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32K views 170 replies 64 participants last post by  Grumpy 
#1 ·
Laser engraving as an embellishment...

Take a rather plain piece and embellish it… and Voile….

There are various ways to embellish a piece… route a design… burn a design by way of pyrography … if you are an artist, paint or draw…..or for a fast effective repeatable way…Laser Engraving…

Over the past few years, laser engraving machines have come down in price and are nearly affordable to the home hobbyist… A branded machine is available for under $20,000.00…here in Australia… way cheaper if you live in the USA….

Enter the chinese.. a similar machine… obviously not the same quality .. is under $3,000.00

Big difference… of course you expect to do a little tweaking and the laser tubes do not last as long but are affordable and easily replaced.

On Saturday, I went to see a newly found friend. Bec and I met on a Forum for CNC and Laser users… I have been looking at different laser engravers and dropped in on her to see just how they worked..

Even though her machine is only a hobby model, it was very impressive to see running…

I took a few samples down to see how they would engrave…here are a few pics..


Appropriately, a bunch of grapes on a wine tilt…


This took all of 2 minutes…


Cheese anyone…


Notice the fine lines in the font…


Come in Spiner…


Any font any size..

Any thing at all…this one actually was done in raster mode and took about 6 minutes.

Hoping to have one myself soon… but I would be going for a larger more powerful machine… possible with a worktable of 900 mm by 600 mm [3 ft by 2 ft] and all the bells and whistles I can afford…

More next post…
 
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#51 ·
To help pay for the laser?

Massive clearance sale…



It appears that I have too much timber… according to SWMBO… and being in the market for a Laser Engraver… I have decided to have a massive clearance… nearly all the timber I have in stock will be sacraficed for the greater good… more room to buy more timber…lol… and room for the new laser as well as part funding of the new purchase…

Unfortunately this sale will be for those close enough to come out and pick up the timber… sadly no delivery…

Partial list of timbers.

European Wild Cherry in shorts.. 500 mm long … mainly 30 mm thick and up to 80 mm wild. Several thousand pieces.. going out @ $3.00 per board foot Discount for bulk…

European Walnut… ends of slabs.. various lengths to 600 mm approx and 400mm wide.. most 40 odd mm thick… some very nice grains… $5.00 to $10.00 per piece. 100 or so pieces.

The rest are different amounts and sized..something for everyone…

Camphor Laurel,

Silky Oak,

Queensland Maple,

Small slab of Huon Pine,

Moreton Bay Fig slabs,

Swamp Gum Boards,

Virgin Hoop Pine Boards,

Some New Guinea Rosewood.

Lots of different exotics in small amounts.

Ring me on 0427 77 58 77 to find out if I have what you want…

All timbers that are for sale will be well below cost…
 
#59 ·
OK, Harry… you never get out for a Sunday Drive now & then? LOL

... no friends you can visit over that'a way?

Just kidding… sorry you're so far away.
 
#68 ·
Finally got mine...

Yesterday…. the laser engraving machine arrived…

So excited, I forgot to get a shot of it on the truck, before we unloaded…

Had Barry and Mal over doing another job and lucky for me, they were still here… needed a hand to drag the pallet from the front gate to the workshop… only 20 metres [60 feet] but on a pallet jack over grass… not too much fun..

While I paid the driver and got the paper work sorted, Barry and Mal de-crated…



Bigger than I had imagined… even though I have seen similar machines at the VISA show…...


Had to set up some boards to roll it off the pallet and into the workshop…


All in… actually was not that hard with 3 of us…


Kind of a tight squeeze between the SCMS and the Table Saw… had to drag some of the equipment out of the way…


That is better… moved the TWC out and now have heaps of room…LOL


Starting to unpack… everything is jammed inside…. Chiller, blower, huffer, computer [yes I got a computer thrown in.] RECI tube and spare … and the rotary device…

More pics on here.
 
#93 ·
Playing around...

I have sailed into uncharted waters… Laser engraving…. and I have been mesmerised by tutorials on YouTube concerning the software need to run the laser… and CorelDraw makes it all so simple…

Now, what a great bit of kit that is…. I can not get enough… in the last few weeks I have learned so much… can you imagine how good I will be in another few weeks…lol

I will let the photographs show you just how far I have come…


Using different fonts and manipulating the text. That was fun and made me want to learn more…

Putting the new logo and year on one of my lazy larrybases..



Adding a little personal touch..


This little stick drawing has a lot of meaning to the person who commissioned this Jarah board. And it took me literally hours to get it engraved… and to be happy with the results… great learning curve…


Large piece of white cedar [bookmatched] used as a sign for my market stall…it is 450 mm square…[18 inches for the cousins]

So much more to show you…that is it for now..will post later…
 
#118 ·
Aztec Calendar

For many people, a rite of passage is the transition from childhood to adult hood…

For some woodworkers, it is the making of a cutting board…

But…

For those who have laser engravers… it is the Aztec Calendar….
When looking for a laser,most of the different manufacturers show you how well their laser can engrave the Aztec calendar … SO


I finally decided that I needed to engrave the calender … to see just how good my laser was…


This one is 150 mm in diameter [6 inches] and is engraved on MDF…


I did a few with varying degrees of success… Speed was 750, power was 50% and I did change the focal length of the lens from 40mm to 45 mm without significant difference…

While it may not be as good as some of the very expensive lasers out there, I am really happy with the results of the Chinese Laser I bought…

The more I play, the more I find that I am in awe of the power of this machine…

More to follow…A little tease till then…


The Cape York Buffalo Co. will be the subject of several posts over the coming weeks… stay tuned…
 
#127 ·
Jim Beam anyone?

I got a sample barrel last Friday… but only found some time this morning to engrave the three logos…

Took the barrel back down and was told that the job was more than acceptable and that it would be overnight expressed to Sydney… Now have to wait for final approval…

It looks like the initial order will be for 50 barrels …that is 150 logos… keep me busy for sure…

The barrel I got was already finished so I had to engrave through masking tape..Test below.


Here you can see the difference the tape makes to the blow back of the fumes…


The next lot of barrels will be engraved before they are finished so that any burn or fuming can be sanded off.


The radius of the barrel was fairly shallow so I could laser on the flat as such and not need to use a rotary attachment… made it a little easier… and since I have a motorised rise and fall of 280 mm there was plenty of room for the barrel under the laser head.


Even standing on its end..


Last step will be to insert the tap… and it's off to Sydney…This barrel is made from white oak with black iron bands… the laser engraving sure stands out… subtle but in your face at the same time…


The couple in the photo are Val and Noel Sullivan, who with their son, Trevor, are the proud owners of Roll Out The Barrel Cooperage...

One of the best coopers in Australia, Noel started making barrels in 1950 at the age of 15 and started his own company 30 years ago in 1982 … and still going strong.
 
#150 ·
Some wood, some acrylic...

I have a commission to build two perspex sneeze guards for a friend, Dave..

He and his partner run a Stall at the markets making Zagyoza… Japanese Dumplings.

They sent a file to engrave on the front… this is the sample to see how it would look.

.And while I had the machine on… some signs… just teasers… not finished yet…
With a close up of Capt. Caveman…
Gotta love that laser….

More to follow…
 
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