Dark oily residue on red alder.....why?

[Don Gares]

Please look at the attachment and tell me why I am getting the dark oily residue in certain areas of the engraved alder plaque and what I can do to correct it. Using a 40 watt Pinnacle M-Series machine, speed = 60, power = 100, and 500 DPI. And yes, I am very new at this so your help would really be appreciated. If you see anything else in the attachment that looks wrong please tell me!

Don

[Mike Null]

That is the residue from the engraving. it will happen when you engrave wood.

As a precaution you can mask the engraving then remove the mask when you're finished or better, be sure that the wood has a finish (lacquer, varnish, etc.) before you engrave. Then you can wipe it off with a damp rag.

I find diluted orange cleaner works very well.

To fix the current problem you can try gently wiping the area with mineral spirits.

Even so your engraving is a nice composition and your settings look to be accurate.

[Nancy Laird]

Don, that's smoke from the engraving process. Just take some good liquid floor wax and see if it will come off--try the orange cleaner also, as well as 409. But....you should ALWAYS have a finish on wood before you engrave so this doesn't become permanent. It will come off of finished wood; it won't always come off of bare wood---at least not without sandpaper!

[Don Necaise]

Don
Just curious on how you got the picture to look like that. Was that a picyure that was taken or some kind of drawing? Thanks

[Don Gares]

Nancy,

The plaque is a JDS GRA810 as shown on page 66 of their 2008 catalog. I think that these plaques come with a lacquer finish on them. In fact, it is almost like the finish itself is getting hot and turning soft (somewhat like it is almost boiling). If you touch the areas soon after engraving you will actually leave a fingerprint in them. I considered immediately wiping them off but it looked like it was going to do more damage than good. Will try cleaning them up when they are completely dry.

Don

[Don Gares]

I do have a photographic postcard dated 1906 of that exact same view of the same building so it was originally a photograph. I also have an old plate (the decor type) dated 1954 that has had the original photograph converted to a near line drawing. I simply scanned the plate, removed some trees, and did some other touch up.

Don (who didn't know they had Corel Trace in 1954):)

[Mike Null]

You should be able to clean it with diluted orange cleaner.

I have used that JDS product and the finish is quite thin and inadequate.

[Don Gares]

Thanks for the info but where would you recommend getting a better quality but similar product?

Don

[Mike Null]

Colorado Heirloom has very nice product.

BTW, JDS will replace anything you think is defective.

[Shaddy Dedmore]

looks like the plaque was a glueup from different parts of the tree. the middle piece that didn't get the smoke damage had less resin in it, so less oily smoke. looks the dust collector pulls the smoke a certain direction (and/or the blower for vectoring) so you'll always have that build up on one side of the engraving. The messy types of woods are usually the ones that raster darker, so i don't mind the clean up for a nice contrast

It's just something you'll learn to accept and clean up (c: Pre finishing is the way to go for easier cleanup.

Shaddy

[martin g. boekers]

I use a light shot of Endust, Pledge seems to have a bit more wax in it.
Then wipe a few light passes with a "Magic Sponge" (I think it's made by Scotch) This is a very valuable tool to clean up engravings with.


Marty

[Don Gares]

This morning after the residue on the wood plaque was dry I simply wiped it lightly with a cloth and some 409 and it came out perfect in my opinion (the original finish remained intact)! Now I need to try wiping it immediately after engraving and see if that also works.

Shaddy, you are definitely correct, the dust/smoke collector is pulling everything over the top and out the back thus the residue is above each line of engraving.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I may still need them.

Don

[George M. Perzel]

Don;
If the dust collection airflow is causing the problem, try engraving from the bottom up-assuming you have that feature on your driver.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts