Learning the way designed equipment are used and avoiding mistakes requires time and experience whether you are an experienced engineer or a novice. Sometimes, designers wonder about problems that arise in their dealings and how they could make things better. This is also peculiar to laser engraving.

Knowing this mistake is equivalently important as avoiding them. Here are five of the most common mistakes when it comes to laser engraving and ways to prevent them future reasons;

1. Laser burning through the material of an engraving fabric: It is ideal to understand which fabric can tolerate the engraving process and at what temperatures. Perform an initial test on a spare material to ensure that the material can withstand the temperature.

2. Frosty look is determined by the type of acrylics: This is dependent on the type of acrylic used as two types of acrylics are known namely; the cast and extruded acrylics. The cast acrylic is ideal for engraving because it can be easily cut with a laser, giving frosty white color when engraved but wouldn’t give frame-polished edge compared to the extruded acrylic which does not produce the frosty look but rather a clear engraving but it reacts differently with the laser engraving machine.

3. Inconsistent glass engraving: laser generally fractures the surface of glasses during engraving as this fractured surface produces a frosty appearance needed but it can be rough depending on the type of glass engraved. To avoid rough frosted engraving, use a lower resolution power as this will separate the dots you are engraving, change the black in your graphic to 80% black, and polish the area if there are shards of glass after engraving with a non-scratch pad.

4. Different result are produced by wood engraving on the same setting: Wood engraves very well, however, they have different reactions to laser and produces different results. Denser wood requires more power to engrave the wood than lighter wood. Grain density can be different depending on the type of wood you are working with. For example, a large square engraved into a piece of cherry wood would have uniform appearance, with the engraved area smooth. However, if the same square was engraved into a piece of oak, its appearance would be non-uniform and engrave area being rough. Always engrave bare wood from the bottom to avoid smoke and debris trapped in the grain of the wood and wipe of surface of all woods with moist cloth after engraving.

5. Maintenance is important in laser engraver: A properly maintained machine produces better result. Maintenance requirement are available in your laser machine user manual so if you observe a drop in performance of the machine, refer to the manual. Always check and clean the optics of your laser weekly as this optics are brightly colored and shiny in which if covered with debris might not function efficiently.

This mistakes are common to new users of engraving machines and can easily be avoided. If you are interested about engraving your machines, contact us as we provide the best option that works for you.

For more information please visit www.inscribe.com.au