LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Hi All,

I've a question regarding the method of engraving text.
Since engraving can be time consuming I've been searching for another possibility.
When investigating the Lightburn software, which overall looks very interesting, I found a video on engraving text where the laser head engraves the shape of the letter not by performing an x- or y-swing.

This video, starting at 4:09 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTFyMaluBE8

Does someone know if this is possible with RdWorks or only with Lightburn.
Moreover, I'm interested in the settings to get this done.

Looking forward to your reply!

Best regards,
Colin

you just have to "cut" the text. exactly the same as any normal shape you would cut (rectangle, circle, polyline, ...)

the only "trick" is to set the power so that it does not cut through, so less power and/or more speed.

contrary to the "scan" of the letter, only the inner/outer shape (the polyline) will be marked, and the width of the line will not be customizable, so the line will be pretty thin, unless you "defocus" before.

for example, the line should be 0.1mm (same as a cut), but if you offset the focus for maybe 2 or 3 mm, the line will be 0.5mm large and more blurry.

Hi Sebastien,

Excuse me for the late reply, been very busy lately.

Thank you for your answer and indeed it sounds very logical!

From the video, however, I do not clearly see that they defocus the laser, either by increasing/decreasing the height of the object with respect to the laser?
Is this a feature perhaps in Lightburn where the height of the z-axis can be set per layer?

Once I get to my laser I will try to defocus it and see what it does!