My question is a friend told me a mixture of water and baking soda will give you a better burn. Does anyone know what mixture to use. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.
If you are cutting, you don’t need to do anything. But on some wood products that you want to engrave, adding a water and borax solution to the wood may help produce a darker engraving. It is not needed on all wood engravings. Just try it without first.
Try a search on YouTube for either the Baking Soda, or Borax engraving.
I’ve seen several examples, but not sure that anyone had a specific recipe.
This particular video shows a comparison of both techniques:
He does not, however discuss his recipe for either mix.
One thing I also hear however is that Baking Soda tends to yellow the wood, and Borax leaves a lot of burn dust to clean off.
Just my $.02.
Jim
Thank you for the info, I did find a few videos on YouTube they were very helpful. For my outer 5.5 watt laser I’m going to try 2 Tbl spoons baking soda to 1-3/4 cups water. Slow speed between 100 and 200mm and low to med power. 
I’ll post when done and see the difference.
Boil the water before you mix it. Borax will dissolve much better in hot water. Don’t bother trying to save the solution for later use because it will eventually fall out of solution and form crystals. It will also wreck your spray bottle pump. 
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Great suggestion, I would never have thought of that. Thank you 