This will cover a couple topics I have started in the past:
I initially wanted to cut jigsaw puzzles from chipboard in .100" or .070" thickness. Wanted to make puzzles that top out at 16" x 24". Decided on material 28" x 36". Only place I found with reasonable amount and price is in California. Thirty pieces in a bunk weighs about 58#. Fedex gave about the best fee but with them it would cost about $125 to ship that package to Ohio. Amazon and other places are loaded with very small to about 11" x 17" chipboard and of way too thin for puzzles, at least the way I wanted.
Checked around to some of my old woodshop suppliers, actually found a 5mm 4’ x 8’ sheet plywood material at Lowe’s that cuts well and it is from Plantation grown trees. No plug fills, both sides good material. Before COViD it was $14 per sheet. It is $26.95+ now.
I don’t have a photo to show a puzzle I have cut, will explain that in a minute.
Have done considerable laser engraving, the burned wood smell has always bugged me. A post in LB mentioned Ozone Generator. I bought a small one and have it hooked up to a large heavy cardboard box I modified with a couple shelves for cut puzzles. Hole in one end for the generator to do its thing. I am trying one hour on, then two hours off to diminish the Ozone. That is why I don’t have a photo.
Have read a number of posts in LB and other places regarding removal of residue from a finished laser cut wood. Tried half dozen concoctions commercial and home made. None of them really do much IMHO. Had a spray bottle of water with soda in the shop, decided to try it. Works like a charm. We have used soda and water for years to remove shoe marks on floors. I simply sprayed the water and soda mixture on a paper towel folded.
My laser is Omtech 60W/50W Blue and Gray. My final settings for the plywood are speed = 12, Max power = 45, Min. power = 45. My Amp meter reads 15 mA when cutting.
Hi in case you were unaware, or anyone is thinking of getting one, make sure you’re not around when the Ozone Generator is doing it’s thing. Ozone is dangerous to breathe in.
Mine has a simple mechanical timer switch, which started randomly failing so I switched to use a smart-plug instead.
I have a building we built for garden equipment.
Also made an insulated room in it for other toys.
I put the generator in there and closed the door.
Half an hour wasn’t quite long enough, I will increase that to an hour and let the room vent two hours.
I posted about the ozone generator, My main one is a large room sized unit that I have connected to a smart plug that runs it for an hour each night from 2 to 3 am in my workshop (where the laser is), by 8am there is only a slight ozone smell left and that fades very quickly after I open the door.
I would not want to be in the room while it was running.
I initially wanted to cut jigsaw puzzles from chipboard
Have you checked local professional art supply stores? One of mine carried three thicknesses in large sheets (at least 24" x 36"). I haven’t had to resupply in over a year, so I hope they still stock it. Shipping is a killer in terms of prices and the high probability for damage these days.
I like your idea regarding a large box to use as an enclosure outside for use with an ozone generator. Over time, high ozone levels can breakdown lots of things inside a room (e.g. wiring insulation and other electrical-related things).
Doug,
I checked with :Blick: They show the product as one they stock. Truth is, they don’t have it and while it is very expensive the shippings eats into it also. Understand, my space for the box and generator is a closed and insulated space in my storage building. I have an inside door to the rest of building plus an outside door.
I ran some test puzzles with the unit set on one hour and I opened the room two hours later. One puzzle had some smoke smell left on it. I am going to increase time to hour and a half. I may just do this so I can leave them in clean air over night as much as possible.
Doug,
I checked with :Blick: They show the product as one they stock. Truth is, they don’t have it and while it is very expensive the shippings eats into it also. Understand, my space for the box and generator is a closed and insulated space in my storage building. I have an inside door to the rest of building plus an outside door.
I ran some test puzzles with the unit set on one hour and I opened the room two hours later. One puzzle had some smoke smell left on it. I am going to increase time to hour and a half. I may just do this so I can leave them in clean air over night as much as possible.
This is the unit I bought: Enerzen Ozone Generator 11,000mg IndustriaL 03 Air Purifier Deodorizer Sterilizer.
Sorry, it was late when I posted
I am not positive but I usually mix 1 Tablespoon soda to a slight quart. I don’t think a little variation of that would matter.
Using the soda/water solution was happenstance as many good results seem to be. Lol
I’ve read several comments over the years that the smoke smell naturally dissipates over time.
I can’t tell from my laser experience as I was ‘lucky’ enough to lose my sense of smell in a motorbike accident in 1990.
I have some pieces of hickory and birch plywood I engraved last winter that still smell. Before the ozone generator.
There is at least one company making puzzles who advertises them with a “Campfire Smell “. To me that is ridiculous.
My fascination with puzzles comes from the fact, my wife and I manufactured personalized wooden puzzles for forty five years. Our company became the largest manufacturer of them in the world. We retired September of 2020.
BTW: That equated to over a million puzzles!
I have laser cut cardboard for customers and I didn’t like the smell so I used Febreze Free which is the perfume free / no scent version and it works pretty well. It’s not perfect but cheap, easy and reasonably effective.
I have used plywood for puzzles but I now use MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) which I believe is banned in the US as it is made using urea and formaldehyde. I know that plywood is made using the same urea-formaldehyde glue so I am not sure what US manufacturers use.