Need help with Laser machine to engrave on wood

Laser
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Hello Fellow members,

I am Lavanya who just joined DMS, I wanted to engrave a quote of my interest about patience and hang it as wall decor. Any ideas on type of material to be used and how to use the laser instructions are welcome.

Thanks for your support in advance

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For the lasers: Access is given with the online test found here - Dallas Makerspace: Log in to the site

After logging in go to “Lasers”.

You should also go to the “Member Access (Green Dot)” section of Talk and request your “Green Dot” - it will open up the “Members Only” sections of the forum.

Other member benefits can be found here: Just did my first visit to DMS - #3 by TSki

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I have found that poplar and pine both engrave very well. They are soft enough that you can engrave deeply.

The darker hardwoods are nice if you’re going for a more subtle look but the engraving isn’t going to be as deep because the woods are harder. You’re going to get much more contrast on a lighter wood like poplar.

You could also use basically any wood, including a nice piece of baltic birch plywood (that you can buy in 12" x 12" and larger at places like Woodcraft or Rockler) but the engraving depth is likely to be less in plywood and with more char.

Plan to at least lightly sand the face after engraving to remove the remains of the laser soot, but be careful not to sand so aggressively that you remove the small bits inside letters like “e”.

Try to engrave with the long grain of the wood parallel to the front of the laser bed. The laser will make passes from right to left (and back) so the engraving will be slightly nicer that way.

An alternate approach is to liberally paint the engraved section after engraving and then sand the un-engraved portion flat to remove the excess paint.

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I understand we have some light tack adhesive backed paper that can be applied to work to protect it from soot. I’ve not done this, though I’ve watched it being used and the results looked good.

You can also probably use the routed sign makers technique - spray a thin coating of clear lacquer. You can then paint the engraved space and sand the surface. The paint in the engrave area will remain. The lacquer prevents the paint from soaking into the wood. Good way to get contrast with the wood when routing signs.

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Thank you.

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Hello John,

Thanks for your inputs. I need to engrave below quote and please let me know which machine at DMS serves my purpose in a smart manner. What do I need to learn to access the machine to get it done?

క్షమా దానం క్షమా యజ్ఞం క్షమా సత్యం హి పుత్రికా:
క్షమా యశ: క్షమా ధర్మం క్షమయా విష్ఠితం జగత్

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Thanks Rich

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You need to take the online course at learn.dallasmakerspace.org for thunder laser/laser basics.

Although certain parts of this are a little out of date, it goes over everything that you must know to get started.

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I’m already working on it and what other things I need to do to kick start the project

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If you are open to something other than wood, engraving clear acrylic and illuminating it with LED lights can produce a striking visual effect.

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Thank you. I will look into it.

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There is an excellent example of this in the plastics area done by @keoliver

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