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View Full Version : Stuck, Need help w/ wood engraving



greg lindsey
03-08-2011, 10:44 PM
I have 35 very high dollar cricket bats, made out of English Willow, I have never engraved this wood before, so i'm not sure how it's gonna react. No room for test burning, one shot at the first one is all i've got. Anyone with any experience here, advise, power/ speed. These will be done on the 60 watt.

Anthony Scira
03-08-2011, 11:06 PM
As long as you have it secured to where it will not move. Start with 75 speed and 30 power and ramp the power up as needed. Always good to start on the low side. I would not mess with the power while it is going because you may leave a visible trail of power increases.

greg lindsey
03-08-2011, 11:52 PM
here's the first one. I think it could use some black backfill, just not sure what to use. 185770

Rodne Gold
03-09-2011, 1:23 AM
Looks fine without the fill , trying to fill it is gonna lead to lots of problems

Larry Bratton
03-09-2011, 9:09 AM
I agree with Rodney. Looks good like it is. You haven't prepared for filling (no mask) so you will end up with a mess unless your prepared to do a bunch of work. Even so, it still might not come out right.

Martin Boekers
03-09-2011, 10:07 AM
I imagine it to be a hardwood, but I wouldn't take a chance of it bleeding on you.

You may want to try a second pass, but faster, I do this with some Maples that come out light
it does help in darkening the burn.

Jeff Belany
03-09-2011, 10:48 AM
I'm a big fan of Lazerdarc. I don't get carried away with it but a little is fast and easy and adds enough darkness to woods that don't 'char' very much such as Maple. Without it Maple looks lousy but just a quick brush of powder really helps. Not cheap but a bottle will last for years.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

greg lindsey
03-09-2011, 11:15 AM
Thanks for the replies. I'll let the customer decide if he wants to take the chance on bleeding with backfill. My dang internet is out today, using a friends.

Richard Rumancik
03-09-2011, 11:25 AM
I would tend to agree with Jeff. It would be acceptable as-is, but a bit darker would not hurt. LazerDarc does not run the risk of wicking into the endgrain fibers. When this happens, the piece is effectively ruined. Any liquid color fill (shoe polish, spray paint etc) runs this risk, unless you seal the grain with clear sealer beforehand. But then the appearance of the recesses is somewhat different. Personally, I don't like to hide the wood itself. The LazerDarc is a low risk alternative.

Sometimes printer toner can be substituted, but I have found it is not always as good. I have used it in conjunction with Pledge as the Pledge tends to prevent the toner from falling out if the item is dropped or bumped. Some people have reported that certain types of powder-coat powder work, but I have not tried that.

Bill Cunningham
03-10-2011, 8:20 PM
Turtle wax color cure care polish.. It's black. You just work it into the engraving, don't worry about it getting all over the un-engraved area, let it dry, then buff off all the extra. If the wood is finished, the black polish not in the engraved recesses, will buff right off.. I use it all the time.. The wood MUST be finished or the polish will soak into the wood. Finished wood will buff right off when dry..

Tim Bateson
03-10-2011, 8:46 PM
I usually lower the bed 5-9 clicks out of focus.