Super new to lasers! I bought mine for the specific purpose of engraving wood to use as wood blocks to make block prints! I’ve had some luck so far, but I just wonder if there’s something I can do better… and maybe there are some tips and tricks out there.
I am using a combination of a program called VectorRaster and illustrator to prepare my files. I’m enjoying the results but because off my process I need the engraved part to be deeper! I roll oil ink over the finished engraved block to get a transfer on to paper.
From watching the LightBurn youtube videos, it seems like to have it engrave deeper, it takes some fiddling with the Speed and Power of the laser. I’ve tried various configurations but still haven’t quite mastered it.
TL;DR:
I need to make my laser engrave DEEPER into the wood! Any tips for achieving this?
Diode lasers do not produce much depth, so you’ll likely need to go slower at full power, and possibly make multiple passes, and air assist would help as well. Your result would be much better with a CO2 system, as those tend to vaporize material, not just darken it.