Hello, I am new to this topic. I work with Google Translate because I live in the Netherlands and speak Dutch and I don’t speak English well.
I have created a file and that file contains text for a Christmas ornament. If this file burns on wood, one word is burned deeper than the other. I have given the values of 1000/40 Fill, so in that respect they should all burn equally dark. What could I have done wrong or what can I do differently?
I have also done offset fill, so everything is burned to the same depth, but it is not as smooth. Greetings Marianne
Is that opposite sides of the same board? One looks bowed up un the middle and the other looks bowed down. Which side is which depends on where you set the focus. Imagine the dark text was in focus and the light text went out of focus.
Thanks for your reply. It’s the same piece of wood, I had burned two next to each other. Then sawn apart
I used offset fill in this last photo and it burns equally deep throughout. only it gives a little bit of a burn at the top, maybe I should turn on the air?
Offset Fill Mode - LightBurn Software Documentation.
I don’t think that made the difference. Different piece of wood, right? Sometimes, the wood texture, color, and density variability can be aggravating. For example, the left side image has a vertical dark line. The laser would stop at the top of the ornament eyelet, so it is wood grain, manufacturing mark, or left over from a previous test.
If you are talking about the top of the “Fijne” text, that is technically smoke damage from too much power. Air would just blow more smoke into the grain. I see this discoloration in letters below it too, just not as much. The bottom letters not at all, so I suspect a change in focus due to the wood not being perfectly flat.
Sometimes, less power or faster with two passes might do better. And it might even be faster too. In the big picture, it looks like you are doing pretty good.
Thanks for your reply. That vertical line is indeed a flaw in the wood. I will turn off the air and try to burn at a lower intensity. But still I don’t understand why one line is darker than the other, even though it is in one layer. He does this not only in these examples but in other projects as well. Could it be that the laser head needs to be cleaned? Does the laser head ever need to be cleaned at all?
Below is another photo, this is the same file burned at the same speed without air, but one line is very dark and other lines burn very light. Greetings Marianne
Absolutely! How much depends on how much you use it. Without a small amount of air assist, smoke can make it up the nozzle to the lens.
You seem to be on the very edge of fine focus. Even small variations in material height make noticeable changes in burn intensity. You might try a slight defocus to see if you can even out the burn.
The fact that your darker burns are all over the place shows it is a wood issue. By the way, did you cut these out on a scroll saw? I see no charring on the ornament edges.
Hi Mike, you indeed don’t see any burn edges. my husband is a hobby scroll saw specialist,
look at JZ Creatief on Facebook or Instagram.
He cuts out the Christmas balls with the scroll saw after I have burned them.
I have only had the laser for 2 months so I have not been working on it for that long, it should not burn for more than 3 hours. I usually only do 2 hours of hobbying. Then I let it cool down for a bit. At first I sat outside under the canopy, now I use an upstairs room with a small extraction through a window. see picture.
So he does the finishing of the Christmas balls.
I haven’t burned through anything yet. I have also burned coasters from bamboo wood and it was exactly the same with thick and thin burned letters. With the coasters you can also clearly see that one line is burned thickly and the other is a bit lighter
I’m going to look up how to maintain the laser head, thanks for the tip. Thanks for your help.
Greetings Marianne
Nice coasters and ornaments! The light and dark motif actually give them some character. Not so factory-made looking.
One last question and then I am out of here… Does your husband hae a round instead of a flat blade for his saw? If so, where did he get it?
Hi Mike,
My husband has a Pegas SC-S2E machine and the saws are flat reverse no. 5 and we order them in Germany. www.opitec.nl (artikelnummer 351.743)
Where do you live?
Thank you for all the advice and I will look up on You Tube how to keep the laser clean or do you have an idea how we should do that or what we should be there for?
Kind regards Jan and Marianne
That is more saw than my Sears knock-off. Mine only uses pinned blades, which I have, and none of the spiral blades are pinned, which makes sense. Tell hubby that is some superb scroll work!
Tampa Bay, Florida. But in New York for a bit. I already miss my laser.
Each laser head has a specific set of cleaning instruction, so Google is your best friend.
Nice workstation! Good job on the ducting. I did mine a bit different because all the window spaces are taken. Mine is boxed on a small shop cart I can move anywhere in the house. A 10’ flex duct to a window board handles fumes. The left panel is hinged and the right panel is removable for great access. Not seen in the picture is the hinged front panel with another red window. Inside is an under counter LED strip for lighting. Made 3 sets (2", 4" & 6") extension legs for roller projects. On the two cart legs are ABCDE fire extinguishers just in case.
What is ABCDE fire extinguihers, I can’t see it on the fhoto?
I passed it on to my husband, but his saw is also a professional saw. He also has a Hegner and he makes really beautiful creations. Florida is on the other side of the world for us lol lol and also New York. The time now here is 00:01 our PM Middle of the night so we’re going to sleep now! Thank you for your conversation and I found on you tube how to clean the head. Kind regards and follow us on Facebook or Instagram at JZ Creatief
Wow, great work!
My bad, ABCDK. Fire Extinguishers for the House HOUANDG - All Fires Type Fire Extinguisher for Home
Powder makes a mess and CO2 too expensive.
The 5 hours puts you in the British Isles area. Enjoy your machine. And sleep.
Hi Mike, I cleaned the lens and it works fine now. Everything is burned to the same depth now. So solved I think. Greetings Marianne
Great! Be sure to put that in your notebook. 
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