Textured engraving

[Jim Dornon]

I have a Rabbit HX3040. Still figuring everything out. When I engrave on acrylic it leaves a texture to it, kind of rough. Is this normal or should it be smooth like the acrylic ? I'm using 1016 dpi on the machine settings. If I go any lower it shrinks the size of the engraving. 600 speed, 20% power and a gap of .025. Any thoughts ? Jim

[David Lavaneri]

Jim,

What type of acrylic are you engraving? Cast and Extruded are the two types.

Cast acrylic will be render the best image, in a white, frosted appearance.

Extruded acrylic will engrave with a more clear image, which isn't as desireable.

By its nature, laser engraving acrylic will slightly rough up the surface of acrylic, but you shouldn't be feeling too ragged a texture.

If so, it could be the type of acrylic you're using or you may need to finess your power/speed settings.

David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri

[Jim Dornon]

It is the kind you buy at the Borg (home depot). Not sure of the type. Jim

[Larry Bratton]

It is the kind you buy at the Borg (home depot). Not sure of the type. Jim
Jim:
More than likely it is extruded. Cast is what you need for raster engraving. It turns white when engraved, the extruded stays clear (more or less). If you can find a distributor that sells commercial grade acrylics, that's the stuff you need. Don't know where your located but I buy all my acrylic from Piedmont Plastics. http://www.piedmontplastics.com/
They have multiple locations around the country. Acrylic is great laser material but the properties can be kinda tricky. So, try to buy the best you can buy. The acrylic that comes from the home centers may be the same stuff, but I doubt it.

[Levi Chanowitz]

I need to imitate rotary engraving on acrylic. It is reverse engraved in gold and color filled gold. Will laser engraving work for me?

[Joe Pelonio]

Not really. With rotary, regardless of the font, you have rounding of the sharp points due to the round bit. There are very few rounded fonts available and most have a larger radius than what you'd get from a rotary engraver.

Also, the rotary can generally go deeper than you get with a laser, unless you make more than one pass, and then the laser will leave a different texture. With paint fill that part is probably not noticeable though.