What's your favorite Material and Why?

[Steve Clarkson]

There are so many different materials that can be cut, marked or engraved......wood, metal, glass, Rowmark, acrylic, corian, MDF, rubber........need I go on?

So what is your favorite.......and why? Is it because it's easy to work with? Is it the most profitable? Is it the most aesthetically pleasing to the human eye? Is it what your customers want most? Is it just inexpensive? Is it because it is expensive? Does it have anything to do with the speed that it can be done, or the fumes that it produces, or the smell that it gives off?

I think my favorite is cutting leather.......because I love the sweet smell of burning flesh........

[Al Launier]

There is flesh on leather? :D Hope the animal is dead. :D:D:D
I like hard maple because it machines so cleanly, is durable & many attractive "hobbyist" type items can be made from it, as well as larger pieces.

[Craig Matheny]

My favorite is Baltic Birch cuts clean once the settings are all figured out with no black edges and makes great models

[Gary Hair]

Easy, anodized aluminum! It is probably the easiest to work with, fastest to mark and is capable of the highest resolution images. I mark anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand parts every week and would easily give up everything else to exclusively mark them all day, every day.

[Bert Kemp]

I love doing leather work, it looks so awesome when finished. I make my own knife case's start to finish and its really satisfying when I complete one. Its a lot of work. Second choice is mirrors same reason they look so good when done.

[Dan Hintz]

Easy, anodized aluminum! It is probably the easiest to work with, fastest to mark and is capable of the highest resolution images. I mark anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand parts every week and would easily give up everything else to exclusively mark them all day, every day.

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

[Scott Shepherd]

^^^^^ this ^^^^^

^^^^^^ this too! ^^^^^^^^^

[Ron Gosnell]

Wood, wood, and then more wood. Did I mention wood :)
My personal favorite right now is bass wood, Baltic birch is great also. I love white pine, poplar is great, how about that cherry, it's fantastic........

Gozzie

[Chris DeGerolamo]

+1 on AA. Second to that is SS w/cermark. Plenty of money to be made for marking either.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Cutting stainless steel I guess....can make the heat line look really nice given enough time :)

[Joe Pelonio]

I like the smell of engraving leather too, but my favorite material is bamboo. It engraves and paint fills beautifully, cuts clean, and is surprisingly good for inlay work with veneer on bamboo blocks.

[Keith Winter]

I enjoy engraving wood the most, the contrast between a light wood and a dark engraving is beautiful. I also like the smell of working with wood :)

[Gary Hair]

+1 on AA. Second to that is SS w/cermark. Plenty of money to be made for marking either.

My second would have been Cermark on stainless, but since I got the fiber, my second is ANY metal on the fiber. Cermark on stainless has been pushed to the bottom of the list... Sorry Ferro :)

[Joel Ifill]

Probably the oddest one here, but I got I've got a job doing a brand new type of aerogel, it will hold a very high resolution and gets a pitch black mark with a slight emboss, it looks amazing. Also the stuff weighs less than balsa so it's easy on the back.

[Kev Williams]

My favorite stuff to laser etch: Silicone.

Looks totally evil while the laser hits it, looks completely trashed when done, until you hit it with the air hose... :)

Worst stuff in the world to try to engrave by laser OR cutter tool: ABS and polyester.

[Steve Clarkson]

Congrats on your Cubit's Kickstarter Joel.

OK......so how do you engrave liquid smoke? Any pictures you can share?

[Craig Matheny]

Cutting stainless steel I guess....can make the heat line look really nice given enough time :)
Dave what size laser you cutting with?

[Samuel Espy]

Black marble for me. I like doing photos like the squirrel below. As noted in this forum many times, the resolution and contrast from marble is wonderful, especially for a natural material. It even offers a bit of dynamic range (whiter/deeper pits via larger integrated power on pixel). AA is stunning, but I give a nod towards natural materials a bit more. I have seen some really nice engravings on leather, but have not yet engraved it.

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[Bob Davis - Sturgis SD]

My favorite right now is barnwood with inlaid leather:


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[Bert Kemp]

Bob your amazing for a new laser owner, the work you do looks like that of a seasoned pro . You sure you haven't been doing this for years? :)


My favorite right now is barnwood with inlaid leather:


317243

[Bert Kemp]

This is awesome also, I've only done one thing on marble but was happy with the out come.


Black marble for me. I like doing photos like the squirrel below. As noted in this forum many times, the resolution and contrast from marble is wonderful, especially for a natural material. It even offers a bit of dynamic range (whiter/deeper pits via larger integrated power on pixel). AA is stunning, but I give a nod towards natural materials a bit more. I have seen some really nice engravings on leather, but have not yet engraved it.

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[Gary Hair]

I looked at the little picture and thought it looked like a nice job of paint fill, then I read what it was and looked at the bigger picture - that's awesome! Very nice work combining wood and leather!!


My favorite right now is barnwood with inlaid leather:


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[Samuel Espy]

Thank you Bert.

[Mayo Pardo]

Bob - is that board about 6 inches tall? Great concept to combine the two materials!

Samuel - really nice detail on the squirrel. Your material is marble and not granite?
Did you paint fill with white or is that just the engraved stone?

I also have a 30watt but haven't tried natural stone yet. If I can find some black marble I think I'll try it.

[Samuel Espy]

Thanks Mayo. Yes the squirrel is engraved on black marble without the use of color fill. I use color fill on granite, but quality black marble engraves white with a nice contrast so no need for colorfill. BTW, I buy black marble from LaserStone Midwest. It is not an inexpensive material, but beautiful when engraved. As noted in numerous threads, many vendors sell black granite labeled as marble so take care. They engrave radically differently.

[Bob Davis - Sturgis SD]

Bob - is that board about 6 inches tall? Great concept to combine the two materials!



Mayo,

That board is 8.25" X 29.50". I'm not seeing a lot of standard sizes in this old barnwood around here.

Thanks,

Bob