Darker Engravings

[Bert Kemp]

Right now I stain baltic birch put on 3 coats of clear poly then engrave . I've tried more power, and more scan gap. But no matter what I try the engraving just burns thru to the light colored BB underneath. I'd like to get a darker almost burnt in effect. I'm wondering if theres something I can coat the wood with after I stain it that will darken it.Thanks for any ideas in advance.:)

[Scott Shepherd]

Right now I stain baltic birch put on 3 coats of clear poly then engrave . I've tried more power, and more scan gap. But no matter what I try the engraving just burns thru to the light colored BB underneath. I'd like to get a darker almost burnt in effect. I'm wondering if theres something I can coat the wood with after I stain it that will darken it.Thanks for any ideas in advance.:)

Take it out of focus a little. That'll make the spot larger and it will help with making it darker. Might not get you to where you want to get, but it will help some.

[Jiten Patel]

I second Scott - take it out of focus until you get the balance between darkness and clarity. We do it all the time and works a charm.

[Bert Kemp]

I kept dropping the table bit by bit till I was a 1/4 inch below my gauge and saw no difference in darkness or clarity for that matter. should I keep going lower?
?

[Bill George]

Is this the 3 or 6 mm ply stuff?
I use cedar (not red) for not critical signs and art and it burns dark. Put a light coat of spray lacquer on first.

[Bert Kemp]

3mm and I have 3 coats of clear poly on it

[Kev Williams]

I haven't done a great deal of wood in my laser life, but I've never found de-focusing to help much when I can't get a dark burn. You've dropped the table so the beam went in then out of focus, have you tried raising the table, so the beam never reaches focus? Probably won't help, but it's all I got!

[Bert Kemp]

yea thats about it. I've now tried black powder coat which works but I really don't like the out come, kind makes the engraving look slightly blurred and I've tried all 3 of my different power glasses:D.
I just spray painted a sheet and tried that and I like this look so maybe I'll go with paint instead of stain.

[Mitchell Tutty]

Hi Bert.

Why don't you stain using a darker stain, then invert any images, and engrave through the stain so that you still get great contrast, but as a negative.
I just did a large run of table centres in pine, where I engraved a table number through the stain into the lighter colour of pine, then clear coated afterwards.

Cheers,
Mitchell

[Gary Hair]

Try running slower with less power - maybe 20% power and 35% speed. Out of focus will help but it tends to leave things a bit fuzzy around the edges.

[Scott Shepherd]

Out of focus might not work on Chinese lasers since they pulse differently. Just a guess. It normally doesn't take much out of focus to make a difference.

[Bert Kemp]

I'll try that tomorrow I have some red oak stain thats pretty dark if I don't wipe it.


Hi Bert.

Why don't you stain using a darker stain, then invert any images, and engrave through the stain so that you still get great contrast, but as a negative.
I just did a large run of table centres in pine, where I engraved a table number through the stain into the lighter colour of pine, then clear coated afterwards.

Cheers,
Mitchell

[Glen Monaghan]

Bert, since you have 3 coats of clear on it, you could color the engraved areas after lasering.JDS sells LazerDark spray in brown and black, as well as a clear top coat/sealer. I've experimented with them, didn't think the brown did anything for the wood I was using (basically no color change) but the black was very effective (I just really wanted a very dark brown, not black). I've skipped the clear coat and not noticed any problems such as the color coming off when rubbed but haven't tested that extensively, such as for water proofness. Probably any stain would do, spray or wipe, and you could select or mix just the color you want. With the LazerDark, I hit the engraving with a short burst and, for the black, I immediately wipe down the surface with a paper towel to remove overspray. I left the brown on long enough for the overspray to dry, hoping for a darker color on my wood samples, but didn't happen.

[Bert Kemp]

Hi Glenn ,
I find that BB has these fine little veins in the grain and even with 3 coats of poly if I try color fill some of it fines its way into those veins. These are key rings I'm doing there small with a lot of detail and I'm doing 48 at a time, so it really needs to be a one shot deal engrave cut and done.
:confused:do you put the laser dark on the bare wood and then engrave and it just darkens the engraving or does it darken the wood also?

[Mike Null]

Bert

I think you're going to struggle with BB and other light woods such as maple. If you can increase your dpi to maximum that may help but I would find a wood that'll produce the result you want or get comfortable with color filling.

[John Noell]

The (true) mahogany we grow in Fiji is pretty light and engraves pretty dark. We also have a lot of "raintree" (Albiza sp.) that engraves pretty darkly. It really seems to depend on the type of wood. We have a nice really light wood ('kauvula' - which translates as "white wood") that won't turn dark at all. It's like the laser just makes it evaporate.
302130

[Bert Kemp]

I like that wonder if I can find it in 3mm sheets.

[Bert Kemp]

I like the BB because its cheap, like I've said before I give most of my stuff to Veterans and I can't afford good stuff as I'm retired on SS myself .

[Glen Monaghan]

I haven't tried it on BB. I've been using woods similar to rosewood which tend to darken when engraved, but not always or not as much as I want. I can take three apparently identical pieces of wood and one will engrave with almost black contrast, one with zero contrast, and the third somewhere in between - darkened but not great contrast. The wood is finished (typically either lacquered or waxed) before engraving and I'm just trying to add a bit of contrast by darkening the engraved areas. I just apply the stain and immediately wipe away but I, too, have noticed that sometimes there are fine grain/vein lines that take on some of the darkness despite the finish coat. However, I find that preferable to low contrast in the engraved areas. Some of my engraving has included lettering with characters about .07-0.1 inches high, so the contrast was very helpful for better legibility.

[Glen Monaghan]

Maybe you can work a deal with a cabinet shop or the like for scrap pieces that would work for you, or contact some sort of VA group and see if there is some kind of grant funds available for the type of work you do. You could provide them samples and ask if they could fund materials purchase.

[joe alcathie]

have you tried prefinished (uv coated) plywood? A lot of cabinet companies use it for the interiors of their cabinets. It is available in from 5.2mm to 18mm. Some will still come out pretty light and on those we simply use some shoe polish and with the coated finish it wipes off very easily...a matter of seconds to wipe on and off.

[Bill George]

Bert, I got some aromatic red cedar off eBay that was kind of pricey and its 5/16 thick. By the time it gets sanded smooth and all its about 1/4 inch thick. It cuts and engraves nicely on the laser after a spray coat of lacquer. . I would hit the cabinet or finish carpenter shops and ask for donations like suggested. Its going to a very worthy cause.

[Don Corbeil]

I've had similar challenges with birch and poplars, where it just doesn't get that dark burned in look I want. I've had most success slowing the speed way down and using a 1000 ppi setting (on my trotec), then using a second pass with a vertical (portrait) orientation. The two pass alternating landscape/portrait 'cross engraving' really seems to help burn it in more. I've also started to use cedar more for those wood projects that need a darker engrave. Problem with cedar is its grain - it is very dominant and that poses yet another challenge.

[Mike Null]

Bert

You might consider contacting George Perzel (member here) for wood thins. He has cherry walnut mahogany and maple at very reasonable prices. It is unfinished and rough sanded. I've used a good bit of it and recommend it highly.

[Bert Kemp]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'll hit up some of the cabinet shops and see what I can come up with, the shoe polish Idea is something I might try also. I'd like to stay with 3mm and one pass if possible the Idea about cross graining pass's one vertical and one horizontal I'm not sure how to do that. I have some cedar and I know about the grain problem , LOL it sometimes looks like waves after its engrave, to many hard and soft veins I guess. But does darken nicely. Haven't found it in 3mm either tho . Maybe George has some .