18: Can I paint or stain my material before I engrave or cut it?

[evansd2]

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Yes! This is a very cool way to add color to your projects. A good first step is to read about material safety with your glowforge:

4: What materials are dangerous to laser?

Return to the common questions index The main ways to damage your machine with a material are through fire, melting, or chemical reaction. Fire: Layered materials like cardboard and stacked papers can be fire hazards. Some foams are prone to fire. Acrylic is prone to fire. There are good reasons why Glowforge insists that you monitor the machine when it’s cutting, fire is at the top of the list. Search the forum any time you’re trying a new material, chances are someone’s tried it or will…

That said, most paints, inks, and stains are laserable and don’t pose any more health risks than other materials.

Here are two examples:

(from here: The Mandala Ultimatum)

or this:

(from here: Playing with Canvas again)

Here are a few threads about the topic:

Painting wood first

Is it possible to paint your wood before cutting or engraving? I’m terrible at painting so I was thinking about painting first then masking and lasering. Thanks.

Has anyone tried this canvas paint engraving technique?

This looks incredible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gm6FVMaAgo Im curious if anyone has done this on their glowforge?

Engraving on painted wood

Hi Does anyone know if it’s possible to engrave on painted wood , let’s say for example acrylic , like in this picture [image]

It’s even possible to engrave light color on stained woods:

Dark Stained Wood Engravement

It can definitely be done, I’ve never tried it but it’s doable. Engraves get darker as speed goes down and/or power goes up. So faster and less power is the way to go here. It might take multiple passes to get good depth, but it’s attainable.

Enjoy!

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