Paper engraving help please

[Jani Pedersen]

Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend a setting for engraving onto card stock please ? The only settings I see on Epilog are for a 60w laser and I have a wee 35w.

(Also cutting settings if anyone has them at hand for this wattage please !)

Thankyou

[Jani Pedersen]

I did a test engrave at 80sp 8 power and it is as clear as crystal - 35w epilog.

Will test out a few cuts now !

[Robert Alexander]

Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend a setting for engraving onto card stock please ? The only settings I see on Epilog are for a 60w laser and I have a wee 35w.

(Also cutting settings if anyone has them at hand for this wattage please !)

Thankyou

For card stock 40 power 50 speed for engraving

For Card stock try 20 power 25 speed and 900 frequency this is for a epiloge
45 watt for vector cutting

[Julie Nickerson]

Not to hijack the thread, but wouldn't there be burn marks on the paper?

[Sarah Holbrook]

Jani, engraving paper is similar to engraving any other material. It depends on the kind of paper and the effect you're going for. With my machine (VLS 4.60 50W) I engrave card stock from 20-40% power and 100% speed. Most papers engrave fine at 20%, but if I need a deeper cut for most contrast (for example, on white paper), I'll need to go 30% or higher. Heavy stocks (100# and up) can handle a higher power without the engraving burning through.

Julie, normally etching doesn't leave burn marks. Again, it depends on the paper; generally uncoated papers are fine.

[Jani Pedersen]

Thanks very much

My cut test wasnt very good - I cut twice with same settings then increased and got a perforated edge which tore easily enough but wasn't a clean cut.

I've been out all day, but going to have another shot at cutting later. One thing I did notice was that the image closest to the left didn't appear to engrave clearly - no idea why.

Thanks again

ps I am going to be attempting to do two things, one is engraving and cutting a greetings card and the other is to create engraved & cut card stock on which to hang items for sale - packaging basically. I am also considering using laser printed images on card then laser cut.

Jani

[Dan Hintz]

To avoid confusion in the future, please make the distinction between engraving (rastering) and cutting (vectoring)... each require different settings.

[Jani Pedersen]

It appears that no one was confused over this ? Most people in this forum know when someone is talking about engraving or cutting and uses those terms. I don't always see people discussing vectoring or rastering ?

A little puzzled by this comment and the 'tone' of it.

[Rodne Gold]

Try this for "wow" paper engraving
Use thickish paper like the stuff you print photos on and take a nice picture of a landscape , engrave that picture into the paper in greyscale and hold a bright light source behind it or hold it up to the light , looks wonderful and never fails to wow ppl.
Nice idea for a lamp shade , cos when there is no light , the paper seems "empty" , switch on the light and a whole new world appears.

[Dan Hintz]

Jani,

There was no intended "tone" to my message, so I apologize if it appears that way. Your post simply didn't strike me as being completely clear at first read as to what you were trying to do, raster a design onto the paper or vector cut designs out of the paper.

[Sarah Holbrook]

Thanks very much

My cut test wasnt very good - I cut twice with same settings then increased and got a perforated edge which tore easily enough but wasn't a clean cut.

Do you mean actual perforations, or just that it was nearly cut through but not all of the way? If it's actual perforation you should increase your PPI. There's probably some difference between Epilog and Universal, but I use 450 PPI to cut paper. This leaves a tiny "ridge" feeling but is a super clean cut with very little change to the color of the edge (if any).

If it just wasn't deep enough then keep increasing that power! If you don't already I recommend getting a set of digital calipers. It really makes a difference to have the beam in focus for cutting paper. If you don't, most 80# cardstock is 0.010-0.012" and 100#+ is 0.014-0.017". Most paper manufacturers also publish this number.

I also cut and etch greeting cards. PM me any time!

[Niklas Bjornestal]

Try this for "wow" paper engraving
Use thickish paper like the stuff you print photos on and take a nice picture of a landscape , engrave that picture into the paper in greyscale and hold a bright light source behind it or hold it up to the light , looks wonderful and never fails to wow ppl.
Nice idea for a lamp shade , cos when there is no light , the paper seems "empty" , switch on the light and a whole new world appears.

Just remember to invert the picture first

[Larry Bratton]

Don't know if any of you do much printing, so you might not be familiar with this product, it is called Phototex. What makes it somewhat unique is that is has a patented adhesive on it that allows it to stick to almost anything and be removed very easily and reused over and over. It has the texture of a fabric. It is also translucent and can be backlit. I tried engraving it and it engraved nicely, I stuck it on a window pane and the engraving is very clean and shows up well. Use your creativity to figure out how to use it. Here is a link to their site http://phototexgroup.com/?gclid=CMKO...FRKfnAod3XwmeA

[John Noell]

It really makes a difference to have the beam in focus for cutting paper.

I must emphasize this point. I cut a lot of heavy paper (for jewelry package inserts) and even being a tiny bit off in focus means that the pieces do not cut through cleanly. I cut directly on honeycomb and focused properly, there is absolutely no burn mark and a very clean cut.

[Jani Pedersen]

Thanks guys, some really interesting and useful information here !

Rodne that sounds great, I will be out buying some suitable paper to try this out on during the week !

Sarah it was the actual perforations - my ppi was way too low, I only had it at about 100 I think. With this being my first attempt at either 'raster' or 'vector' (lol) on paper I was scaring myself silly with thoughts of it all going up in flames and so very much veered on the side of caution. I will certainly take you up on your offer of pm advice, thankyou !

Larry that looks really interesting, we have two large format printers and might well try that out as well as having a go with engraving it as you say. Do you have any images of work you have done on it ?

John, I used automatic focus - I will heed your advice and switch this to manual focus in future.

Thankyou all again, it is so good knowing that there are people here who have 'been there, done that,' and now have the experience to help the rest of us as we try out new areas in this field. I really appreciate your suggestions and help.

Jani