Bill's 2.x Gallery

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Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:43 pm

I will post my many projects here along with my setting used to complete them. I am currently using Bart's 2.x laser along with Lightobject's DSP controller.

Here is my first plaque to say thanks to the two people that have helped make my dream of owning a laser possible.

Material: $ .97 cheap plywood plaque blank from Walmart
Laser Settings: Speed 150mm sec | Power: 20% | Scan Gap: .09

This plaque was not finished in any way. There was some minor smoke residue around the letters but that was removed with a DA sander. I already have 2 jobs lined up to make award plaques for a 5K race and a Triathlon. I have found some finished plaque blanks on Ebay and plan to use these to start out with until I can find a stable supplier with reasonable pricing.

First Plaque.jpg

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:01 am

I didn't have much time to play with the laser tonight, but I did download Photoshop CS3 and installed the Gold Method engraving script. Then I downloaded the typical Angelina Jolie picture to test it out. Here is the result. The engraving looks better in person.

Material: 1/16" aircraft plywood
Laser Settings: Speed 250mm sec | Power: 10% | Scan Gap: .09

I am quite pleased at how it turned out since it was a shot in the dark with the settings. I may try this on some anodized aluminum.

Jolie.JPG
First attempt at Photoshop Gold Method Engraving.

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:38 pm

I did a little messing around with some AlumaMark samples I received. One was satin silver and the other satin brass. I used a few different settings as noted on the examples. I am not very happy with the outcome. I figured the letters would be sharper. I think I may have needed to go a little higher on the power, say between 20% and 25% and keep it between 75-100mm sec.

The top portion above the bottom line I ran twice at 200mm sec and 10% power. I don't know why the Y and the L came out the way they did, but it was consistent on each pass.

AlumaMark Satin Silver-1.jpg
First AlumaMark Test


I used my AJ photo again on the satin brass to see what happens. I didn't redo the picture in the gold method script for the new size but probably should have. All I did was grab the corner and shrink it down. The smaller picture on the right is 34mm x 25mm.

AlumaMark Satin Brass-1.jpg
AJ x 2

I will have to order a couple sheets and do some more detailed testing. I am finding out that just because your machine can go really fast doesn't mean you have to go that fast. :D

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
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AlumaMark etc

Postby twehr » Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:42 pm

Bill,

I ran your photo (from the BMP you sent me) on a product called Laser IT (http://www.idplates.com/product?id=1428-1). It was a bit dark, like what you are getting on the AlumaMark. But it was also a bit dark on wood, as well.

I took your original and played with it. I made it considerably brighter (+83 brightness in Photoshop) before running the Gold Method. I got very nice results (photos to come this weekend). I did the same thing with some of my photos (greatly increasing brightness and then running Gold Method). These also gave much better results than I was used to getting.

On the LaserIT, I ran 300 mm/s at something between 25% and 40% (can't remember).

You might want to try LaserIT - as it is very reasonable in price - $6 for 12x24 and gives really nice results - I have used it for a couple of years now. They have a $75 minimum BUT you can call and give a credit card and they wave the minimum order requirement/fee.

Here are some tests I ran on LaserIT from IDPlates.com. I'm happy with it. (The discoloration in lower right corner is my shadow.)

Photo Engraving Samples.png
tim
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:50 am

That looks really good Tim :D , I am definitely going to get a couple sheets to mess around with.

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:00 am

Here is the first of 50 plaques I have to make for a 5K run in August. The plaques are from http://www.jon-ko.com.
I used Gold Pro Color Fill from http://www.laserbits.com. Really easy to apply and I didn't have to use any type of mask.

Material: 6 x 8 Freeman Walnut Finish Plaques
Laser Settings: Speed 200mm sec | Power: 25% | Scan Gap: .10

DSC_2152.JPG

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
whmeade10
 
Posts: 215
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby dirktheeng » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:23 am

Bill,

How much time does that take? It looks like a decent ammount of work if you have a lot of areas to fill.
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:54 am

dirktheeng wrote:Bill,

How much time does that take? It looks like a decent amount of work if you have a lot of areas to fill.


Actually it didn't take very long at all to color fill the plaque. I tore a piece of cardboard off a cereal box and applied the fill to the plaque in less than 1 minute. I placed the plaque in front of a fan for about 10 minutes to dry while I set up the laser for engraving a wine glass. Then it took about 1-2 minutes using isopropyl alcohol to wipe off the excess color. It takes longer to dry than to put on and take off the color fill. :D

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
whmeade10
 
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:35 am
Location: Sedalia, KY

Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby whmeade10 » Thu Jul 07, 2011 3:41 pm

Tried my hand at a leather coaster from LaserBits. It didn't turn out to bad considering I was just shooting in the dark about SPD & PWR. The 'SugarS" at the top was done at SPD = 200 & PWR = 25 (To dark). The Chain was done at SPD = 200 & PWR = 12 ( To light ). The logo and "Farmhouse Bar & Grill" was done at SPD = 200 & PWR = 18 ( I think this is the sweat spot for my laser when doing leather). The scan gap was set at .10.

The chain is a little messed up at the bottom because graphic was messed up on the first run. I fixed it and did a second run at the next day, but it wasn't lined up perfectly.

Material: 3-3/4" diameter x 1/8" Leather Coaster
Laser Settings: Speed 200mm sec | Power: 18% | Scan Gap: .10

Coaster.jpg
Coaster from www.laserbits.com


Cheers, :D

Bill
FSE 45w Deluxe CO2 Laser 5th Gen w/X7 DSP | CorelDRAW X7
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Posts: 215
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Re: Bill's 2.x Gallery

Postby bdring » Thu Jul 07, 2011 3:51 pm

Is it true, engraving leather smells like burning flesh?
Bart
"If you didn't build it, you will never own it."
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