LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Hi,

I'm engraving wood and I want to increase my engraving speed while still getting a dark finish to the engraving, I have tried increasing speed and power but its too pale.

Any tips appreciated.

Food safe low cost product, don't want to add anything.

Thanks Phil.

Try a different species of wood? I assume you are at max power?

For darker / deeper engraving. the power and speed go opposite directions to make it darker. Increase power, decrease speed.

Also, don't assume max power is the thing. A lot will depend on the woods moisture and oil content. I've had a few where I got the most even result at about 3/4 power ( 80W tube ) and ticked the speed up and down in 10mm/s increments to find the sweet spot.

You might want to research the baking soda method to get darker darks. The procedure has it pluses and minuses but you might find it works for your situation, especially if you will be sealing the wood afterwards.

What are your current settings for speed and power?
What's your Interval / Scan Gap?
Have you experimented with offsetting your focus 1-2mm?

In case it's helpful, give this link a look. Your profile says you have a 50w machine, so refer to the 100w settings and either double the recommended power (do not exceed safe limits for tube lifespan), or decrease the speed 50%, or a combination of both.
https://www.bosslaser.com/laser-settings/

Thanks all for the input, will spend more time experimenting, at the moment the engraving of line drawings is working as well as my old machine.

Still not fully happy with photo engraving, will have to do more experimenting, I may be back for follow up questions

Always learning