Can I vary depth of focus on each of several passes so I can etch without charring?

Hi all,
I am a newbie (in spades)!

What I want to do is etch (not char) a title into book cloth to title a book I am binding. So my question is pretty straightforward.

Is there a way to perform multiple passes over the same path (with fill in) at slightly different levels (we are talking about 0.05 mm difference on each pass) so I can etch into book cloth that has a lighter layer underneath the top layer so I can expose the lighter color and do this without charring (I am getting a handle on power and speed(i.e. charring potential) of the laser. [The concept is about like the photographic exposure triangle: film speed <-> shutter speed ].

Thank you! I had forgotten about this panel. My panels keep disappearing and I’m going how to figure out how to keep them all open in tabs.

Thanks again

The window I show above is the ‘Cut Settings Editor’ window not intended to be docked as you are thinking. It is an ‘expanded view’ panel for the Cut Settings - Quick View section of the ‘Cuts / Layers’ window, tabbed in the image below:

The ‘Cut Settings Editor’ window is exposed by double-click of the layer in the ‘Cuts / Layers’ window. They are tied together as mentioned, one is the expanded view panel of the other.

In general, the window layout can be rearranged to a design you like.

This video is a bit dated, created by one of our members using a very old version, but the concepts are the same. :slight_smile:

If you want to reset, back to the default layout, select ‘Window’→’Reset to Default Layout’. You can also hold Shift while you launch LightBurn to reset the window layout. LightBurn Tips - LightBurn Software Documentation

Thanks for setting me straight. It’s always the little things that trip up newbies.

As you seem knowledgable let me ask one more question.

If I am going to etch into an item of known thickness is it safe to accept that:

  1. As I have set the table height in the laser software (Snapmaker 3.0 A350), and I know the machine coordinates of the laser head when focused and the relative height the laser relative to the table height of the laser height after focus checking, that I can
  2. Add the (thickness of the new item to be etched plus the focus length of the laser) less the (thickness of the paper used to calibrate the focal distance) and this will give me an accurate laser height to begin a new project. Assuming that I did not change heads since the laser focusing distance was last measured.

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.