Color layered proof grade plywood

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Hello, longtime lurker here, but finally decided to make my account since we’re getting so close to release :slight_smile:

My question/request is whether or not it would be possible for there to be a proofgrade version of color layered plywood, with pre decided settings allowing the GF to engrave down to certain depths for certain colors (multiple passes most likely being used).

But there could be a simple gradient of light wood to dark wood, or even dyed wood of different colors that could create color images! (Though likely with severe limitations, but exciting none the less).

I would love to hear your thoughts about whether a standardized version of this could be achieved under a proofgrade standard of quality, or if it would be simply up to diy-ers and larger production companies to make the boards, and us have to run lots of tests to get all the numbers right.

Thanks for hearing me out!

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The stuff exists, so it’s mostly a question of whether it could be PG or DIY.

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Welcome!

There’s a great thread for this. …

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That sounds like an awesome idea! @dan, @Tony hopper?

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Welcome @jordells. Marius Hornberger, German YouTube boy-wonder talks about Spectra plywood. He has done some neat bowls with it. It’s a good idea and is referenced somewhere on the forum.

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That exists as acrylic and engravers plastic so its probably doable with veneers. But since engraving burns the wood, it may not show the true color…

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That’s true how it wouldn’t show the true color very well anyways :sweat_smile:

But the ideas of the possible results really make me want to find a way, I suppose xD

Though, since this would be the most likely outcome, I doubt whatever DIY process that is necessary to be done would be small enough that they would make a proofgrade setup for the outliers wanting to do these weird methods xD

But I would hope that the thought of making a simplified method for it, and making it an actually popular GlowForging option would be amazing :smiley:

PS: would taking a dremel brush to the char reveal the properly colored wood beneath? (Still being hopeful!)

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Definitely going to watch that video soon, thanks for the recommendation :slight_smile:
And hey, if there isn’t a viable option for color layered plywood in laser art, then I have been wanting to take up wood turning at some point anyways! :smiley:

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That’s true! I didn’t even think to put in a formal request on that thread xD

So thank you, Sir, for the reminder :smiley:

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Absolutely! This is something we’ve thought about ages ago in acrylic, wood, paper, etc. It’s on our long term list of things to explore.

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That is great to hear! :smiley:

Thanks for the reply, and I will personally be looking forward to any updates you provide in the future about niche specialty items like this :slight_smile:

PS: the idea of layered paper art was what for me so excited for this idea on the first place! So I’m excited to hear that has all been talked about internally :slight_smile:

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I bet there are other light-abrasive options as that might work nicely, like a very fine sandblast…

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That’s actually something I’ve seen mentioned on here before, and been curious about :slight_smile:

What kind of small scale sandblasting have you used before? If you have experience with it, I would also like to know how messy the process is too xD the idea of sandblasting something, ya know, kinda seems like it would get sand everywhere! xD

Thanks for the response, by the way :smiley:

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I’m going from the discussion – see in particular the “air eraser” video using baking soda. That shows paint coming off a surface without doing much to the underlying metal, so it might well be able to get rid of char. (And the baking soda is pretty harmless to dispose of.)

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