We have been experimenting with felt engraving. Here are a few of our recent endeavors (additional photos in the comments).
All of the engravings except the middle Piranha Plant in the first photo were done with the following settings 3mm felt:
Engraving
Speed: 1000
Power: 40
Depth: 0.120
Vary Power
Lines per inch: 195
Cutting
Speed: 250
Power: 70 (will be switching to 80 for lighter fabric)
Depth: 0.120
The middle Piranha plant is has the same settings for speed and power but here we choose Convert to dots. It did work as well for creating contract between the colors.
We will be increasing the power for cutting next time as it did not quite cut through. We think this is due to the lighter color of this felt. The original test felt in photo 3 was darker.!
I see that you mentioned 3mm felt, but can you be a bit more specific? I have lot’s of different felt and knowing which one you used will make my starting point much easier.
Hrmmm, off the top of my head I would guess that this is due to either:
Something with the file - FE, I’ve had weird and wonky results with low res graphics.
Or perhaps something to do with the texture of the felt? Like maybe small bits are getting loosened during the engrave process and then blown away by the air assist?
@Drea, I don’t believe it is the file as the other three burns from the same file did not have this problem. I agree it might have to do with the texture of the felt. I did have to rotate the file due to the shape I wanted to cut out so the file is going against a different grain of the fabric. Maybe more testing will tell me. Thanks.
I am also now noticing that some of the burned areas of the plant are flaking off a bit with handling. Can anyone recommend a finishing spray or treatment? Would Scotchgaurd help hold the design in place as well as protect from stains? Thoughts?
We used to use hair spray when we did chalk art since it’s basically liquid plastic in an aerosol can. It kept everything from flaking off quite well. Might be a cheap option to try.
Still experimenting with felt engraving. Here are a couple more examples of my findings. The three Groots from Left to Right: Grey 1.2mm 100% wool, Green 3mm Polyester and Green 3mm 100% wool.
I also updated the above to include the lines per inch setting of 195 that I forgot before.
Thanks for this info! I have great success cutting poly (cheap craft) felt with 70 power, 250 speed and one pass. I can get three sheets of felt in a stack and cut cleanly through all. Four was juuuust too much. No char on the edges, and a little bit of a melted seal on the cut edge.
Hair spray is great as long as it won’t be exposed to water (either washing, or incidental like walking in the rain). Scotch Guard should work well. If it’s not on something flexible a polyurethane spray could work too.