Laser for Marquetry?

[Mike Audleman]

Well, the easiest way is to cheat: use the laser to cut one or more "background" pieces of veneer and then glue the whole thing to a suitable substrate.

I don't have a vacuum table. Sometimes I wish I did but I get around it using lead weights.

I melted scrap lead using a propane torch in a cast iron ladle. I then pour the lead into the bottom of soda cans turned upside down. The cans all have a neat domed recess in the bottom that makes a perfect mold. The lead pops out easily after it cools. I pour it in the bottom of the can up to about a 1/4" deep in the center. This makes a nice round disk thats domed and easily fits under the laser air assist tube so there is no risk in the laser head hitting the lead weights. I made about two dozen of these weights in an hour so the process is pretty fast and simple. All you need for tools is a cast iron ladle (garage sales or camping store), propane torch, leather gloves and some empty soda cans.

I use them all over the material I am cutting. It spreads out the weight evenly and they can be positioned around whats being cut fairly simply. Best of all, they were free (just asked my auto guy for some old wheel weights).

[Lee DeRaud]

I don't have a vacuum table. Sometimes I wish I did but I get around it using lead weights.
...
I use them all over the material I am cutting. It spreads out the weight evenly and they can be positioned around whats being cut fairly simply. Best of all, they were free (just asked my auto guy for some old wheel weights).

At some point I scored a box of twenty or so stone tile samples, 3"x3"x3/8", no idea where they came from.
They're heavy enough to hold down anything I'm comfortable calling "veneer".

[Roy Nielsen]

Ditto on that. Laser cutting it will be a breeze. Just take the beam thickness into account. i usually use 0.004" as the kerf to get inlays to fit tight.

Nicolas,

I've not yet tried inlay, but this has been a question of mine. How do you compensate for the beam size?

Thanks, Roy

[Mike Null]

First try cutting from the back. If that isn't enough enlarge the drawing very slightly.

[David Somers]

Mike....I am designing a set of Beam calipers for measuring the outside diameter of a laser beam. Think the Creek would like to carry it as a fund raiser? I am also designing steam buckets for cleaning, and smoke shifters for bbq's.

Dave
(can you tell its been a long week already?)

[Mike Null]

I'll take 3!

[John Noell]

Nicolas,

I've not yet tried inlay, but this has been a question of mine. How do you compensate for the beam size?

Thanks, Roy

By trial and error. I did a series of tests and found that I could make the inserted pieces mate perfectly by using a standard "contour" in Corel. The contour tool makes it easy to add just the right amount for the kerf of the beam. The value depends on the type of wood and depth of the inlay.

[Roy Nielsen]

By trial and error. I did a series of tests and found that I could make the inserted pieces mate perfectly by using a standard "contour" in Corel. The contour tool makes it easy to add just the right amount for the kerf of the beam. The value depends on the type of wood and depth of the inlay.

Thanks, John. I may play with this a bit this weekend.

Roy

[Stephen Musial]

Thanks for all of the info! My wife is in purchasing and does RFPs and could probably get me a really good price but then she'd also know how much I spent on a laser...

Now I have to sit back, wait for the bones to heal and the legal process to do whatever it does but in the mean time, I have plenty to research and figure out.

So I can send files directly as an AutoCAD 2000 .dfx? That would be awesome, as I'm on 2010 but saving as a 2000 dfx is still a save option.

[Scott Woodson]

EPILOG's website has a section called "Sample Club". If you look under the wood tab and go down a bit you'll see a tutorial on a simple marquetry like project. This may give you some ideas of the basic steps to use with a laser engraver. I used this when I first had questions and then as other's said, trial and error will eventually give you a great starting spot. Good luck.

Scott

[Myron Benware]

As always, you only get what you pay for.

[Mike DeRegnaucourt]

Stephan;
Also use mirror technique to inlay very minute pieces with great reaults.

Hi George,

Can you further explain the mirror technique you mentioned for dealing with very tiny pieces?

Thanks

[John Noell]

I think George means the technique where you engrave out where the inlay goes, then, for the inlay, you make a mirror image of the inlay and engrave away all but the inlay. Press the two pieces face-to-face together (with glue), sand away the backside (base) of the inlay, and there you have your perfect inlay.

[Martin James]

"because my hand will ache for hours afterwards"

I recommend you ditch the mouse band get a Wacom, I get almost zero carpel tunnel with the pen tablet. I keep the pen in my hand while I type. Also My keyboard is at 45 to 90 degrees for non typing apps.
My stand is a flexible monitor stand with the wacom and a logitec unifying $20 keyboard velcroed onto the stand. I can sit or stand..


cheers M

[Raphael Weil]

Lots of threads I could bump for this question, but I'll use this one since it's the most recent.

Do you guys recommend something like Vectric 2D for auto-inlay tool paths? I found the price point for it fairly reasonable, and I'm not making terribly complex shapes (mostly polygones). For how much I'll use the software I'd like to stay away from the $1000+ things out there.