Newbie requesting advice getting good burns

Good morning out there!!!

I just recently picked up a Creality Falcon2 22w laser engraver and have been having fun with it. Two items came out alright for not knowing what I’m doing, but now I want to learn. I’m using this image from a video game I like to practice on.

My main intention is to get a good burn of the image and cut around a certain border. Once completed I wanted to do it again, then glue the pieces back to back.

I tweaked the settings multiple times. Twice it was so light that it was almost as if nothing was burned. This time around it burned, but there’s a lack of detail. I know the board is split, hence why it’s being used as a test piece. :slight_smile:

Any advice on settings will help me get the results I’m hoping for?? I really need to sit and watch a few tutorial videos, but I’m stubborn and like to play with things before I read the instructions. :wink: lol

Thank you all in advance. :smiley:




Oh yes, I also forgot to mention that it didn’t cut the image as well. Not sure what settings to use for that. :frowning:

Best advice is start doing material tests on the material you plan to use, dial in your speeds and feeds, line interval, focus, dot width correction and play with image mode and learn how to set up your image for laser burning.
If you think that’s a lot to do it’s because you choose the hardest place to start at. Which is images.

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Of course I would choose the hardest place to start lol

That’s fair, I’ll look up some beginning tutorial videos and get an actual feel for everything before I attempt to go from a trike to a harley. lol

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This is tricky. Your image outline has to be perfectly symmetrical in both axis. If not, when you flip one over, the edges will not match. Trust me on this.

Start with vector (SVG) drawings and learn line and fill first.

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I’m going to use this thread instead of starting a new one, hopefully I can get some help.

I know I’m new, but I’m having issues that I can’t figure out. I’m currently watching this tutorial video and following him step by step:

I’m trying to do the name tag he’s walking us through. Everything seems to look good in Lightburn. When I hit preview, it goes through the process and seems fine.

The issue I’m having is when I try to do anything on my laser. My PC is in my room and my laser is in the garage. In order to do anything I have to put the file on a memory card and walk it to the garage. Not too bad, I could use the exercise lol

When I insert the card and hit the frame button, my laser goes to home and stops, or starts moving to a weird position and then stops. Nothing happens when I hit start. I can’t seem to find anything online talking about my current issue.

Now I decided to reload the Lamia card I was working on at the start of this thread. I know for a fact that one works when I hit frame. Well, now it doesn’t. It moves to some weird areas rather than it’s location in Lightburn, and doesn’t even burn in the correct area.

Help??

Sometimes I feel like my issues arise when I increase the speed of the laser, almost as if it’s trying to move outside of it’s actual size.

Necro name tag.lbrn2 (227.6 KB)

I think I see part of your problem. 900,000mm/m is about 33.6mph. Your laser is not capable of these speeds. Don’t tell me where you got these numbers.

For wood, try about 3000mm/m and 30% power for the 20w.

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To be honest, I have NO idea where I got those numbers lol After messing around with it some more I decided to look up the max speed of my laser(25k). Then I looked at the numbers and thought “wtf??”. Then I checked the video and the guy never even said those numbers.

The only thing I can think of is that I accidentally pressed 0 a few too many times. I had a lot of head injuries when I was younger, they’re coming back to haunt me lol

Once I got that figured out I’ve been able to do some prints. Now I’m at a good level to practice the basics and get a good feel for everything. Thank you to everyone here that gave me some advice. :smiley:

I’m still working on the basics, but also playing around with images. I can’t help it. I want to make something for my aunt who took care of my dog for years after my divorce. I’ve got some round pieces of wood with bark coming in and I want to print this on it for her.

First practice burn came out so light you couldn’t see the clouds, second was so dark she looked like she was down below, rather than up on high lol

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Images are the most difficult thing to do with lasers. I also learned successes with one does not necessarily translate to the next one either. It seems each image is a project in itself.

Find some similar wood to practice on until you get what you want. Or start over with a belt sander.

Do NOT show that one to your aunt! :rofl:

@Necrobile, I suggest the following (and all the documentation, really) is worth review:

I might anyway, she has a good sense of humor lol

Look deep into her eyes!!! lol

Thank you greatly for this, it’ll help tremendously!!! :smiley:

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I used your image and messed with the settings. Then reduced the image to fit a 4" square of Baltic Birch. LB file is attached. Do not know if the Image Adjusts will stay with the file, so I am listing them here…
Mode = Jarvis
DPI = 250
Contrast = -5
Brightness = 0
Gamma = 0.300
Enhance Radius = 37
Enhance Amount = 590

It looks good in Preview, but I have been fooled before. Let me know if I am even close.

Pearl Tribute.lbrn2 (685.4 KB)

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Thank you for that, I appreciate it. :slight_smile: I was going to adjust it a bit tonight, but that gives me a good place to start compared to my last time.

I do recall watching a video that said the Enhance options help sharpen the image. Why did you raise it as high as 590 for the amount?? In the video example, they raised it to 100.

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Because I thought it looked good. I was just moving controls around to see what would happen. Like most people, I struggle with making good images. I guess I need more practice.

My only “successes” have been with greyscale.

I know I’m new, but anytime I tried anything with greyscale, it just came out a giant mess. That one will take a lot more trial and error from me, but I do want to get it down.

Fair enough, I wasn’t sure if there was a technical reason. I tend to over-think, so that’ll be one of my biggest challenges here.

Me too. Lasers, and especially images, are an art form. Kind of makes sense.

Lasering is basically working with 2 colors. So, you usually want to get as much contrast between the two.
Concentrate on the detail part like eyes and nose. It’s a balancing act, but once you get close you can save it as a preset in your adjust image window. Even then every image is a little different even on the same material.
I recently did an image on white tile and took me about 10 tries to get something that looked decent.
Also tried it with greyscale and that was a total failure.

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I have another question regarding tracing and welding. I’m wanting to make some layered pieces to see how they come out. I know how to trace the outline of the image, but I’m having trouble welding it properly to the line I desire.

Let’s use this test I made for an example of one of the layers I’d want to build. I want to connect Frieza’s blue line to the red line. I want the red line to include his body with the inner circle. The issue I’m running in to is when I weld them together it doesn’t include his body. It completely removes the body, but forms the shape of his feet on the inner circle.

What do I need to do in order to get the result I want?? I’m including a lightburn file to show you what I’m talking about.

Thank you :smiley:
Frieza Test.lbrn2 (557.9 KB)