PDA

View Full Version : Finally, some acceptable pics and a question



mike wallis
06-04-2004, 10:13 PM
I think Keith said in a post a while back that the first month of owning a laser is brutal. I wasn't sure what he ment by that a the time, I sure do now!
Although its been alot to take in , its also been a blast as well.
I'm finally getting some quality photo's engraved after countless hours of trial and error and tech support. Some problems were with the machine , but mostly on how I was preparing the photo.
Question, Im now looking into different methods to darken the burn on Alder, Cherry, and Maple while maintaining resolution. I can get a darker burn by increasing power , but the side effect is loss of Res. If anyone has any tips I would love to give it a shot.

Mike

Shaddy Dedmore
06-05-2004, 12:00 AM
I can't answer your question, as I won't even get my Epilog 24TT until next week, but I wanted to pipe in and say that the picture looks really good. What is the material? I thought at first it was black marble, but it looks too thin for that.

About how much time went into processing the picture on the software, and what program(s) did you use?

Oh, and July 19th is the best date of the year (my birthday:D)

Shaddy

mike wallis
06-05-2004, 1:50 AM
Hi Shaddy,
the materal is 3/8 inch thick Black Marble. The programs I used to process the photos are Photoshop, and Corel draw. Depending on the photo it takes me between 15 to 45 miniutes to process in Photoshop and another 10-15 in Corel. Since each piece of Marble varies in how it engraves" lighter/darker", I do a small test on a piece of scrap from the same piece that was cut. From there I can adjust the power +/-.
Hope this helps,
Mike

Keith Outten
06-05-2004, 6:27 AM
Mike,

Your black marble engraving is as good as any I have done, very nice work. Your question about darkening wood is a difficult one to answer. Since the resin content in wood varies from species to species and from one end of a board to the other it is not a consistant material for engraving. The resin content is a major factor that controls contrast when engraving wood. You can experiment with decreasing speed instead of increasing power but unlike marble wood actually burns and at very slow speeds you will start to lose resolution quickly. Also you should try using fast speeds and low power settings and run the job two or three times, this will increase depth of burn and lessen the affect on the edges.

Tyler Howell
06-05-2004, 7:40 AM
Is that you in the photo Mike?? I can't see it being anything but perfect with Tina in the mix! Just put her in your photos and all your future projects will turn out great. And you step back.....Little more...... little more.....out of range........ Perfect.:p

Good luck on your new adventure. They say "It's the journey not the destination";)

mike wallis
06-05-2004, 6:59 PM
Thanks Keith for the info, i'll give that a shot. I also ordered some laser dark powder that is suppose to enhance the image as well. If anyone has used this product and have any comments please let me know.
Tyler, I like your humor "or were you not joking :) " I'm one lucky guy to have Tina, not only is she a beauty shes a sweetheart as well.

Mike

David Harvey
06-14-2004, 7:39 PM
Mike, REALLY good engraving! Congrats!

What Laser system do you use? From the picture I would guess you were engraving at a pretty high resolution too. Do you remember what your settings were?

Thanks!

David

mike wallis
06-14-2004, 7:58 PM
Hi David,
it's a Epilog Mini 35 watt. The setting I used on the laser to do this piece of Marble was a speed of 27, and a power of 75. Those settings worked well for that piece but for other pieces it may be different. Im encountering light and dark areas "in the Marble" even on the same piece of marble which may require +/- power/speed. I spoke with Keith on this matter and he said that sometimes he will do the first engrave and if it does not come out acceptable he will do a second. There are many dynamic variables that go into making a good photo and im still working on getting a consistancy with all those variables.
Sorry for all the info, you probibly just wanted the speed and power settings:)

Mike