Lasering Bamboo

[Glenn Norton]

Been working with some bamboo I had it the shop to get a feel for it. Does a nice job. I have found on this machine that the smoke when I am doing any wood leaves a lot of stain. I have an OLD Universal M20 and the fans pull across the surface. Is there anyway to stop this without using a mask.

[Gary Hair]

Clean it after with denatured alcohol. Other than that you'll have to mask somehow.

[Glenn Norton]

Gary that worked good. I appreciate the help.

[Patrick Smithwick]

We engrave quite a bit of bamboo as of late as well and I have found that masking is always best unless doing a photo. Only draw back is a lot of smoke from the bamboo and it has a urine smell to it when it is pulled out of the laser! Yuck!

[Keith Winter]

We engrave quite a bit of bamboo as of late as well and I have found that masking is always best unless doing a photo. Only draw back is a lot of smoke from the bamboo and it has a urine smell to it when it is pulled out of the laser! Yuck!

Might want to setup a camera and see if the cat is using your wood as a liter box at night if smells like urine when you engrave it Seriously though, something's wrong with the wood if it's that fowl. Should just be a mild burnt wood smell if you're just engraving and not cutting. Also shouldn't smoke very much.

Glenn and Patrick,
Some smoke is normal but a lot of smoke means you have other issues beyond the wood. Either you're engraving it too hot, or your ventilation is not adequate if it's smoking heavily. 1. What CPM is your blower rated at? 2. what size is your exhaust tube and is it rigid or flex? 3. how far are you going to exhausting it out?

[Patrick Smithwick]

Keith we dont have an issue with smoke coming out of the laser, just the putrid smell of the bamboo when it's pulled out. The bamboo just seems to produce a lot more smoke than the teak or other woods we engrave.

I am using the stock blower that came with our Rabbit laser. As we just bought a new Epilog, i am in the process of installing a new blower system that is far more powerful and will be able to handle both machines.

Might want to setup a camera and see if the cat is using your wood as a liter box at night if smells like urine when you engrave it Seriously though, something's wrong with the wood if it's that fowl. Should just be a mild burnt wood smell if you're just engraving and not cutting. Also shouldn't smoke very much.

Glenn and Patrick,
Some smoke is normal but a lot of smoke means you have other issues beyond the wood. Either you're engraving it too hot, or your ventilation is not adequate if it's smoking heavily. 1. What CPM is your blower rated at? 2. what size is your exhaust tube and is it rigid or flex? 3. how far are you going to exhausting it out?

[Keith Winter]

That's what makes me think that something is wrong with your material settings or ventilation system, those all smoke about the same for us. Bamboo oak maple etc. That rabbit come with one of those 550cpm china blowers? Habor freight has some cheap 1 and 2 hp ones that might help you move the air more, Penn state also has some that the Trotec rep recommends. If you have the budget I love my new shopfox one. Also you could try adjusting your air assist to help with smoke.

[Patrick Smithwick]

Yeah it's got the cheap Chinese blower. I bought the 2 HP from HF for the Epilog and I am going to use it for the Rabbit as well. I will give the air assist a little boost and see if that helps. Thank you for the tip!

That's what makes me think that something is wrong with your material settings or ventilation system, those all smoke about the same for us. Bamboo oak maple etc. That rabbit come with one of those 550cpm china blowers? Habor freight has some cheap 1 and 2 hp ones that might help you move the air more, Penn state also has some that the Trotec rep recommends. If you have the budget I love my new shopfox one. Also you could try adjusting your air assist to help with smoke.

[Keith Winter]

You're welcome, anytime!