Laser Engraving Techniques

Owned by jas caf
Last updated: Oct 07, 2023
5 min read

Summary:

Explore the four fundamental techniques for laser engraving, tailored for different aesthetics and materials.

  • Direct-to-Material Engraving: Image Mode

  • Direct-to-Material Engraving: Line and Trace Mode

  • Single-Layer Painted Surface

Assumptions:

  • Laser: XTool or Ortur 20W Diode Laser

  • Software: LightBurn

  • Material: Basswood for these examples

Safety First:

  • PPE: Always rock those safety glasses. Consider a dust mask if you're working with particle-producing materials.

  • Ventilation: Make sure your space is well-ventilated. An exhaust system is a good idea.

  • Material Knowledge: Know what you're engraving. Materials like PVC can release toxic chlorine gas.

Direct-to-Material: Image Mode

Difficulty: One cup of coffee
Quick Take: Quality can vary due to wood grain or material texture.

Settings for 20W Diode Laser:

  • Mode: Image

  • Speed: 6000 mm/min

  • Max Power: 100%

  • Min Power: 15%

  • Bi-directional: On

  • Overscanning: On, 5%

  • Line Interval: 0.0799 (318 DPI)

  • Scan Angle: 5 degrees

  • Image Mode: Jarvis

Settings:

Output:

 

Direct-to-Material: Line and Trace Mode

Difficulty: Two cups of coffee
How-To: Use LightBurn's trace mode for high-contrast black and white images.

Settings for 20W Diode Laser:

  • Mode: Line

  • Speed: 4000 mm/min

  • Max Power: 100%

Step1:

Load in photo to your lightburn project and then right click and hit trace image.  Adjust the cutoff and threshold dials until you have the desired effect.  Fade image button can help a lot.

Step2: Hit ok and then delete the photo and keep the trace.

Settings: assuming 20w diode laser

Mode: Line

Speed (mm/min): 4000                      (note: for 10w laser use 2000)

Max power: 100%

 

Speed can be adjusted to make the line deeper or shallower.  Really varies based on material and laser, effect wanted.

 

 

Painted Surface: Single Layer or multi-layer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXHRKB5zmV4&t=5s

Often called the norton white tile method, this has a couple extra steps and takes a bit more prep work.

Difficulty: Two cups of coffee
Details:

The Norton White Tile Method is a tried-and-true technique for calibrating your laser engraver's settings. Named after its creator, Russ Norton, this method uses a white ceramic tile to help you find the optimal settings for your laser engraving projects.

Why Use the Norton Method?

  • Precision: Achieve the best possible engraving quality.

  • Time-Saving: No more guesswork means less wasted material.

  • Versatility: Once you've got your settings, you can apply them to other similar materials.

What You'll Need:

  • A white ceramic tile (typically 4x4 or 6x6 inches)

  • Your laser engraver (this guide assumes a 20W diode laser)

  • LightBurn or similar engraving software

  • A grayscale image for testing

Steps:

  1. Preparation: Clean the white tile with alcohol to remove any grime or fingerprints.

  2. Paint the tile with white paint or layers of paint (pending how complicated you want to go)

  3. Software Setup: Import your grayscale image into LightBurn.

  4. Grid Creation: Create a grid overlay on your image in LightBurn, dividing it into sections. Each section will be engraved using different settings.

  5. Setting Variations: Adjust the speed and power settings for each grid section. For example, you might vary the speed from 1000 to 6000 mm/min and the power from 10% to 100%.

  6. Run the Test: Engrave the tile. Make sure to note which grid corresponds to which settings.

  7. Evaluate: Once the engraving is complete, assess the quality of each grid section to determine which settings yield the best results.

  8. Apply: Use your optimal settings for future projects on similar materials.

Engraving Settings:

Here's a sample setup for the grid cells. You'll adjust these for each cell to find the optimal settings, test tile is required:

Top Row (Speed Variations, Constant Power):

  • Mode: Image (or Grayscale)

  • Speed: Vary from 1000 to 5000 mm/min across the row

  • Max Power: 80%

  • Min Power: 20%

  • DPI: 300

  • Scan Angle: 0 degrees

Left Column (Power Variations, Constant Speed):

  • Mode: Image (or Grayscale)

  • Speed: 3000 mm/min

  • Max Power: Vary from 20% to 100% down the column

  • Min Power: 10%

  • DPI: 300

  • Scan Angle: 0 degrees

Remaining Cells (Mixed Variations):

  • Mode: Image (or Grayscale)

  • Speed and Power: Vary based on your initial findings

  • DPI: 300

  • Scan Angle: 0 degrees

Additional Settings:

  • Overscanning: On, 2-5% (to prevent edge burn)

  • Bi-directional Scanning: On (if your machine supports it)

  • Image Mode: Jarvis or Stucki, based on your preference

output: this was a 2 color with blue then black

 

Mirror Surface Tiles

Difficulty: Two cups of coffee
Material: Lowes Mirror Tiles

Settings for 20W Diode Laser:

  • Mode: Image

  • Speed: 15000 mm/min

  • Max Power: 50%

  • Bi-directional: Off

  • Overscanning: On, 5%

  • Line Interval: 0.0799 (318 DPI)

  • Scan Angle: 5 degrees

  • Image Mode: Jarvis

Note: Engrave the back of the mirror. Test settings first. Use negative image mode for backlighting or regular mode for painting the back black. Proper ventilation is a must due to noxious fumes.

Imagr

One of easiest ways to prep files is to leverage imagr. This typically gives a simple way to adjust photos and images, rather then the more manual tools found in photoshop, gimp or LB.

  1. Follow the instructions on site

https://www.imag-r.com/

  1. Once the file is prepared and downloaded now go into Lightburn and import.

  2. Set the image in lightburn to passthrough mode and adjust speed/power based on your laser settings. This test example was done with a 50watt CO2 laser.

  1. Burn the image

This was set as CO2/2 and wood; 300DPI. Always make sure to have length/width set correctly.

Most cases it is hard to beat the effects that you can get out of imagr and is worth adding to your toolset and workflow.