I could use some advice on some laser work.

[Steve knight]

I am bidding on a job to make a large mount of these boxes 200 of them. hope to do most of the work on my cnc router. they want graphics on the lids and are planning on having them lasered.
I am thinking of doing the lids out of ply and want to choose dark or light. I think doing the boxes out of beech and the lids out of baltic birch or something else.
Ok so what ply would work well? and can the wood be finished before? or should it wait till they have been lasered?

[Joe Pelonio]

On wood I like to finish it before, to minimize any staining from the process. Then after it's engraved add another coat. For contrast it's best to use light wood which engraves dark with enough power, or light wood stained dark and lower power. Engraving dark wood results in little contrast and needs paint fill to look good unless you are going for subtle.

[Mike Null]

I question whether plywood is the best material for the lids. It is no the best material for lasering and the edges don't look very good.

[Steve knight]

the lid slides so only the end would show. solid wood is a fair amount of extra work so I have to see if they are willing to pay it.
this would be birch plywood I know you guys work with that all of the time. I think the boxes will be hollowed out from a solid block of beech.

[James Jaragosky]

all the time it has a nice contrast on many projects. but you do have to be selective, some stuff needs a darker surface to contrast the image properly.
Thats just my opinion. take it with a grain of salt.
I am very new at this, and there many members here that produce more in a day than I produce all week.
good luck with your project
Jim J.

[Sandra Force]

I engrave light and med cherry and maple plywood quite a bit. Both engrave well if you keep the power down, you will need to experiment to find right power for you. I have used both fir and mdf core. for engraving I prefer fir or luan. If I am cutting filigree work out of the ply I prefer mdf because I get less burn on edges.