Cutting & engraving wood

[Dean Barber]

I have seen alot of people use 1/8 baltic birch plywood. I was wondering, what other plywoods would be good for cutting & engraving? The only place I can go is to lowes or home depot & they are a hour away from me.
Would I be able to find a baltic birch at either of those places? or something as good?

[Joe Pelonio]

If you don't need the strength, the best I've found is basswood, available at Ace Hardware and most craft stores, various sizes and thicknesses.

For 1/16" the Baltic (3-ply) works real well that I got at Ben Frankin.

[Larry Bratton]

Dean,
I like alder. I get it from Laserbits on line. You said "plywood", the alder I get is not solid wood I don't think, but it works very well in the laser. They have some other thin woods too. Their are several other sources for wood you can get online. Just do a search here or on some of the other engraving forum sites.

[John Esberg]

Dean,

I work a lot of wood with my laser. From 1/64th inch plywood and up. So, I can say from experience that its really important to ask one simple question. What are you trying to accomplish?

DAK

[Dean Barber]

well I should be getting my laser engraver this week. I wanted to try some of the samples from laserbuzz. I was going to pick up some wood at lowes just to get me started with the machine. I saw it says baltic birch but i am not sure if that is something lowes would have. Also what types of wood are good for doing photos? oak? just knowing which types of wood are good for engraving would be helpful too. Thank you for all the answers

[John Esberg]

Dean,

For the Laserbuzz products, stay with the 1/8" Baltich Birch plywood. Call ahead to Lowe's and see if they have it. The will most likely not carry it. Next, figure out who the plywood distributors are in your region. Call them directly. Don't call the lumber yards. If the plywood distributors ask who you normally go through for purchasing plywood, say "no one". Say, "my company is searching for a new vendor source for a new product line."

Since you are not a large construction company, it might also be best for you to go and directly pick up the plywood yourself. Otherwise you might be waiting for weeks.

As for good woods to engrave, don't use oak. It's too porous and the grains contrast too well. Flatsawn woods work best. The smoother/finished the surface of the wood, the better resolution of an image it will hold.

What kind of laser are you getting?

DAK

[Mike Null]

You can get good quality BB from this member at a fair price. http://sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=7880

[Brian Robison]

Try these folks.
http://www.sloanswoodshop.com/
And oak is about the worst wood to engrave.
Poplars not bad, alder is good.

[Todd Schwartz]

Dean,

I have used a product Home Depot calls "Hardboard". It is not masonite or chip board. It engraved and vector cut well. I have also used masonite for templates and trial pieces. 1/8" cuts well.

With that said, baltic birch is by far the best choice.

Good luck,

Todd

[Mike Null]

Regarding oak---the others are right, it doesn't engrave well, in fact it engraves poorly. But you can use it if you use a color fill.

After engraving I sprayed clear lacquer on the piece then used latex enamel to color fill. The plaque is 26"x12.5" and was made by the judge.

Plaque looks good-picture looks bad.

The judge called this hammer and gavel justice.

[John Esberg]

Dean,

And if you go to engrave on something like oak with such huge pores and tough graines, try to avoid the gray scale images. It can get to be a waste of time.

So, what kind of laser are you getting? I'm asking for a specific reason.

DAK

[Nancy Laird]

Birch and maple also engrave beautifully!

Nancy

[Barbara Buhse]

when engraving photos (which is probably 80% of what I do) I almost always use either Alder or Maple. The only time I choose a different material is if the customer requests it.


Barbara

[George M. Perzel]

Hi gang;
I'll throw my 2 cents in- alder is still the nicest to engrave for contrast-also like cherry. Maple is problematic, have had mixed results on the same piece of wood due to density change/ grain change/global warming- who knows??
One wood which is often overlooked but engraves well is butternut-great contrast and easy to finish with oil, lacquer, or poly-love it but getting harder to find.
Hint: If you are going to engrave on luan , look for the kind that has a very thin upper and lower layer and a composite in between. The other kind is a 3 ply which doesn't engrave very well contrast- wise
Good Luck
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Ray Mighells]

I try to avoid any flat sawn wood for engraving anything with detail you want to preserve. Rift sawn is the best for almost anything. Also referred to as CVG or Clear Vertical Grain. This cut is practically figureless and is the most stable cut of lumber. Look at the end grain and the growth rings are vertical. In plywood this is known as sliced vertical grain. Is is also more expensive, but depending what results you want, it will pay to compare. FWIW.