Cork board

Use the design template and instructions below to create a beautiful custom corkboard.

Preparation

Required material:

1 sheet of Cork, 3mm
1 sheet of MDF, 600x300mm, 6mm + adhesive tape
Cover material

Machine Used:

Speedy 360, 80 watts
2" lens
Aluminum cutting grid table

Of course, you can also produce this pattern with all other machines in the Speedy laser engraver series .

Tip:

Try a variety of different designs to suit your client or personal preference.

Step by Step

Step 1: Design

Import our design template and adapt it to your preferences. With the relief mode and the two gray levels in the graphic, you can engrave two different shades in one go in the cork. To find out which grayscale achieves which color change, first apply the grayscale matrix.

Send the graphic for the corkboard to your Trotec laser engraver with the following settings:

Process mode	Resolution	Cut line
Relief	333dpi	none

Halftone	Others
Color	Enhanced geometries

Tip:

Because the corkboard is mostly viewed from a distance, you can use a coarser resolution of 333dpi. A higher resolution will not be seen by the human eye, so you can save a lot of time in the laser engraving process.

Step 2: Laser process the cork

Lay the cork piece in your Trotec laser engraver and cover the rest of the working area completely. The large nozzle gives the best results with this material. The parameters can of course vary depending on the laser machine used and the available laser power.

Laser Parameters: Engraving

Color	Process	Power %	Speed %	ppi/Hz
Black	Engrave CO₂	50	70	500

Passes	Air Assist	Z- offset	Advanced
1	ON	0mm	High Quality

Laser Parameters: Scratching

Color	Process	Power %	Speed %	ppi/Hz
Red	Cut CO₂	12	4	1,000

Passes	Air Assist	Z-offset	Advanced
1	ON	+9 mm	-

Laser Parameters: Cutting

Color	Process	Power %	Speed %	ppi/Hz
Blue	Cut CO₂	60	1	1,000

Passes	Air Assist	Z- offset	Advanced
1	ON	0mm	-

Tip:

Cover the workspace very carefully when working with cork. This will help you achieve the best extraction performance and avoid flaming during cutting.

Step 3: Laser-template MDF support plate

For additional stability of the cork and to help it attach better, we placed a slightly smaller sized MDF board on the back. This also allows you easily attach wall hooks. Then send the MDF-template graphics to the laser device with the following settings:

Process mode	Resolution	Cut line
Cut Job	1000dpi	None

Halftone	Others
Color	Enhanced geometries

Step 4: Laser process the MDF

Lay the MDF plate in your Trotec laser machine. The parameters can obviously change depending on the laser machine used and the available laser power.