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Tom Schulze
03-27-2013, 7:55 PM
Hello everyone, I need some advice on wood. I have a customer who is looking to do deep engraving into wood. like 1/8" inch deep. there is going to be a fair amount of detail that will be engraved. They want to use solid wood, not ply or mdf. What wood will give good detail but be the easiest ( I realize that it's not going to be easy) to engrave or best choice to engrave.

Thanks

Michael Hunter
03-27-2013, 8:08 PM
You need a fine grained wood to stop it going "lumpy" at the bottom of the engraving.
(Try engraving oak or iroko to see what I mean by "lumpy").

Lime wood has a fine even, grain and is not too dense and so does not need excessive power/passes to get a deep engraving.
I believe that lime is called "bass wood" in the USA.

Ross Moshinsky
03-27-2013, 8:38 PM
Alder engraves well.

Tom Schulze
03-27-2013, 8:42 PM
I've been testing on alder. It's going to take a lot of time to get to the depth I need in alder. but you are right it does engrave nicely.

Joe Pelonio
03-27-2013, 9:29 PM
Basswood will do it nicely, but it's soft, somewhere between Balsa and Alder, just a little less dense than Aspen which is used for matches. Another, if you can find it clear, is Western Redcedar. Typically those that sandblast well
for signs will be less dense.

Mike Null
03-28-2013, 6:46 AM
Tom

If they want a hard wood then I like cherry. You may have to run up to 4 passes to get the depth.

Martin Boekers
03-28-2013, 9:46 AM
Digging deep will take time, the finere the grain of wood the better detail. Me personally I try to stay away from Oak or Red Oak,
Mainly because the color of the grain, when engraved it magnifies the color change from the light and darker grained areas.

Tom Schulze
03-28-2013, 9:54 AM
thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice.

Joe Hillmann
03-28-2013, 10:11 AM
Pople (or poplar as it appears to be known everywhere but Wisconsin) also can be engraved deep with quite a bit of detail. It has almost no grain, is very hard when it is dry, and many people see it as a weed so when you can find a sawmill that has it it is usually very cheap.

George M. Perzel
03-28-2013, 1:18 PM
I'm with Mike-tough to beat good old American black cherry-cuts and engraves well and finishes like a dream.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

Jesse Anderson
03-28-2013, 6:36 PM
I use birch wood for all my projects..... A far it had not failed me... Its always clean on the inside. And there is no Lumps or wood grain the stick up when u are doing deep engravings..

I have worked with birch, oak, Cedar. Curley Oak ""Curley Oak" ??

Dee Gallo
03-29-2013, 6:33 PM
+1 for Black Cherry. It makes for nice clean engravings with good detail. But basswood engraves deeper more easily. The only problem is that then you have to do more finishing, staining, color filling, or whatever because it is so light and the engraving is lightish too.