Anyone interested in setting up a library of settings for different material cutting or engraving? I think it would be very helpful for those of us getting started with the laser on our xcarve.
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I’m willing to contribute what I know.
For all etchings I have the pixel resolution set to .0035
i have done some research as of late on different woods and techniques:
- I would recommend hitting each piece with 320 grit sand paper quickly to help provide a smooth surface for the laser to hit
a) oak wood (solid and plywood)
Feed rate: 120 in/min
b) birch plywood:
Feed rate: 118 in/min
c) aluminum (painted black): I can not etch
d) glass - I can not get to etch
I will be running maple, cherry, cedar and pine next week.
You want to burn a wood that has minimal to no grain…for example from the photo below of the tiger you can see that the grain lines burn darker (because they are softer). Where as the flower or stadium burned a lot more even because it was on a wood that had minimal grain lines.
Finally, I would not recommend utilizing gray scale photos because they do not contain white and the etching will come out quite dark (jet photo)
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The PicEngrave Pro 5 settings we used with our 2.8W J-Tech laser on Poplar when it was mounted on our Shapeoko 2 is, Analog/PWM Engraving Profile .006" Pixel Resolution, 100IPM feedrate, 25% Feed Rate Change, Min PWM Value of 10 and Max 255 running at a 45 Degree angle. The results can be seen in this thread:
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