Good morning all, first I would like to apologize for my ignorance as I’m sure these things have been discussed at length. Unfortunately I am in a bit of a time crunch and looking for some guidance from someone more experienced than myself(which most likely is all of you lol). I am normally one to read through the forms and watch the videos etc. but I have had a request from our local Christmas display decorating group and I just don’t have the time to sort it out myself.
I have a longmill. Did some projects with the router side of it but never really got “good” at it. I purchased the laser at least a year ago and spent lots of time figuring it all out and then did one project, a simple name burned into a charcuterie board and then life got in the way and the entire system sat and collected dust since then.
Fast forward to this week when I was requested to make a simple sign on live edge cherry that just says “Santa’s Toy Shop”. Got into lightburn again and created the text but I am overwhelmed with the speed and max power settings on the laser. Just looking for a decent engraved burn and will seal with poly or something and was hoping someone could just give me suggestions on settings so I can get this done for them and then when things get settled figure it all out again for myself.
Thanks for reading and in advance for any guidance you may have.
I have no straight forward answer, because too much is unknown. The quick fix is to test things out on some scrap wood of the same brand. Just start with low power, high speed say 3000mm/min and 20% power (power setting 5 on controller) and see what that does to your scrap piece. If it does someting, dial up power 10% and run again. If it does nothing, dial down speed 250mm/min and run again. If it’s on the money, stick with it.
Stay away from settings above 70%. If it’s not doing enough at 70, dial down power back to 20% and dial speed down 250 and go trough the proces again. This way you’ll find the sweet spot eventually, without needing to stress your diode too much.
If you have a bit more time you can download sienci’s laser test file, but you, at least need to follow the tutorial('s) covering it on youtube, to be able to know what’s what and why. I believe that’s a nogo for now.
When I am not sure about settings I like to test drive the actual stock with a fast speed and low power. If it’s a photo job that’s too long to test drive I have to work around that, but a simple sign wont take long to just test 'n dial-up if needed. This comes with a danger. If you burn to hard at first try, you’re bleeped. So if possible, try out on scraps of the same wood and when dialed in your settings, do the real thing.
Is it only blacks lines you’re engraving or are there elements that need gray vallues?