A Box with 3d laser and engraving

[George Beck]

233133233134233135233136
I like playing with using 3d and engraving on a handmade made little dovetail box. I think the laser engraving adds a personal touch and a textural dimension that makes a simple hand made item very special. This is my latest work in my on going attempts at blending traditional woodworking and laser embellishment. This is McKenzie's Box. Thanks for taking a peek.

George

[Dee Gallo]

George, I am blown away - this is just fabulous! The fit and finish are perfect, the design is elegant and the overall effect is stunning. There is nothing quite like a beautiful piece of wood. Great job!

cheers, dee

[Steve Busey]

That's a beauty! A great fusion of woodworking skills!

[Martin Boekers]

That is one of the nicest lasered boxes I have seen. Great Work!

[Steve Clarkson]

Wow! Stunning!

[Mike vonBuelow]

Truly inspiring!

[David Fairfield]

That is high class lasering! Simple and beautiful.

[Michael Hunter]

McKenzie should treasure that. Excellent!

[Chuck Stone]

that looks great all around .. joints, finish, engraving.. how did you come up
with the 3D file? THAT is the zillion dollar question..

[nancy barry]

Inspiring for the rest of us! What a wonderful gift to the recipient and to laser engravers.
It is always wonderful to see what can be done . We are challenged to go beyond our comfort zone.
thanks for sharing!
nancyB

[George Beck]

Thanks to everyone for peeking. I use mostly Ganty co graphics. I have made several military badges but they can take literally hundreds of hours (for me anyway) so it is easier to buy them. If you keep them fairly generic (leaves, grapes, etc) you can them use them over and over again so the cost becomes manageable.

George

[Mike Null]

George,

Splendid woodworking and lasering as well.

[Chuck Stone]

yeah.. it is labor intensive to make the files. I've done some, but it is TEDIOUS!
and your eyes start to cross...

[nathan mcafee]

Wow, I love that work.

Thanks to everyone who shares ideas and keeps raising the bar, hopefully I will get to the point of sharing some soon. After seeing your example I am going to go out in the driveway and break my latest box into little splinters with a ball pean hammer. Doesn't have to be a ball pean, it is just fun to say.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[Keith Outten]

To me what makes this piece so elegant is the design. The laser element is just enough to add something very special without drawing the eye from the overall project. At the same time the 3D engraving in itself raises this piece to a level far above the average project because it is a perfect choice for this piece.

Thanks for sharing this one George, it will inspire a lot of people !!!
.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Awesome work George!!!! an Heirloom quality gift.
Out of curiosity, how long did it take to laser and at what wattage?
Thanks for sharing.

[George Beck]

233388233389
Thanks again to everyone for the most kind comments. As to my techniques; I have ben toying with these carving graphics for sometime now and trying to achieve the look and feel of hand carving but with the tiny detail that would be very difficult to achieve with chisels. My laser is 60 watt. I use a 1.5 lens and 1000 dpi. I can make these with one pass at 100% Power and 60% speed however you can on certain wood get a smoky shared mess that is difficult to clean up. My current method is to mask the area with transfer tape and make one light vector cut at 8% power and 100% speed to just cut the tape. I then remove the tape cutout. I make one pass at 100% power and 75% speed followed by a second pass at 100% power and 100% speed and a third "clean up" pass at 50% power and 100% speed. This 3rd pass mostly burns away the dark char. I then clean with fast orange hand cleaner and air dry with an air compressor. I then unmask and oil finish the piece. The look is most like a carving and the only reason the backgrounds are dark is due to the oil taking darker on the burned wood much like end grain. Note that all the ads for these from vendors show them unfinished. This entire process (depending on the size and detail of the graphic) takes between 45 min to an hour. A small 2" x 2" like these shown takes about 30 min. It is an expensive process to be sure but makes sense on my work because these are very personalized higher end items. Cutting dovetails with a hand saw and chisels or making the little keyhole slot with a tiny file takes time as well.
Thanks again for the most valued feed back and kind comments.

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks for that description of your process - very helpful! What kind of wood are you having the best results with? I have found cherry and maple to be my best, but I'm interested in your findings.

cheers, dee

[George Beck]

Hi Dee

I use almost exclusively cherry and hard maple these days. I find both laser well, have good contrast, finish nicely, are locally grown and available and reasonably priced. Soft maple or sugar maple can get a bit smokey.

[Bruno Piancatelli]

Hi Dee

I use almost exclusively cherry and hard maple these days. I find both laser well, have good contrast, finish nicely, are locally grown and available and reasonably priced. Soft maple or sugar maple can get a bit smokey.

I´ve always thought that sugar maple and rock maple where the same: acer saccharum to be precise.
correct me if im wrong please.

[Chuck Stone]

same animal.. although in the northeast, "Sugar maple" usually refers to the tree, not
the lumber. But yes, sugar, rock, hard all come from the saccharum. Usually the birdseye,
quilted, tiger or fiddleback and curly maples come from this tree. Sometimes black maple is
also called rock maple or hard maple. (but not usually by the people who live where it is
grown)

[Andrea Weissenseel]

just awesome and inspiring! thank you for explaining your process so well

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Your work is amazing, just beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your process with all of us here.

[Khalid Nazim]

This is fantastic and inspirational.

[George Beck]

234984
A quick follow up. McKenzie with her graduation gift from Grandma. The reason we do what we do. (lord knows it ain't the money).

[Vicki Rivrud]

WOW George, McKenzie is one luck gal. Gotta love our grandkids!

Totally awesome work - but most of all, thank you for sharing your technique and findings.

It is truly inspiring and I for one will be trying this technique.

Happy lasering,
Vicki