Section 13: Material Engraving Techniques
191
Wood
Solid Wood
Manufactured Wood Products
Engraving
Vector Cutting
Cleaning
Color Filling
Solid Wood
Wood is by far the most laser friendly material available. It can be engraved or cut
very easily. When engraved, lighter colored woods like Cherry or Maple produce
very nice contrast where the laser burns away the wood. This high visual contrast is
what makes lighter woods so popular when combined with a laser. There are many
types of other wood products that are designed for use with the laser and many more
that are waiting to be discovered by you.
Every type of wood has its own characteristics. Some wood is denser than other
wood, with the denser, harder woods requiring more laser power to cut or engrave.
Epilog recommends that when working with wood other than the ones listed in this
section that you investigate the engraving and cutting characteristics before
committing to use. There are woodworking shops in nearly every large city that will
have a wealth of information on nearly all woods. If you have access to the Internet,
search on wood to see what you find.
The most common woods used with the laser are Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Alder, &
Oak. These woods are considered hard woods, and have grains that work well with
lasers. Grain can very greatly in density. Cherry, Alder, Walnut & Maple all have
fairly little veins of grain in them, while Oak has medium to large veins in it. For
example: If a large box was engraved into a piece of Cherry and a piece of Oak, the
box engraved into the Cherry would have a very uniform appearance, the area
engraved or the background would be smooth with little variation in height. The Oak
on the other hand would very greatly in height and have a very non-uniformed
appearance.
Epilog laser systems can engrave in very fine detail. The spot size ranges from .003”
(0.08mm) to .008” (0.02 mm) of an inch in diameter, and, if there are large variations
in the material that one is engraving into it will greatly affect the quality of the
finished piece. Therefore the majority of laser users will stick with Cherry, Alder,
Walnut or Maple.
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