10 Tips and Tricks for Laser Engraving and Cutting

Hello, I'm Geordie and I currently work at ADX Portland

(http://www.adxportland.com) running the Laser Cutter and Engraver. My job is

to take in customer's projects, set them up and run them on the laser. As a

result, I've learned a few tricks for how to set up jobs to get the best results, and

in this Instructable I'm going to pass them on to you.

The laser I work with is an Epilog Helix and the program we use to run it is Corel

Draw. I'm going to try to write in general terms so you can use what ever laser

and program you want to.

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Posted:Apr 27, 2014

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10 Tips and Tricks for Laser Engraving and Cutting http://www.instructables.com/id/10-Tips-and-Tricks-for-Laser-Engraving...

1 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Note: For several of these tips it is important to understand the difference

between Vector files and Bitmap files. Vector files are mathematical formulas

defining lines, circles etc. These are created by programs like Adobe Illustrator,

Inkscape, AutoCAD and Corel. Bitmap files are collections of individual pixels.

This included digital photos, Adobe Photoshop files, JPGs etc. With the Epilog

laser (and I'm assuming other ones) you can only cut with a vector file. You can

engrave with either vector or bitmap files. For several of my tricks you need your

file to be a vector file for the trick to work.

Step 1: Tip #1: Preparing for cutting or engraving

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2 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Before we get to tips for cutting and engraving, lets start with some good ideas

for preparing to cut or engrave.

Masking: If your going to engrave on something be aware that the smoke for

the the engraving can stain the edges of the engraved surface. If you don't want

that cover the surface with masking tape to protect it. The masking tape won't

decrease the power of the laser much (bump up the power a bit if you feel it

needs it) and the masking tape will protect the material around the engraving

from the smoke. After running the engraving just peal the masking tape off. I use

this a lot if I'm engraving on leather.

Presets: Your laser should have some suggested settings for cutting or

engraving different materials and different thicknesses. You should also be able

to load these settings into your computer or laser and save them as presets. Be

sure to name them something that makes sense so you can easily find them

That way the next time you need to engrave on leather or cut 1/8" thick acrylic,

you can just find the preset for that material.

Test cuts: Even when I have a preset for cutting a material I usually try to run a

test cut in it before I run the full job. Nothing is worse than taking the material out

of the laser and finding that it didn't cut all the way through. I create a small

circle or square (about 1/4" or 1/2" wide) and cut out in corner or on some scrap

material. Then I can see if I need to increase or decrease the power before I run

the final cut.

Step 2: Tip # 2: The power of layers

Several of the tricks I'm going to talk about require being able to print only part of

a file or design at a time. The easiest way to do this it to put different parts of

you design on different layers in a file. Most graphics programs allow you to

create different layers and then to turn them off and on. While you can put

everything on one layer here are some advantages to using layers.

1. Controlling the order of cuts. Your laser should have some options to

determine the order in which lines are cut but one way for you to control that is

to put different cuts on separate layers on to turn the print of each layer on and

off in the order you want.

2. Have multiple parts and designs in one file. Rather than having a separate

files for each design, just put them all in one file and put them individual layers.

Then just print the layers one at a time. Helps keep things organized.

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3 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

3. Creating guides. You might need to create some guides for laying out out your

design or maybe you'll need a target to place an object in. If you don't want

these to print put them on their own layer and turn off the printing of that layer.

Step 3: Tip #3: Wood grains and engraving

So you've designed a logo or a image and you want to burn it onto a piece of

wood. Wood is a great material for engraving but you need to be aware of the

difference between engraving on a solid piece of wood versus a composite

material like plywood or MDF. Unlike a manufactured material, natural wood is

not uniform. The grains in the wood represent different types of growth in the

wood (winter and summer) and they will each burn differently. Usually the darker

grains are harder and the lighter parts between them is softer. As you can see

from the example photo you end up with a zebra pattern in the engraving. If

having a uniform look to the engraving is important to you, you'll probably get

better results from a good plywood where the top layer is more uniform.

One more thing to be aware of is materials with a thin veneer of nice wood on

top. The engraving will often burn through the thin veneer exposing what under

neath. Make sure what's beneath the veneer looks good and that you burn all

the way through the veneer so you don't have a mix of veneer and under-

surface.

Step 4: Tip #4: Overlapping lines.

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4 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Often when cutting out multiple parts at once, the temptation is but them up

against each other so similar lines overlap. This is a good idea, but there is a

good way to do this and a bad way.

Let's say for example you have a bunch of squares to cut out. If you draw 2

squares (4 sides each) and then but them up against each other it will look like

there is only one line between them. The trouble with this is that although it

looks like there in only one line on the overlapping side, the computer still sees

2. The end result is that lines will get cut one on top of the other. This can lead to

that edge getting burnt, rather than a clean cut. It also waste time on a

unnecessary cut.

The way to fix this is to eliminate one of the doubled up lines. Draw one of the

squares with 3 sides and but it up against the one with 4 sides.

Step 5: Tip #5: Lines - Raster versus Vector

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5 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

The main difference between a raster engraving and a vector cut, is that for the

engraving the laser head travels left to right across the print area and then

moves down a hair and repeats until it has engraved the image. With the vector

cut the laser just traces the lines of the cut. As a result raster engraving take a

lot longer than vector cuts.

So what if you have art work, like a Celtic knot, or a design, like a map, that is

mostly lines. You can run it as a raster engraving. The advantage of this is that

you can set you line thickness to what ever you want and have different lines be

different thickness. The disadvantage is it is going to take a lot longer to

engrave.

If your design or art work is a vector file (this doesn't work with bitmap images)

there is a faster way to create your lines. Set your file up as a vector cut but turn

the power down and increase the speed. For example to cut through 1/8"

plywood I would have the laser power at 100% and the speed at 20%, but to just

score the wood I would set the power to 30% and the speed to 95%. So rather

than cutting through the material the laser just burns a thin line into it. The

advantage is it is going to be much faster than engraving. The disadvantage is

that the line is going to be very thin and you can't vary the thickness of it.

See my next tip for a way to get thicker vector lines.

Step 6: Tip #6: Defocus the laser for thicker vector lines.

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6 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

In my last tip I covered how to use the vector setting to just score lines into

material to produce line art work or designs. But the disadvantage of this trick is

that the line is very thin. But there is a way to tick the laser and get thicker lines.

The laser has a very tight focus so if lower your material a bit the laser will lose

focus and spread out. The way I do this is to put a small piece of wood that is

about 3/8" thick on top of the material I an using and have the laser focus on the

wood. Then I run the laser on a vector setting (with a lower power setting and a

higher speed). The result is a much thicker line than if the laser was correctly

focused.

There are 2 disadvantages to be aware of with this technique. One is the line is

a little soft and not as crisp as a raster engraving. Second, in the corners of the

lines the laser pauses just a little as it changes direction so the corners get

burned a little deeper. The corners look like they have little dots in them.

I discovered this trick when a client wanted a large order of wooden coasters

with a Celtic knot designed burned into them, but they had a limited budget. To

do the art work as an engraving would have taken to long and cost too much

(about 5 to 7 minutes each). But by doing the art work as a defocused vector

score, I cut the time to about a minute each and meet the budget.

Step 7: Tip #7: Adding a vector score to the edge of type orengravings

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7 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Normally you should get nice edges to any engraving your laser makes (if not

check your lens and focus). But if you want to give the edges of your engraving

a little extra sharpness here's a good trick. Add a light vector score to the edge

of the engraving.

Once again you will need to have your image as a vector file. Select your image

and add a thin stroke to the edge. When you set up the laser set the stroke for a

vector cut but turn the power down and increase the speed so it burns but

doesn't cut through the edge. After the laser does the engraving it will come

back and burn a thin line around the very edge.

This is a great effect for type.

Step 8: Tip #8: Hitting the target

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8 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Some times you need to hit a target area that is not a the lasers origin. For

example a piece of scrap plastic that you've already cut several shapes out of,

but there is enough room between some of the old cuts to do a new cut out.

How can you accurately get your new cut out into the left over space?

First measure the target area and get its rough dimensions. Make sure there is

enough room for what you want to cut out. Then place the scarp material in the

laser and measure down and across from the laser's origin to the target area.

For example a 1" by 2" rectangle located 2.5" down from the top and 1.75" over

from the left edge. Then in you file use guides to mark out the target area and

position in the distance from the origin as the area on the scrap material. Place

your design or cut out in the target area. Make sure your guides won't print out

and run the file. If you've measured everything correctly your cut out should be

in the target area.

Step 9: Tip #9: Engraving multiple objects

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9 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

Lets say you have a bunch of wooded coasters that you want to engrave your

logo on. You could put them one at a time at the origin of the laser and engrave

them one by one. But wouldn't it be nicer to layout several at once and have the

laser engrave them all?

The trick is to create a grid that you can lay the pieces out on and accurately

have the laser engrave on them. Create a new vector file the size of your laser

bed. Then measure one of your shapes/items. If you can get its exact shape

great, but if not just figure out a nice geometrical shape, like a circle or square,

that it will fit snugly into. This will be your target shape. Create the target and

position your design (engraving or cut) in the target. Now copy both the target

and your design and paste as many copies as you can fit in the space of your

laser bed.

Tip : Leave a little space between the targets so you can set them down without

bumping the ones around them.

Before you print the file, move the targets to one layer and your design to

another layer. Then turn off the printing for the layer with your design on it.

Cut a piece of cardboard to the size of your laser bed and put it in the laser. Now

make sure just the layer with targets is set to print. Engrave, score or cut the

target shapes into the card board. This creates a grid on the cardboard that

matches the one in the file. Now place the items you are going to engrave on the

targets marked on the cardboard. Don't forget to refocus the laser on the tops of

what you are engraving on. Now you can turn off the printing of the target layer

and turn on the printing of the design layer.

As long as you don't move the cardboard you can just keep laying out new parts,

hitting engrave and repeating until you have all your parts done.

Step 10: Tip #10: Using the Red Dot to figure out where to cutor engrave

(http://cdn.instructables.com/F91/EBMI/HUIWN6L2/F91EBMIHUIWN6L2.LARGE.jpg)

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10 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

The laser I use has the option to turn on a laser pointer that projects a red dot

where the cutting/engraving laser will fire. This is helpful for figuring out where

the laser will cut before you run your job on your material. Simply turn off the

power to the laser and turn on the red dot. Then run the file and watch where the

red dot goes.

One thing to be aware of is this works well with vector lines, where the laser/red

dot traces the lines, but not so well with engravings where the laser pass back

and for over the whole area of the engraving. If I need to use the red dot to

figure out where an engraving will end up, what I often do is to draw a vector

square or circle around the engraving and then just having the red dot trace the

square. Or draw horizontal and vertical center lines.

(http://cdn.instructables.com/FT2/FBXX/HTNO6B0F/FT2FBXXHTNO6B0F.LARGE.jpg)

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11 of 16 5/2/2014 11:49 AM

We have a be nice comment policy.

Please be positive and constructive. I Made it! Add Images Post

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22 hours ago Reply (CYB5BQGHUMSBTML)

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Ghostpilot (/member/Ghostpilot/)

The masking technique is especially usefull when engraving on glass surfaces.

The laser I use have a 4th axis for engraving round objects, mainly used to

engrave drinking glasses. If I maske the glass area to be engraved with a wet

peice of wiping paper just before engraving, the edges won't be as sharp and the

engraved image will look much more "in focus". The paper shouldn't be dripping

wet, just moist enough to stick to the glass surface.

geordie_h (/member/geordie_h/) (author) Ghostpilot

Cool technique.

We have a rotating unit for our

laser but since the object just

rests on it it tend to slip or not

rotate evenly.

But I do engrave on flat pieces

of glass so I will give your tip a

try.

Thanks

labernache (/member/labernache/)

These tips are indeed very useful, especially those that differentiate between

raster (bitmapped) and vector-based images. I have done quite a bit of vector

based image work in the last 30 years of CAD/CAM engineering, primarily for the

creation of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designs, but also for mechanical

engineering works. Knowing these types of labour saving utilities is invaluable for

streamlining and design for manufacturability. All of this translates to saving you or

your company quite a bit of money. Thank you for passing on your own

experientially gained knowledge in a very concise set of observations and

guidelines. My only concern is that, though your composition is nicely phrased,

you appear to have made the same error many instructable authors have made in

failing to proof

-read your contribution prior to submitting the material for publication.

I don't want to come across too harshly, but spell-checking is not enough and

sometimes adds to the problem. Proof-reading from top to bottom prior to

submitting your masterpiece will in most cases catch all those "gotchas" and leave

your audience with not only the clear and concise tutorial you intended, but will

also ensure that the first purpose of your work: communication, is well served.

Despite the prevalence of errors, this Instructable did convey a wealth of

information in an interesting and engrossing way. Next time, just take a couple of

minutes to proof-read your work. I think it is deserving of the extra effort, don't you

agree?

By the way, I favorited your excellent contribution. Had you proofed your work, I

would have also voted for you.

Thanks for the interesting read.

Cheers,

Labernache

By the way, I did proof my work, and may still have introduced errors. But this step


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is crucial, especially on the Web because of the huge potential audience you may

reach.

labernache.

jktechwriter (/member/jktechwriter/)

Man, those are some outstanding tips, including the example photos. Thanks

for sharing this with us novice laser cutter users... I'm going to begin

experimenting with many of these ideas.

nwlaurie (/member/nwlaurie/)

Concerning the price of lasers: my chinese K40 (35 watts and good for thin ply,

acrylic up to 5mm and, of course, lighter materials plus engraving almost anything

except metal) cost m a tad under £400 on FleaBay. I spend about the same again

with an American firm called LightObject for more sophisticated electronics. For

well under £1000 I now have a machine that can earn its keep doing light cutting

and engraving work.

It'll probably be even cheaper in a year or two!

David Drage (/member/David+Drage/)

I have been running a laser cutter for a few years, and I really wish I had had this

guide when I started out. These are all good tips and worth a read if you are new

to laser cutting!

yogunny (/member/yogunny/)

Some of the best tips I’ve seen. Very well written. It’s too bad that lasers, powerful

enough to do a myriad of work, are so expensive and beyond the reach of most

woodworkers (we use two in our shop). But things change and prices drop. I’d

recommend readers keep this article for future use when the money starts flowing

and you can afford a laser. :-) Sorry, don’t mean to rain on your parade Geordie in

re the cost of lasers - your’s is an uber fantastic presentation. I give you six out of

five stars!! :-)

geordie_h (/member/geordie_h/) (author) yogunny

I agree that its to bad that lasers

are out of the price range of most

people. I know there are some

Maker spaces where people can

rent time on them and at ADX

where I work we offer the laser as

a service for people to either rent

or for us to run jobs for them.

I tried to write these tips to help

people who where renting time or

paying for someone else to run

their project for them. Hopefully

this will help people lower their

costs and get better results.


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yogunny (/member/yogunny/) geordie_h

I’ll up that to seven out of five stars - didn’t think of Maker spaces - need to

check that out. Again, mega kudos for a fine i’ble.

Squidyman (/member/Squidyman/)

Do you know if it is possible to either buy or make a laser engraver for a lot less

money than when I do a quick google search for one? I can think of a million uses

for one but don't have a million $$$ lol :P

lauralbaby (/member/lauralbaby/) Squidyman

There's instructions here on making

one. Some day I will hire someone to

do that for me, heh.

Squidyman (/member/Squidyman/) lauralbaby

Okay awesome JIhx and lauralbaby!

From what you said, it mostly looks

fairly simple. That does sound right

about the laser. I once built a 3d laser

scanner and made the mistake of

buying a low quality laser on Ebay.

Lesson learned there. What laser

diode do you recommend and where

would I get "precision" mirror and

lenses to focus?

Thanks :D

Jlhx (/member/Jlhx/) Squidyman

From replacing parts on the Epilog, I know most of the items comprising

the units are standard motors and power supplies used in many other

industries, mainly the configuration is custom, and the housing. The DC

power supplies inside are the same I use for LED lighting. The X-Y motors

would be easy enough to control with a modification of a 3D printer kit.

I think the most difficult (and costly) part is in the laser it self. These units

use a back mounted laser with precision mirrors and lens to focus the

beam. This is the hard part to make at a home level.

Jlhx (/member/Jlhx/)

Nice list. We have a Fibremark laser at my Office, also from epilog, for engraving

on metal. Some items don't apply as the UV laser acts a little different than the IR

laser here, but it's nice to see that the few that do have been things I have been

doing as well for the last year. Good stuff.

These are expensive industrial Machines, and like earlier posted, it's far outside

the range of the average home user. The Fibremark is even more expensive,

about 3 times the price of the IR series!


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Nice list all-in-all. Cheers.

nwlaurie (/member/nwlaurie/)

Great stuff! I have just bought (and upgraded the electronics of (thanks

LightObject)) a cheap chinese K40 40-watt laser engraver/cutter and have been

learning these tricks the hard way...

Really useful and much appreciated.

More would be welcomed!

quinn (/member/quinn/)

This is all really great advice!

rimar2000 (/member/rimar2000/)

Very useful tips, although I have no laser cutter.

zonkerharris (/member/zonkerharris/)

Hi Geordie! (See you again at Maker Faire Bay Area?)

On the epilogues, when working with scrap, I often release the X/Y coords, and

use the visible laser to put the red dot in the upper-left corner of where I want to

place my design (as in your two rectangles above), and then "Set Home". I've

learned a few other neat tricks in this series. Thanks!

jhall30 (/member/jhall30/)

I love using jigs, but when using raster engraving, all of those copies can take a

long time. Here's a tip to make it take less time: color mapping. Set all raster

objects in a vertical line to the same RGB color, and make each column a different

RGB color. This reduces the "empty" horizontal (x-axis) raster movement, and will

save time when you have a few unconnected columns to engrave. When sending

your file to the cutter, use the color mapping pane in the control panel to set the

settings for each color (they'll most likely be the same if you're using this to speed

up a job), and make sure that color mapping is turned on. Everything that is not

mapped will use the default settings on the main pane of the control panel.

This works because the laser will process each color individually, and complete

one color before moving on to another.

nearlygreen (/member/nearlygreen/)

Excellent - well done

rgpfx (/member/rgpfx/)


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3 days ago Reply (CNDEQ8UHUJ636BQ)

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Awesome!

jmc75 (/member/jmc75/)

very helpful thanks.

vicvelcro (/member/vicvelcro/)

Thank you.

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10 Tips and Tricks for Laser Engraving and Cutting

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