Whiter Plywood not good for Diode Laser

[Gravour]

I have a 10W diode laser, and I’m making some tests on two types of plywood.
One is whiter, higher-quality, and it looks way better. Also twice the price. But my laser doesn’t seem to engrave properly on it. I’ve even used higher power, but the results are horrible compared to the cheaper one.

Any idea why?
Is there anything I could do?

From what I know, the same plywood looks amazing when engraved with a CO2 laser.

[MikeyH (Mike Hembrey)]

@Gravour

laser doesn’t seem to engrave properly on it

Diose laser is in visible light spectrum, CO2 is not. Whiter white reflects more energy than sort-of-white.

You might try coating the Extra White with a borax solution (let it dry of course). It reportedly helps get darker blacks.

Short read…

Hi everyone, Newbee here

If you are cutting, you don’t need to do anything. But on some wood products that you want to engrave, adding a water and borax solution to the wood may help produce a darker engraving. It is not needed on all wood engravings. Just try it without first.