In the world of woodworking enthusiasts, there's always more space in the home when new equipment comes along!
Home laser cutters are becoming increasingly affordable, so now is a good time to explore which one is right for you.
How can laser engraving on wood enhance the aesthetics of a piece or create a personalized gift?
Unlike etching and marking, laser engraving evaporates and removes some of the material you are customizing.
This will leave a cavity, which will be more or less deep and dark, depending on your laser cutter settings. You will be able to see and touch it.
But laser engraving is much more than just clicking the "start" button on a laser cutter.
Choosing the wood and preparing for carving, design, carving methods, and cleaning are all part of creating a piece.
In this article, we will go into detail about the intricacies of laser carving in wood.
Choose suitable wood
It all starts with finding the perfect piece of wood! Width and length depend on what your laser engraving machine can accommodate.
Anything 1/8 inch or thicker can be a great starting point. But there are other things to consider for your project!
Color : Most woods will darken in color when laser-cut, with only a few exceptions. Lighter woods like birch or pine are generally a good all-rounder!
If you're looking for a deeper or more subtle look, try walnut or cedar.
Resin content : As we saw before, laser engraving vaporizes the material to "burn into" your design.
This means that wood fibers and resin will subsequently deposit wherever possible. If you don't want to clean these up, then wood containing a small amount of resin is a good option.
Bamboo, commonly used for cutting boards, is a good example. If you are buying your timber from a specialized woodworking shop, you can also seek advice from the team or request summer-cut timber with less sap.
Texture : Some laser engraving techniques will be more effective if the wood grain (the direction in which the fibers make up the wood) is in the same direction as the design you want to carve.
If the grains are not aligned, the harder grain fibers can interfere with your design. Therefore, when preparing the wood, make sure to choose a piece where the grain is horizontal in a laser engraving machine.
Hardness : To check the hardness of a piece of wood and how easy it is to carve, you can simply scratch it with your fingernail. If you can leave a mark without much pressure, then carving is also easy.
If not, you may need to pass through multiple times to achieve the same depth and contrast as softer wood. This test is definitely not very scientific, but it can be very helpful!
Timber preparation
Now that you've chosen the perfect piece of wood for your project, it's time to get started.
This could mean one or more of the following:
Cleaning and sanding: Your wood may be unfinished or have an irregular surface, as well as dust and stains from transportation and storage.
Using a microfiber towel to clean and gently buff is essential for creating a beautiful, even sculpted design.
Staining and coloring: Laser engraving has limited options when it comes to color, but there is a simple way to add pops of color to the project.
Using stains, water-based paint, or alcohol pens, you can add a touch of color to your project before sculpting, achieving the best of both worlds.
Even after carving, you can compare your design in different ways.
Applying tape: Protects the wood from the heat, dust, and resin released by the laser, helping to prevent burn marks. Applying tape is the perfect choice for this; it can be cleanly peeled off the wood.
All of these steps will save you a lot of work after the laser engraving project.
Design and Sculpture
Once the materials are ready, the next step is to integrate your project into the design software. Do you want to rasterize detailed images and text, vectorize complex design functions, or a combination of both?
Lenticular engraving: It works very similarly to a paper printer, engraving one line of your design vertically at a time, always from left to right. It's great for images, text, and logos, but it's also very slow!
Vector engraving: It uses the same settings as laser cutting, adjusted to cut into the wood.
It is ideal for engraving very thin details (too much lenticular engraving), quickly engraving large surfaces, or increasing the clarity of lenticular engraving.
Wood is a very forgiving material when it comes to carving.
However, there are two types of wood carving projects that are more challenging: reproducing gray shades when carving photographs and deep carving to create different heights (also known as 2.5D or relief carving).
These two types of projects are usually reserved for advanced users, but software advancements and tutorials have made them easier to access every day.
In terms of software options, Inkscape is an excellent free design software. Other vector design programs (such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw) are also popular choices.
Once your design is ready, you can apply it to laser control software. Some file formats play better than others.
Regular SVG and EMF files have a good chance of maintaining the proportions of vector designs.
Some raster engraving jobs require formats with a lot of detail (such as BMP images) or formats with transparency (such as PNG images).
You load the file into the laser control software, and the design features will be converted into raster and vector engraving.
Once you are satisfied with how the laser control software interprets your design, select the settings for each process, typically the speed, power, and frequency as shown in the laser engraving machine manual. Then, turn on the exhaust and begin!
be safe
It's important to remember that wood can catch fire! Laser engraving injects a lot of energy and heat into the material. Therefore, please make sure to never leave a laser engraving machine unattended, especially when working with thinner wood panels or veneers.
Of course, test your settings on a sample before submitting your project.
Using excessive power or carving at a very slow speed on a thin piece of wood can cause a fire, endangering not only yourself but also damaging your laser engraving machine.
Post-processing
Just like 3D printing, you can stop when the laser engraving job is finished, or you can double down.
This extra effort is called post-processing, and if everything goes well during preparation and engraving, you won't need to do much to help your design stand out.
First, peel off the application tape. It comes off easily along with any resin deposited on the wood during carving.
Next, clean the carving with mineral oil and a microfiber towel. This will remove dust from the carving machine and bring out the wood grain.
Flaxseed oil is another popular option, but whatever you do, avoid boiling flaxseed oil!
The added solvents and chemicals can pose a hazard, especially for laser engraving projects that come into contact with food or young children.
Finally, clean your laser engraving machine. Even during an engraving job, the air-assisted nozzles designed to keep dust and fumes away from the beam can quickly become clogged with dust and resin.
This often occurs with resin-rich woods such as pine or fir, as well as materials such as medium-density fiberboard or cheaper plywood.
After completing all of this, you should have a beautiful carving on a nice piece of wood. Congratulations, your wood laser carving project is finished!
Choose a laser engraving machine
Now that you know how to prepare wood for laser engraving, successfully engrave your project, and clean it up, you may be interested in purchasing a laser engraving machine or laser cutting machine.
The good news is, now is the best time.
Before choosing a laser engraving machine, you should consider the following points:
What do you want to use it for? If you have a clear project idea in mind, choosing a machine will be easier.
Do you only need an engraving machine to decorate parts cut with other tools, or do you also need a laser cutter to cut the parts? How much space do you have to accommodate it?
You will need space for the laser engraving machine and the computer that runs it. Depending on the equipment you choose, you may also need ventilation space, or a room large enough to accommodate the machine with an openable window.
What software does it work with? You need to keep compatibility in mind, because not all laser cutters and engravers are compatible with every type of software.
What's your budget? In the world of laser cutting machines, price still often goes hand in hand with power. But laser engraving isn't a high-power application, so laser engraving machines are relatively cheaper compared to full-power laser cutting machines.
Alternatively, you can contact us so we can understand your needs and recommend the most suitable model for you to begin your engraving journey!
Want to learn more about laser engraving machines ? Contact us below!
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SanDiMa offers more than just 3D printing ; we provide three major OEM services: " 3D Printing Manufacturing ," " 3D Scanning Services ," and " Spatial 3D Scanning Services "!
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