based or lacquers, I remove the mask when the paint is still wettish. This means the tape paint is dry but the main area is still wet. The reason is that there will be no skin to peel away with the mask.

With acrylic paints, you should pull the mask immediately, since the paint should be touch-dry immediately, but there is a good chance of skin forming if you sprayed too heavily.

Mask manipulation is actually the first skill I teach people learning airbrush as it is what makes or breaks your final result. Of course, it's a lot more complicated when making art, but the facts are the same.

When you pull the mask off, pull at an angle, not along the line. This helps cut any skin that might be there. You will also have to pull the mask either in pieces or r-e-a-l-l-y carefully, since the wet paint could smear or catch on the tape if it's hanging. Roll it up as you go. Plan on getting your hands dirty.

Just my 2 cents, dee