Laser engraving and laser cutting wood

Because wood is a natural material, the user must think about various characteristics like the density and resin content of the wood when processing.

Rule of thumb: The more consistent the colouring and grain of the wood is, the better and more even that the laser engraving will be.

Using the grayscale matrix it's easy to quickly figure out your desired engraving settings.

Tip: The more your lens are defocused (z-offset: approx. 0.5-2mm), the darker that your wood engraving will be. By defocusing the laser beam, the laser spot size enlargens, decreasing the performance density and burning more wood instead of letting it immediately turn into gas. The disadvantage of this is that details can be lost.

Your settings can be tested by drawing a rectangle with two differently rounded corners and sending this image to your laser. For 1/8" thick wood, begin with high power and a speed of 2-5%. Slowly lower the speed to reach your desired cutting quality.

Laser cutting wood is a process of sublimation, therefore precise focusing and the right kind of optics are important. A distinction needs to be made between engraving and cutting. While engraving, please pay attention to the following: The finer the details are, the shorter your lens' focal length must be. Generally, 1.5" or 2" lenses are fitting for just about any wood laser engraving. However, for cutting, the material's thickness must be kept in mind. The thicker the material is, the longer the lens' focal length must be. For 1/8" thick wood we recommend you use a 2" lens. For 1/4" thick we recommend a 2.5" lens.

Further details of the right choice of lens

When woodworking, it is crucial to clean the hardware and optics involved. Wood dust is extremely sticky because of the resins and oils contained within and dust tends to settle into the machine. For these reasons, it's important that the machine is cleaned regularly.

Further details of laser cleaning

Relief engraving is fantastic on wood. With relief engraving, grayscales are converted to different laser power levels, creating a three-dimensional engraving. With comparatively high performance, you can engrave in multiple passes and then perform one or two cleaning passes to get rid of any smoke residue.

Further tips on relief engraving

Especially popular with wood as well are wood inlays (intarsia). For inlays, different woods are laid out on a flat surface in a way that creates a smooth surface containing different coloured and structured inlays. Typically, the base's material will be engraved before the material to be laid (veneer, usually) is cut and inserted. For the veneer, be sure that you change the width of the laser beam (cutting gap). The carrier must be slightly larger.