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Bill George
04-30-2017, 5:28 PM
I could add lasering sea shells by the seaside.... but we are not going that way.

Yes I have another Co2 laser machine ordered and since we spent part of the winter in Florida and brought back some shells we find on the beach I was wondering. I know my fiber will not touch them, but can a Co2 machine either engrave or cut??

Keith Downing
04-30-2017, 5:51 PM
I could add lasering sea shells by the seaside.... but we are not going that way.

Yes I have another Co2 laser machine ordered and since we spent part of the winter in Florida and brought back some shells we find on the beach I was wondering. I know my fiber will not touch them, but can a Co2 machine either engrave or cut??

Admittedly I have no idea. I'm curious to see what others say though; and hopefully to eventually see how you are able to make this work.

John Lifer
04-30-2017, 9:03 PM
Not easily. Think of glass and ceramics combined. My wife has thousands we've picked up over the years and i tried to put some holes in a few. Limited sucess, was able to go thru a few, but broke several. You might have better luck with just engraving.

Bill Carruthers
04-30-2017, 9:52 PM
Hi Bill
Yes the CO2 laser will engrave on shells - I do a lot of it on the local pearl oyster shells - but I can't begin to cut them through even with multiple passes on a 100 watt machine. These laser out to white so the darker shells have better contrast/legibility. Sorry for poor pics but they are all I have on this computer.
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Bill George
05-01-2017, 7:45 AM
Thanks Bill it looks like next time we should find the darker shells!

David Somers
05-01-2017, 2:30 PM
Bill,

If you have been able to get a deep enough engraving and are using light shells you might try something like Rub n Buff to infill the engraving. It is easy to apply and might help salvage what you have done already.

You might also check with John Noell on this forum. Like Bill Corruthers he lives in the South Pacific (Fiji) and uses a lot of Mother of Pearl, and I presume works with shells in general as well and might have some other ideas that can help you.