Still trying to find floor wax? Nancy Laird?

[Barb Macdonald]

Hi all
I've been happily lasering any wood I can find, kindling wood was used for making "No Littering" Signs in my local conservation area! No finishing was applied, I wanted them to look like the trees were saying it:)

Anyway, for actual paying items, I've been using the methods I learned on this site, especially Nancy's way of finishing with lacquer, waxing, and then filling. I still get some seepage into the grain, no matter what I do. I've been using paste wax from MinWax, to seal the burn before filling, but it seems too thick, and it does attack some of the wood finishes I've been playing with (mostly flooring samples, maple, oak, whatever). I've looked high and low for plain "high-quality liquid floor wax" as Nancy described it, but they all seem to have a cleaner in them, which attacks the finish on the wood. Any thoughts? Any brand names? A friend at my local BORG Hardware store, he's originally from the states, smiled when I asked him and said "Try Lowe's", but they're not up here in Canada yet, as he knew.
I turned down a job for lasering customer supplied black painted wood, a tiny two-colour- overlapped logo, I just couldn't see how I'd be able to do that:( I did suggest that the customer use a solid surface material like Corian, but the cost would be pretty high, I know.
I love the look of wood lasered without filling, but I have customers that want colour.
I have a question about cleaning my lenses etc. after lasering finished wood, it sure seems to get dirty quick.
I need to cover the front of the machine with a big long piece of paper, to ensure maximum suck for my exhaust.
The smoke will go up, before it goes back, otherwise. Am I hurting my machine by making it draw air harder?

Thanks for any input, and Happy Thanksgiving, next week:)

Barb
epilog legend ext 60 watt, xenetech rotaries, God bless'em, oops they've stopped, gotta go:)

[Bruce Volden]

Hi all
I've been happily lasering any wood I can find, kindling wood was used for making "No Littering" Signs in my local conservation area! No finishing was applied, I wanted them to look like the trees were saying it:)

Anyway, for actual paying items, I've been using the methods I learned on this site, especially Nancy's way of finishing with lacquer, waxing, and then filling. I still get some seepage into the grain, no matter what I do. I've been using paste wax from MinWax, to seal the burn before filling, but it seems too thick, and it does attack some of the wood finishes I've been playing with (mostly flooring samples, maple, oak, whatever). I've looked high and low for plain "high-quality liquid floor wax" as Nancy described it, but they all seem to have a cleaner in them, which attacks the finish on the wood. Any thoughts? Any brand names? A friend at my local BORG Hardware store, he's originally from the states, smiled when I asked him and said "Try Lowe's", but they're not up here in Canada yet, as he knew.
I turned down a job for lasering customer supplied black painted wood, a tiny two-colour- overlapped logo, I just couldn't see how I'd be able to do that:( I did suggest that the customer use a solid surface material like Corian, but the cost would be pretty high, I know.
I love the look of wood lasered without filling, but I have customers that want colour.
I have a question about cleaning my lenses etc. after lasering finished wood, it sure seems to get dirty quick.
I need to cover the front of the machine with a big long piece of paper, to ensure maximum suck for my exhaust.
The smoke will go up, before it goes back, otherwise. Am I hurting my machine by making it draw air harder?

Thanks for any input, and Happy Thanksgiving, next week:)

Barb
epilog legend ext 60 watt, xenetech rotaries, God bless'em, oops they've stopped, gotta go:)

If I cover the front of my TT it would not "draw" cool air around the laser tube~~DON'T want that:(

Bruce

[Travis Watts]

With covering the vents, you are making the vacuum work harder, but not better. The flow is designed the way it is for a reason. I'm assuming with the vents on the front, the suction in on the back. Creating a flow path to clean the whole machine. If what you have isn't working, restricting the flow is not going to improve the situation. You need to increase the total CFM of your exhaust system by adding another or changing to a larger exhaust fan.

[Mike Null]

Travis has a good point. Do not block the air intake at the front of the machine.

On the other hand, before going out to buy a bigger blower, check to see that you have a good venting system set up for the blower you have and that it is not constricted or blocked.

If you're using flexible dryer venting be sure it is the metal type not the plastic with wire in it. Check to see if your blast gate is fully open. (if you have one)

[Bill Cunningham]

I know 'my' epilog has vents in the front, so the exhaust can suck air over the laser tube for cooling.. blocking off that vent, may shorten the life of your tube from over heating.. Maple being a tighter grain, usually seals pretty well for colour filling, but If your using Oak, Oak has a very open grain, and usually takes several coats of lacquer to seal it up.. If you can 'feel' the grain with your fingernail, you can be pretty sure the paint will find it..

[Mark Winlund]

Universal has independent cooling fans for the laser tubes (at least on my machine). They recommended a high pressure exhaust blower for the table. I ignored their advice at first and put in a squirrel cage blower, but later installed a high pressure unit. The blower is a 3hp 3 phase unit controlled by a vfd to allow adjustment of the blower's speed. This has made all the difference in the exhaust capabilities. A side benefit is the vector table will also act as a vacuum table to hold items flat. You can vary the amount of air going across the top by partially covering the top air vents with magnetic sign material. This setup works very well when cutting wood veneers that don't want to lay flat! There is now so much power in the exhaust system that you can actually make the top window bow in from the pressure!

Mark