Thin Engraving Wood

[Pete Simmons]

Was just in HD. Saw 3x7 foot sheets of "Door Overlay" plywood for a little less than $7 each.

I sure looked like 1/8 3 ply plywood good one side.

Has anybody used this? Maybe for the laserbuzz projects??

[Ray Mighells]

Those door skins are typically made of Luan commonaly refered to as Phillipine Mahogany. The lighter colors engrave very nicely, but vector cutting is not the best. It's very tough to vector without a lot of char. I don't know if it's the glue or the core ply. I'm engraving 1/4 " Luan but gave up on trying to vector cut it.

[Joe Pelonio]

I'll have to go look at that, it might be just the thing. You'd pay that much for a couple of 8"x24" at the craft store.

What's the good side wood look like? I wouldn't recommend it if it's mahogany.

[Pete Simmons]

The stack I saw were very lighht in color.

[Marc Myer]

I bought a 4'x8' sheet of that stuff, and coated it with sealer and two coats of clear. I've been using it for testing, and it's pretty good.
The finished side rasters fairly nicely. Rough grain on the unfinished side means you have to increase power to cut cleanly. The edges char a bit, but it's acceptable to me.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Pete;
Do you happen to have the SKU for that?- can't find it up here in the NY wilderness.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Pete Simmons]

No SKU

If I get back there and see it I will get the SKU.

[Jerry Allen]

HD luan skins 728927010000

Was misspelled on receipt "lauan".

[George M. Perzel]

Thanks Jerry
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Marc Myer]

Slightly different aspect here, but I just found a great resource for exotic and less-exotic woods. It's a small shop in Atlanta called Carlton's Rare Woods. It's truly an old-style wood shop stacked floor to ceiling with all kinds of woods which they cut themselves. I took a Metro and walked a couple of miles to get there, but it was worth it. Richard was a great help, and the prices are better than good. I walked out of there with a whole stack of cool wood ply and veneers for $20. The website is www.rarewoodsandveneers.com. He also won't kill you on the shipping.
I'll try to update on how the various woods perform.