Laser and inlay

[Chasper]

I've been working on learning to use powdered stone to do inlays. There is a good video tutorial from Ed Davidson in the library. So far I've simply been turning a groove in the pen and filling it with powder/CA. I think I have that process down reasonably well.

I'm thinking about moving up a level, I have access to some first rate laser cutting equipment at work, and what I had in mind was to take a nearly finished turned tube off the mandrel and cut in a graphic on the laser. Then I would put it back on the mandrel, stone powder fill the cut out image, sand it down to a clean inlay and then finish the pen.

Has anyone done this? I haven't been able to find any pictures in the albums. I'm looking for tips about line width and depth to carve. I'd like to carve in a signature and fill it with powder. I'm thinking about type fonts with fine serifs in about 14 or 16 point. Maybe a company logo that can be represented in one color.

Has anyone tried repeating this process twice to powder fill a two color graphic? I'm using Universal 50 watt lasers (one X-50 and one X-360 with a pen rotating jig) and I have a new Universal XL-9200 120 watt that I haven't figured out yet.

Thanks in advance.

Chasper

 

[btboone]

Chasper, I did a signature pen like that. It worked pretty well. With hindsight, going a little thicker with the engraved signature lines would have worked better. The bottom arcs were three passes offset about .003" from each other, and they seemed to work well.

 

[broitblat]

Chasper,

I've had a number of pen barrels laser cut (I don't have a laser so I sent them out) and then filled them. The depth and width will depend how fine the fill material is. I prefer to use the finest stuff I can find for that reason. There are a few in my album (see below), but I'm sure there are other, better examples around.

-Barry

 

[mrcook4570]

I use a technique very similar to what you are describing. To do multiple colors, I just mask off certain areas and inlay the fill material.

Image Insert:

 

[Chasper]

Thank you Bruce, Barry and Stan. Very nice work from all three of you. I can see from the pictures that thin lines are not a problem for filling with fine powder. The problem is that a fine line fill does not show up very well against a busy and low contrast colored background. The pictures were really helpful, I appreciate seeing them.
Chasper

 

[Petricore]

Where do you guys get these cut ? What is a good price for that ? I am trying to get a little logo cut out of a pen and was quoted 25 bucks for first barrel, 15 after that.

 

[GoodTurns]

Originally posted by Petricore

Where do you guys get these cut ? What is a good price for that ? I am trying to get a little logo cut out of a pen and was quoted 25 bucks for first barrel, 15 after that.

MRCOOK4570 or KEN at Kallenshan Woods will take good care of you and give you a fair price.

 

[R2]

That is all very interesting and the results are excellent.[^]

 

[Petricore]

Originally posted by GoodTurns

Originally posted by Petricore

Where do you guys get these cut ? What is a good price for that ? I am trying to get a little logo cut out of a pen and was quoted 25 bucks for first barrel, 15 after that.

MRCOOK4570 or KEN at Kallenshan Woods will take good care of you and give you a fair price.

Ken is who quoted me that, so looks like I'm in good hands.

 

[Fred]

Do any of these laser cut lines actually leave a dark (burned) edge? Would sealing the entire blank prior to being lasered help any?

 

[1080Wayne]

Fred BRoitblat`s pictures give a very good idea of the colour and edge quality you will get from a laser . Yes , I would seal the wood with 3-4 coats of thin CA before laser engraving . Seal again after engraving , especially if you want to paint in a colour . (No need to limit yourself to powder fills .)I prefer to totally infill the engraving , even when I want to retain the burned wood colour . The engraving is then completely protected . Takes more time , but better product . Charge accordingly . Wayne

 

[Fred]

Wayne ... Thanks for your reply.