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View Full Version : Which wood engraves darker?



Jack Harper
06-23-2010, 11:45 PM
Does anyone know which wood will engrave darker, quarter sawn white oak, which is very hard, or Clear Vertical Grain Fir? Thanks.

James Terry
06-24-2010, 1:03 AM
You know what might be a fun resource to work up as a group; a relative burn chart for laser engraving on various substrate, maybe with photos. And perhaps another effort would be for everyone to chime in with their machine data and then their favorite setting for various materials.

Do we have a wiki here?

Niklas Bjornestal
06-24-2010, 2:40 AM
I'm planning on making a webbsite with sample engravings on about 40 different types of woods, i just need to fing a good sample to engrave on them :)

James Terry
06-24-2010, 4:27 AM
I would suggest something with layers of power and also perhaps grayscale dithering as well. My laser would have to run two jobs to accomplish that. And of course display the cutting output.

More to the point might be how to photograph the output of each. ie: a good digital camera with a macro focus so you can get up close at an angle to see layered detail. You need a very ample and reproduceable light source. One of those small popup photo soft boxes (http://webglider.com/link/?id=m) might be a good idea to help normalize the light.

Let me know if you need some help with the website or to host this idea.

I would probably come up with a website name and then use it in logo form for the example file. Perhaps use something with a quadrant-like layout so you can do different things in each box like simple text etch in one, dither in another with a pattern fill, layer etch in another and so on...

This is a lot of detail, but if you are going to go to the effort, do it right the first time.

I hope others chime in on ideas here. I am rather limited with laser experience. And it might be good to also throw in some other materials in the mix such as the various non-wood substrates out there.

I do wish I could go to one place to see what a design looks like on say bamboo vs balsa vs colored acrylic... Such a reference might be useful to the public as well when talking about work with an engraver.

Niklas Bjornestal
06-24-2010, 7:05 AM
I would suggest something with layers of power and also perhaps grayscale dithering as well. My laser would have to run two jobs to accomplish that. And of course display the cutting output.

Cutting wont be possible for me, i have got a sample package from a company with pieces of about 40 different types of wood, but they are to thick to be cut with my laser.

Mike Null
06-24-2010, 7:30 AM
I am not a fan of engraving conifers due to the grain variation in most of them.

That said, oak would be my choice of the options you've presented. I prefer cherry but walnut will also produce a dark image. With walnut there is not sufficient contrast for my eye so I use black color fill whenever I engrave it.

I avoid alder when I can but it is cheap and plentiful.

Steve Kelsey
06-24-2010, 9:01 AM
As to photos - I found a flat bed scanner does a good job of getting photos of finished projects. I've done up to about 1" think pieces.

Tim Bateson
06-24-2010, 10:59 AM
It's not just the wood you need to "sample". Here are a few additional variables: 1. Pre-finished woods tend not to burn as well - on the initial pass. 2. Moving a tad out of focus - not enough to effect a clean project, but enough & you get a much better burn on most woods. 3. Laser power can make all of the difference. 4. Speed 5. Power 6. DPI... etc...
To be useful any "sample" would need to account for a LOT of variables.

Jack Harper
06-24-2010, 11:05 AM
I am not a fan of engraving conifers due to the grain variation in most of them.

That said, oak would be my choice of the options you've presented. I prefer cherry but walnut will also produce a dark image. With walnut there is not sufficient contrast for my eye so I use black color fill whenever I engrave it.

I avoid alder when I can but it is cheap and plentiful.

Thanks Mike.

George D Gabert
06-24-2010, 3:34 PM
I got a sample pack of thin veneers from woodcraft. It had several (like 50) different types of wood that were about 4" x 9 in size and had a label to describe the wood type. I don't remember the cost but I think around $36.00. Their # is 15W12

GDG