I’m just getting started on an AtomStack X7 Pro. I’m trying to “engrave” some 65# cardstock and I think
I’m getting close on the speed & power settings, but there is an artifact that keeps popping up that I don’t understand: often the engraving is pretty even until the bottom of each shape.
You can see many examples in this photo:
These are the settings I’m using in one of the examples with words:
I don’t understand what causes this. Is there an easy fix?
Thanks in advance for your help.
How is the material being held? Is it possible that the top vs bottom of the paper are at slightly different focal planes, causing the bottom not to burn cleanly?
If you can’t quite sort that out you may want to do a cross-hatch. I’ve found that it really helps to even out engravings. There’s obviously a time cost but may be worth it on troublesome materials. Experimenting with scan angle may also be of benefit.
One tip based on these pics, perhaps try doing a fill+line or a manual line+fill. You may get a crisper look to the engraving that might be something you like.
The cardstock is just resting on a stainless steel plate. It isn’t held down but I assume if the laser can cut through thicker materials, minor variations in the paper on a small footprint won’t be affected too much by focus. Is this a bad assumption?
I ran a number of cuts as you suggested with cross hatching and an outer line. The end result is definitely much improved.
I like the second closest one in the photo the best. My only complaint is that the engraved areas are a little uneven but perhaps that can be fixed with further experimentation.
Thanks for the quick response, @berainlb.
For very delicate work and the specific setup on your laser I’ve found that focus can be surprisingly finnicky. In your case is it visibly flat? Or are there obvious wrinkles and such? If it’s on a known flat surface and your laser frame itself is known to be even across the entire frame then focus is probably not the issue.
The areas of the engraving that remain white, can you confirm whether or not those are areas where the original surface has not been vaporized? And only the areas that are physically recessed from burning have gotten darker? If so, I think what’s happening is that the laser is having a difficult time with burning the white paper… and only after some time is it able to get through the top. Once the top layer is pierced the laser gets to fairly quick work as the paper has darkened
A couple of things to potentially try for the blotchy look:
What type of cut settings are you running?
Thanks for the ideas, @berainlb.
I’ve made some progress since your last message.
I think you are correct about what is happening with the white paper. I found this post and it explains that white paper reflects light and then, when it abruptly starts to mark, the color change flips from not engraving to engraving on an absorbent color rapidly. In effect, the proper settings are a knife edge. For example, I tried a 0.5% increase in laser power and the engraving nearly burned through the 100# cardstock after not showing on the back side in a previous run.
The other thing that helped with engraving consistency/streak mitigation was increasing the lines-per-inch from 254 (default) to 360. The LPI increase made the cross-hatch unnecessary.
At this point, my engraving settings on the Atomstack X7 for 100# bright white cardstock are:
I’ve been paying more attention to focus and it seems fine. For final cuts, I will sticky tape the paper down.
Thanks again for your help. It pushed me in the right direction.
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