The Laser Thread

Drew Riley said:
Mine showed up in the mail today. I got mine from an Etsy seller named Dog Bite Engraving. He also included a couple accessories (chuck key holder, and a safety glasses/sharpie holder) which was a pleasant and very welcome surprise. Setup was quick and easy too.
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Please keep us posted

I Love this thread. I need to go back and re read it.

I know I want Something. I hate etching. I'm slow to do stuff because of it.
I feel it's a crap shoot. I burn through stencils cause I like them Deep.

I actually have a professional industrial etcher....not a rinky dinky knife made one.....and I still don't like doing it.


But I'm so busy, I don't have Any time to learn.... None.
I need a total, prepackaged set up, for simple knife layouts.
I bet it's coming.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Please keep us posted

I Love this thread. I need to go back and re read it.

I know I want Something. I hate etching. I'm slow to do stuff because of it.
I feel it's a crap shoot. I burn through stencils cause I like them Deep.

I actually have a professional industrial etcher....not a rinky dinky knife made one.....and I still don't like doing it.


But I'm so busy, I don't have Any time to learn.... None.
I need a total, prepackaged set up, for simple knife layouts.
I bet it's coming.
Click to expand...
There is a slight learning curve, but once you get set up and make your first etch with a laser, it's all pretty straight forward. Not that I don't think there's much more I can (or need to) learn, but for basic etching, it's not super complicated.
There's tons of support these days for Lightburn, and I often find myself using ChatGPT if I have trouble formatting something, or I'm looking for suggested settings. It definitely takes some of the guess work out.

I know one thing: It's a weight off my shoulders knowing I don't have to custom order stencils any time I change steel, and I no longer have to "baby" my stencils and worry about having enough to finish a batch. Besides that, the etches are much more consistent, and cleaner, and setup is easier and faster. It's also great being about to project or "trace" the etch on the steel before I hit run, so that I know exactly where the etch is going to be. Not that you can't do that with stencils, but it does seem like etching with a laser is more efficient overall.
 
The Sculpfun IR2 is what I use to do mine. I set it up on my Anolex CNC, but it will work on a laser machine, too. Lightburn is pretty easy to learn and it's all about speed and power and interval settings.

It's not as fast as a fiber, but it works for me!

PXL_20250821_180652621~2.jpg
 
Linus Knives said:
The Xtool F1 does the job just fine and it's so easy to use. I just use the included Xtool app to run it and there's barely anything to really learn.
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100% true. I think it's a terrific setup. Idid download Inkscape though, to to the actual "artwork". The Xtool app is a bit limited in that sense.
 
So I've been doing some work projects with the laser lately! I have the Sculpfun IR2, Sculpfun 11W and Aenbuslm 20W that I am running on a Sculpfun Ultra 30 setup. Also got a roller set up and the chuck/roller combo is on the way since I won a gift card from Sculpfun!

One of the guys in my Dept is retiring this weekend, so I did some tumblers and a plaque for him. IR2 for the brass plaque and the 20W diode for the tumblers (11W would have worked fine, I just had the 20W set up on the machine):
Sc plaque.jpgSC tumblers.jpg

Made little Goomba Stands (Or Spaced Invaders) from different woods:

Wenge in the back, leopard wood front left and cherry front right:
thumbnail_PXL_20250926_005325130~2.jpg

Cherry (I had to modify the right side leg shape because it was lopsided compared to the left!)
PXL_20250924_234139072.jpg

thumbnail_PXL_20250926_005339050~2.jpg

150mm/min and 500mm/min is the range speed wise. Poplar, basswood, cheap laminated 1/8" plywood and cherry worked well at 100% power with the 20W, the 11W was a bit slower on the cherry, like 250mm/min IIRC.

I gotta cut up some leather belt loops next and work on doing leather sheath patterns so I can laser out a bunch at a time once I get the laser into it's enclosure to help with the smell. I have a 24" x 24" work space, so I can probably next in 4 sheath patterns/welts in that piece! I could also do patterns to slice down strips for strops and stuff, too, basically cut out a rectangle in the leather. I want to try cutting the strop handles, but I don't know how it will do going thru thicker wood. But I can laser out templates to trace, or laser the cut lines onto the strop paddles and then saw/sand to the lines. I am finding lots of new uses!
 
Taz said:
So I've been doing some work projects with the laser lately! I have the Sculpfun IR2, Sculpfun 11W and Aenbuslm 20W that I am running on a Sculpfun Ultra 30 setup. Also got a roller set up and the chuck/roller combo is on the way since I won a gift card from Sculpfun!

One of the guys in my Dept is retiring this weekend, so I did some tumblers and a plaque for him. IR2 for the brass plaque and the 20W diode for the tumblers (11W would have worked fine, I just had the 20W set up on the machine):
View attachment 2990212View attachment 2990213

Made little Goomba Stands (Or Spaced Invaders) from different woods:

Wenge in the back, leopard wood front left and cherry front right:
View attachment 2990214

Cherry (I had to modify the right side leg shape because it was lopsided compared to the left!)
View attachment 2990215

View attachment 2990216

150mm/min and 500mm/min is the range speed wise. Poplar, basswood, cheap laminated 1/8" plywood and cherry worked well at 100% power with the 20W, the 11W was a bit slower on the cherry, like 250mm/min IIRC.

I gotta cut up some leather belt loops next and work on doing leather sheath patterns so I can laser out a bunch at a time once I get the laser into it's enclosure to help with the smell. I have a 24" x 24" work space, so I can probably next in 4 sheath patterns/welts in that piece! I could also do patterns to slice down strips for strops and stuff, too, basically cut out a rectangle in the leather. I want to try cutting the strop handles, but I don't know how it will do going thru thicker wood. But I can laser out templates to trace, or laser the cut lines onto the strop paddles and then saw/sand to the lines. I am finding lots of new uses!
Click to expand...
You were able to keep the brushed finish underneath the paint on the tumblers?! Very cool!
 
Did these with the logo on the front, steel and HRC on the back:

thumbnail_PXL_20251003_203031630~2.jpgthumbnail_PXL_20251003_203013637~2.jpgthumbnail_PXL_20251003_202850783~2.jpgthumbnail_PXL_20251003_202859789~2.jpg

Wife got me a small little vise for our Anniversary that has magnets in the base so I sticks to my honeycomb laser bed and I use the rubber columns instead of jaw to hold the handle. I can angle it so the blade is flat to the laser instead of at the bevel angle, too! The Logo is less than 2 min and the steel is around 2 min to mark with the Infrared; it takes longer to get the height/placement of the blade set up than to etch it. I can use the frame function and see where the lasering will be and adjust it for the knife I am working on. Slow, but it works well!
 
how important compensating for the bevel angle? That's well less than 10 degrees, and considering the narrow portion that's in the mark that should be only a couple or 3 thou. I've never consider the bevel angle, just laid blade on a flat support to lift handle above base.
 
I don't know? I've engraved things and where it wasn't level, the engraving was much lighter. I did an award plaque piece and the ends were curled up a bit and it engraved differently there, same with tapered tumblers. Not sure how picky the lasers are with focus depth? I don't level it pefectly, but try to get it somewhat close. People mentioned having it a bit tilted so the laser doesnt reflect back into the lens, too.
 
Yep, if it's highly reflective as in a mirror finish I try to put a tad of an angle. I'm sure the focus depth depends on type of lenses, type of laser - diode, fiber, UV, etc.
 
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