Solid Cherry plaque I created for a local band here in Northern Ireland

Finished Creations
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Was the first time transferring a PNG through The Dudes script in Photoshop and then Lightbburn for the rest. Really enjoyed making it and they were delighted :slight_smile:

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1 Like
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That’s really nice Jamie. Do you mind sharing machine type and settings you used? Did you pre coat the wood with finish or use tape before engraving?
TIA

David

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Hi David thanks for the comment. I can’t remember of-hand the exact settings as it was my first engraving from a PNG. The dpi was probably a lot higher than others would normally use. Was probably ran at about 180/220 speed. The Cherry was sanded to 500 grit and finished with a finishing oil which did darken it. But Cherry would darken on its own anyway, under normal light it looks great. I’ve a 150w reci 1800x1200 Chinese special lol. My dot size would be larger than most smaller machines. Hope this helps :slight_smile:

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Thanks Jamie. I am trying to find a good way to avoid “soot” marks on shallow engravings on light wood. Deeper ones are not a problem as they can be sanded off. Using tape on complex images is a pain to get off. So just trying if pre sealing with poly might be a good thing.

Cheers

David

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You could try increasing your air output.

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It’s pretty high now, can feel the wind in my hair:-) It’s very light 6mm ply rather than real wood so does Tend to produce more smoke

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I have found great success “weeding out” the detailed cut remains by using low-tack transfer tape to start with and then remove the small cut remains by applying a high-tack tape (duct tape) on top of the low-tack tape, press hard to adhere then remove the high-tack tape and the low-tack should be removed as well.

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Hi David , I do a lot of stuff on thin ply and find that if I just give it one or sometimes 2 coats of clear varnish (often use floor sealer or anything cheap and cheerful), it then engraves well and just needs a quick rinse in water and swipe with soft brush to remove all soot etc. I usually just precoat whole sheets. Just FYI.

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Rick and Bill, both useful tips, I’ll try both. Just did one engraving with the spray polyurethane and that seems to have worked ok, although I thought I had lost a little detail. Might need a very small increase in power perhaps?

Cheers

David