Laser Dark Product?

[David Dustin]

We were told of a product called "Laser Dark" but can't find anything on it.

It is supposed to be a product you wipe on engraved wood to highlight the engraving.

Thanks,
David

[Phil Salvati]

Is this what you are looking for?

http://www.smoke-wood.com/SM-wd-2.HTML

[Dan Hintz]

Phil,

That looks like nothing more than a bottle of copier/printer toner.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

I've seen this product before. However, I have not used it. Toner works great. You have to be sure the wood is wiped clean and polished like stated from the website or you will have spots of your toner where you don't want it. Also, please note that toner doesn't like to be wet! Make certain your work piece is dry.

[John Noell]

It has also been suggested to use black powder paint (e.g., from Harbor Freight). I was unimpressed with the results myself.

[Mike Null]

I also tried the black powder coat from HF and was unimpressed as well. I'm too cheap to throw it away but it doesn't seem to be good for anything.

[Frank Corker]

I also tried the black powder coat from HF and was unimpressed as well. I'm too cheap to throw it away but it doesn't seem to be good for anything.


Sprinkle it around your fire hearth and tell everyone that you had a roaring big fire last night.

[Phil Salvati]

I have never used the product myself.... but was intrigued.

[Gary Hair]

I also tried the black powder coat from HF and was unimpressed as well. I'm too cheap to throw it away but it doesn't seem to be good for anything.

I have used it quite a bit for text and it really works well and is way easier than paint filling. If you tried to fill in large areas then it's definately not the stuff to use, it's too hard to get a nice even coat in areas larger than text. The key to using it is to slow down the speed and lower the power. With my 80ips, 30 watt laser I used 20% power and 70% speed. It took a lot of testing to get to a point where the powder melted instead of just getting vaporized.

Gary

[Craig Hogarth]

Phil,

That looks like nothing more than a bottle of copier/printer toner.

I use toner myself and it doesn't work the way laserdarc claims their product does. According to them, you can "laserbake" their stuff and I just can't get it to work with the toner. I've literrally tried a hundred different settings and I just can't get toner to 'bake"

[Bill Cunningham]

I have just brushed toner into the text, there is usually enough oil residue to make the toner stick if you do it right away, there is no need to 'bake' it..

[Dan Hintz]

I use toner myself and it doesn't work the way laserdarc claims their product does. According to them, you can "laserbake" their stuff and I just can't get it to work with the toner. I've literrally tried a hundred different settings and I just can't get toner to 'bake"
Printers merely melt the toner onto paper, so I see nothing special about the LaserDarc stuff... it may take some tweaking of settings, but I have no doubt one can be found that will melt the toner without blasting it away.

[Dave Johnson29]

can be found that will melt the toner without blasting it away.


Pardon my naivety, but what about tossing it in the oven at say 350?

[Craig Hogarth]

I have just brushed toner into the text, there is usually enough oil residue to make the toner stick if you do it right away, there is no need to 'bake' it..

The problem I have with using toner is that you can't put it on thick enough to cover up the grains on large rastered areas. I would prefer if possible to lay it on thick and bake it in, completely hiding the grain. Right now, I can lay it thick enough to cover the grain, but the static cling from the recognition window boxes pulls it out of the engraving and since the majority of my customers are Navy, I have to ensure it's extremely clean before presented to someone in their whites.

I'd also like to bake in order to used color toner. I've tried yellow, but I just can't get it thick enough to show the color.

[Richard Rumancik]

At one time the trade mags were promoting using Johnson's wax on wood items before lasering and paint fill. I have found that toner can be made to adhere better to wood if you spray wax polish over the engraved text after brushing the toner in. As has been mentioned, toner is not suitable for large flat recesses. You need a textured background to hold the toner and look good. Without sealing with wax, if the plaque falls face down, the toner will come out.

I have also used the Lazer Darc product and found it does not behave like the toner. It works better than toner for some things but I have not used it extensively as I only had a sample quantity. The advantage of toner is that it is inexpensive and easily available.

Keep in mind that there are now many variations of toner so trying one toner is not necessarily conclusive.

If you want a rougher texture in your text or graphic to hold toner, this can sometimes be achieved by filling the shape/text with grey instead of black. Then when converted to b/w for lasering you get a more stippled effect instead of a flat-bottomed recess.

[Bill Cunningham]

The old standby used for years is Turtlewax color cure car polish in black.. If there is a good smooth finish on the piece, you simple brush this stuff into the text etc.. let it dry, then buff off the surface, it will not stick to finished wood, and leaves the engraving nice and black, even the large areas.. If you use spray wax, you can put it right on top, and seal the whole surface..

[Rob Bosworth]

I do not have a lot of experience with some of the darkening products sold specifically for "darkening" your mark. I have used tons of black liquid shoe polish to darken my marks. Do you engraving. Then liberally dab in liquid shoe polish (usually black), then wiping the excess off with a damp cloth. No need to wipe down in the engraved area, the liquid shoe polish will asborb into the wood. It also helps shine up the finished plaque.

If you are working in a finished plaque, and it has a lot of open grain like oak, you might need to try to seal the surface before going to the liquid shoe polish. A good coat of Johnson paste wax over the surface of the wood before engraving, will minimize the amount of running of the polish into the grain of the wood. And it gives your plaques a nice shiny look.

[Kevin L. Waldron]

Not sure why you need to make letters darker?

I am including photo's done on alder and nothing but the laser is used and I really don't want them black.

I think that it is probably laser setting that need adjusting.

Kevin

[Kevin L. Waldron]

Sorry; forgot to add.
"Used Everything" was not cleaned just to show what comes direct from machine. Everything does have lacquer finish before I engrave.

Kevin

[Frank Corker]

I'm with Kevin. I prefer not to use anything to make the wood darker. I guess it's personal preference but I like to see just nicely lasered wood, it looks better, if I wanted it dark I would cut out a stencil and paint it black. That way it looks just like any other sign. :rolleyes: