How small can you go?

[Gary Hair]

Last week I engraved river rocks for a jewelry manufacturer, they wanted them for a display. They turned out great and the customer was VERY happy!
Today they asked if I could engrave on gemstones. I told them I have not done that yet and if they were willing to provide some samples to experiment on that I would try anything once, twice if it didn't hurt too bad the first time...
What they gave me were two pieces, I don't know what they are exactly but they were not quite what I expected. One piece is oval, about .45 x .65 - not too small, but smaller than anything I have done yet. They wanted a rose on this one. The other piece is .24" x .24" with an engravable area of .14" x .14". They wanted a star on this piece.
The oval looks like lapus, or some fairly soft material and the square is more of a crystal type - she said the square has a hardness of 9 - close to diamond.
Attached are pictures of the results - I am very happy with the oval but I think the square moved while engraving. I didn't have any clay to hold it in place and I am pretty sure that would have helped. You can't see the problems with the star with your naked eye, you need to magnify it to see it. With your naked eye it actually looks pretty good!
They will be thrilled with the results and I can be pretty sure of an order that will consist of several hundred pieces, maybe upwards of a thousand.
Next week they will have some stainless steel discs that are 10, 12 and 15mm in diameter that they want a photo engraved on. I guess it's time to buy a microscope to see the results of my work...
You would be amazed what you can engrave if you just try...
Keep in mind that these pictures are maginfied a bit. The square is about 1/8 the size of the oval in real life.
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[Dennis Solomon]

Gary those look great!

[Mitchell Andrus]

The real question is, how few dots are really needed to render any given design, and how close can those dots be to each other?

Mitch

[Leigh Costello]

I had a customer bring me a glass heart and wanted the "Love is Patient" biblical reading put on it. I thought cool, I can do that. The heart was .75" across! I got the reading on there and with a magnifying glass, is quite legible. I don't have a picture of it, but I can honestly say, her idea sure sparked my imagination! She was going to use it when her hubby made an error in judgement. He would have to read it to her to stay out the proverbial dog house. Gotta love imaginative penances!

[John Bevins]

Hi Gary,

How much power did you use to engrave those gemstones?

Thanks,
John Bevins

[Gary Hair]

Hi Gary,

How much power did you use to engrave those gemstones?

Thanks,
John Bevins

I used 50 speed, 50 power - (Pinnacle ZX 30Watt, 80ips)

[Gary Hair]

I was challenged on another forum to engrave a grain of rice - here it is. That is a 4 point font and the grain of rice is .219 x .087

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[Leigh Costello]

Now that is small!

[Robert McCloughan]

I've just started engraving on rocks, so far I've found that it works very
well on Agate, petrified wood and glass, works best using raster.

[Bob Yeager]

GRAY HAIR (and anyone else that has the answer) --

1)Question for you on your gemstone engraving...did you use the "standard" lens or some special lens with a finer beam?

2) RIVER ROCKS -- Does anyone have a photo of an engraved rock? Any what settings were used?

Thanks a bunch!!

Bob

[Joe Pelonio]

GRAY HAIR (and anyone else that has the answer) --

1)Question for you on your gemstone engraving...did you use the "standard" lens or some special lens with a finer beam?

2) RIVER ROCKS -- Does anyone have a photo of an engraved rock? Any what settings were used?

Thanks a bunch!!

Bob
Bob,

I saw your bold GRAY HAIR and was expecting to see that you engraved on a gray hair!!!:eek:

Gary,

My smallest was in a previous post, where I used cermark on gold, that was pretty small but probably 4 times the size of the rice. Somehow I doubt there's much market for lasered rice, but like you I can't resist a challenge.

[Mitchell Andrus]

In St. Maarten last March, I saw a street vendor hand cutting names into grains of rice, blackening the letters and sealing the grain into a small vial/charm. The necklace or bracelet was extra. Pretty cool. $15.00 each - not worth it but for the entertainment factor.

[Joe Pelonio]

In St. Maarten last March, I saw a street vendor hand cutting names into grains of rice, blackening the letters and sealing the grain into a small vial/charm. The necklace or bracelet was extra. Pretty cool. $15.00 each - not worth it but for the entertainment factor.
He has better eyes than I do!

[Bill Cunningham]

GRAY HAIR (and anyone else that has the answer) --

1)Question for you on your gemstone engraving...did you use the "standard" lens or some special lens with a finer beam?

2) RIVER ROCKS -- Does anyone have a photo of an engraved rock? Any what settings were used?

Thanks a bunch!!

Bob

A lot of what people call "River Rocks" including the ones sold in mesh bags at Walmark, and most dollar stores are actually polished Marble chunks, and laser quite well.. I have also had some interesting results with Hematite.. (The engraving actually rises above the surface)

Heres a Real "River Rock" (about 5" across) these engrave S L O W, and a Dollar store river rock (marble about .75 across) with the 'Duke's' picture on it..

[Bob Yeager]

Thanks for additional pictures! Cool stuff!

I'm not interested in engraving rice...but am interested in gemstones and rocks. The polished marble pieces look interesting...maybe some actual fist size natural river rocks.

Suggested settings for the above??

I just got my Epilog mini 18 up and running last Thursday...I first project are some Christmas cards...looking pretty good, soooo much to learn about X3.

Thanks.

Bob

[Bill Cunningham]

Thanks for additional pictures! Cool stuff!

I'm not interested in engraving rice...but am interested in gemstones and rocks. The polished marble pieces look interesting...maybe some actual fist size natural river rocks.

Suggested settings for the above??

I just got my Epilog mini 18 up and running last Thursday...I first project are some Christmas cards...looking pretty good, soooo much to learn about X3.

Thanks.

Bob

Hi Bob.. The marble rock was done @ 25% speed, 100% Power
the 'Real rock' was done with multiple passes for depth, @ 2% speed, 100% power (you may get exploding chunks flying off, so I don't recmnd doing these.. It was done a few years back when I didn't know any better:eek:) on a 35 w Epilog TT

[Gary Hair]

GRAY HAIR (and anyone else that has the answer) --

1)Question for you on your gemstone engraving...did you use the "standard" lens or some special lens with a finer beam?

2) RIVER ROCKS -- Does anyone have a photo of an engraved rock? Any what settings were used?

Thanks a bunch!!

Bob

What hair I have left is turning gray - I think it's a race, gone or gray?

anyway, I used the standard 2" lense but I am ordering a 1.5" very soon. That will allow me to do 2 point fonts gives a line width of .003 instead of .005 with the 2". I really want that lense for a huge project to engrave photos on 8mm, 10mm and 12mm stainless steel discs.

Here is a photo of a rock being engraved.
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[Bob Yeager]

OOOOPS!!! Sorry about that GARY Hair...My proofreading needs work!

Thanks for the pictures and reply....and your settings for the rock were what???

Bob