Hi, I have just bought a 50W CO2 Laser engraver and cutting machine.
Im new to this so bare with me. Ive been watching tutorials for LightBurn to try to get a feel for things, but all videos I have seen lead to cutting from a big sheet of material.
My material already comes to size, and I only need to engrave onto it, how do I work with that ?
Thanks in advance 
You can always use wood or cardboard scrap for testing.
I usually test it on cardboard or wood waste before making the final design on expensive sheets, also if I have a lot of taste I test it on a 3 mm mdf 
thank you, I just wasnât sure if there was a certain setting or button that needed to be in place. ill try it
Iâm a little confused about the question, but if your material is already to size the best way to get consistent engraving is to make a jig that holds it in place so you can repeat the process as much as you like. Depending on what you are doing, you might need to cut it out of a sheet so that the pre-sized material fits.
I draw a box or circle the size of the object and use that to make sure the design fits inside of that for design/framing. I then âturn the box offâ by turning off the output.
Of course you can just engrave. Itâll save your CO2 tube a lot of wear and tear.
thank you, I am struggling to get the trial software on my laptop at the moment so I have been unable to have a play around myself. and most of the tutorials have all been cutting from a sheet so just wasnât 100% sure.
All resposes have been very helpful
As far as settings. The first one, the black 0 is set as your basic âcutâ. Itâs set up to move slower at a higher power for this purpose.
With a 50 watt running at 70% power you should be able to cut 3 mm plywood or baltic birch in one pass. Thicker material needs more passes.
The next one I have set as Fill+LIne. It will engrave the line then do a nice outline around it.
2nd is Line, so only a line.
3rd is Fill, so it will engrave out a desired area.
4th is Offset Fill, it will engrave out in between the areas you want, but instead of scanning left to right, it will essentially trace lines around the designs to remove material.
First thing you should do in my opinion (something I didnât do as I had zero idea what the heck I was doing) is to do a series of Burn tests. Thereâs no shortage of them on the forum, just search for them, theyâll help you figure out your power settings that you need for all of the functions.
Figure out âAbsolute Co-Ordinatesâ. This will help you set the material in place every time for your jig. For replicating anything itâs a good idea to get these down first.
Welcome to the forum, and enjoy your laser!
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