Laser Engraving

Howdy Folks!

I have zero experience with laser engraving. A builder friend of mine asked me if I could engrave marble or granite address plaques for a townhouse complex he’s working on.

Is this possible with the Jtech or any other laser that is being marketed toward the ‘hobby’ buyer? I’m guessing I could cover the cost of the laser in this one project, if it will do the job… or is 7w just not powerful enough for stone?

Thanks for your help…

Yes it is powerful enough.
I have a J-Tech 7watt and do custom coasters made out of ceramic tiles.
I must admit though, I have not done marble.

Wow looks amazing… what are using for software on the pictures?

Thanks!

I use Vectric for all of my design work and Lightburn for images and the controller.

I have done an entire formal dinner’s name plates in Travertine marble which engraved very nicely with a 40W CO2 laser. (used a 4x4 tile from Home Depot as a custom coaster/nameplate). Just be aware marble kind of crumbles with the laser, so you get marble dust in the internals of your machinery. And that’s way nastier than MDF dust, and most dust collection systems won’t transport stone dust (and you really don’t want to breathe it by blowing it away with an air-blast from your compressor). Once or twice probably not a big deal, but often is gonna grind into your gears.