So after making some amazing artwork to be painted, my wife decided she needed to get used to the medium first before she fully committed to painting the last one. I decided to also make one for my D&D group for an adventuring guild that they are starting to contact with.
We used our favorite paint pens and went to work. I can honestly say I’m a bit miffed there’s no tan paint pen. She’s definitely more color orented then I, but over all I’m happy with how mine came out all things considered. Hers came out amazing and you don’t really see it with the camera but she brushed some mica powders into the paint before it dried to give it a nice shine.
Things learned:
All in all a few things were learned from this: there is a specific number found that seems to be the right balance number when burning into the hard canvas. If you go over that number, it starts to fray small parts of the image/canvas, if that happens it tends to be a bad time. An air compressor is your friend, after engraving it is very dusty and needs to be ether gently patted down or blown off so the powder doesn’t corrupt the paint.
I understand your position, and I don’t disagree with the analysis of by-products of combustion, but it’s the dose that makes the poison, and the effluent amount in the exhaust of the laser is minuscule and dissipates exponentially. Just my opinion.
So not with Glowforge, but with another project I worked on, A number of years ago, I was doing a project that very lightly burned a painted part of something. I ended up getting sick for several days because of it. So sure I might be overly careful with that one, but it’s rooted in not wanting migraines and throwing up with no actual reason.
I use acrylic paints, which are no more toxic than other forms of acrylic. Stinky? yes, but deadly seems a bit of an overstatement. That said, if it bothers you, definitely don’t do it. Creating should always be about joy.
Man, I understand the negative influence of a toxic experience. I once had minor exposure to zinc poisoning, and everything tasted like metal for a day. Those cold lozenges with zinc? I am sensitized to it and absolutely cannot tolerate them. As a result, I have power ventilation in the shop that will turn over the room in a minute, with a fume hood over the steel table I use for welding, grinding, painting and casting.
I totally get this. There are some things I can’t bring myself to do even if the risk might appear acceptable to others. (For example, you will not find me using chrome tanned leather in the Glowforge, even though I have some amazing bags I could engrave… I don’t care who has done it. lol)
As a result, I have power ventilation in the shop that will turn over the room in a minute, with a fume hood over the steel table I use for welding, grinding, painting and casting.