How to engrave photo on Pine?

[Daniel Cline]

Hello everyone,

I have a job to engrave a dogs photo on a piece of pine. Could lead to more work if done well.

I know it is not the best wood for this...but that is what they work with.

I have looked through previous threads and tried several things (reduce dpi, speed, etc.) but not the best results so far.

Any suggestions specifically for working with a material like pine?

Dan

[Joe Pelonio]

Photos don't come out well on wood with grain and knots. If you have a piece that's really clear, and still get poor results, try using something like photoshop or PhotoPaint to increase the contrast. You will lose some detail but it will be clearer.

[Daniel Cline]

Thanks Joe...I will try that...it is clear pine, no knots.

[Bruce Volden]

If it is the "smoke" residue you're concerned about, good luck!! You can reduce the amount of residue by applying a coat of paste wax over the finished surface, but myself, have never been successful in eliminating it :(. Then too, we're talking greyscale imaging so that leaves out masking (to a point). Anyway~hope that helps.

Bruce

[Glenn Corser]

We had some luck once with light grained pine doing the following:
1. Put a couple of coats of lacquer or poly on it.
2. Use Photograve @ 200 dpi
3. Engrave enough to go through the finish into the wood but not enough to burn the wood or cause smoke/resin residue.
4. Color fill the engraving with black stencil cream (Michael's, Hobby Lobby). It doesn't move into the grain very much and provides lots of contrast. We probably did 30 photos like that and the customer was happy.

[Daniel Cline]

Thanks Glen...sounds like worth trying! :cool:

[Larry Bratton]

Daniel:
I laser engraved some basswood plaques this last week. This wood is also very soft. I did not do photos, but lettering for some quotes and verses. To keep the residue off them, I use a mask of polyester sheet called P-flex that I get from Piedmont Plastics. The laser will raster right through it and when finished, just pull off what's left. Here is a link to their locations, but the stuff is produced by their films division in Charlotte,NC. They ship anywhere. Good luck!

[Peter Meacham]

Larry

Can you advise what the pflex number is of the Piedmont Plastics sheet that you use pls. I have a book of samples from them, but not sure which one to order.

Thanks

Pete

[Larry Bratton]

Larry

Can you advise what the pflex number is of the Piedmont Plastics sheet that you use pls. I have a book of samples from them, but not sure which one to order.

Thanks

Pete
Peter:
I understand that is a private label product that they make. Their is not a lot of info on it online. They also have it in vinyl I think. Be sure you ask for the polyester product. They cut it to size for me and a 24x36 sheet is about $2.50. Great paint mask too.