Best-smelling Burn

[rbtdanforth]

@rotors

If I was freezing and the only way to keep warm was to burn zebrawood

Freezing the Zebrawood might be an option I had not thought of, It is very hard to work without starting it on fire.

[rbtdanforth]

@Tom_A

Can’t say that about many materials.

I would think that any wood that was good to eat something sitting in the smoke of that wood might be pleasant to cut anyone cut much Hickory?

[evansd2]

I bet engraving incense would smell good if you could do it without igniting it.

[rbtdanforth]

@evansd2

if you could do it without igniting it.

Would probably not be worse than mahogany,

[Tom_A]

@rbtdanforth

I would think that any wood that was good to eat something sitting in the smoke of that wood might be pleasant to cut

Could be. But I’ve definitely found differences in smells between burning with fire and scorching/incinerating with a laser.

[rbtdanforth]

@Tom_A

But I’ve definitely found differences in smells

If I could dedicate a Glowforge to nothing else, I think that making skewers of Trema and saving the smoke somehow might be a business plan (too much competition in hickory)

[eflyguy]

… and so much cheaper than scented candles…

…oh, wait…

[geek2nurse]

Basswood smells like cotton candy. My whole downstairs smelled delicious the other day after my granddaughter and I made a picture frame for her mom for Christmas.

Last night I scored some wooden blocks from the hobby store to make a puzzle for the gkids, and they smelled like vanilla. I remember @Jules saying BB smells like vanilla, but I haven’t noticed it with mine. The blocks, though, definitely did!

[Jules]

No, that was the padauk. Definitely sweet smelling.

[tim1724]

I think basswood, padauk, and maple would be my top three.

Zebrawood turns into charcoal and does not smell good.

[timjedwards]

@geek2nurse

Basswood smells like cotton candy.

I’ve done actual sugar… Surprisingly, no smell at all!

Sugar Star

Updated below! Here’s a sneak peek: [image] Made a shallow box, smoothed some sugar in the bottom with card stock, and rasterized a solid star at 1000/80 @125 lpi. [image] The box (around 3cm deep) kept the sugar from blowing, but also localized a bit of smoke. There was no movement from the fans, but the sugar grains pop around a bit as the laser hits them. At these speeds, there’s not any perceptible yellowing, and the star seems fairly sturdy. Thoughts: A shallower box would hold t…

[rbtdanforth]

I have not had the chance to apply a similar process to green clay but at some point I would really like try an intricate design in it.

[rotors]

I opened the lid of the Glowforge immediately after the cut finished and got hit with a terrible smell. If I didn’t open it so soon, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the smell. I won’t open so quickly next time.

[n_dawson]

Cedar. Edged a few signs on a customer supplied “slab” a few months ago… smelled so good.

I HATE the smell of acrylic. And unfortunately, I’ve recently discovered how cool clear acrylic looks properly etched, so I want to do more… Really need to upgrade my exhaust system.

[thejambi]

Ooh, any tips on best clear acrylic engrave settings?

[evansd2]

@thejambi

any tips on best clear acrylic engrave settings?

Surely this will help?

https://community.glowforge.com/search?context=topic&context_id=33489&q=Acrylic%20settings&skip_context=true

Settings get discussed in Beyond the manual, so you might want to limit your searches to there.

[thejambi]

Yeah, I was just wondering what was meant by “properly etched”.

[thejambi]

Ouch, two passes but hate waiting doesn’t add up! thanks for the tip!

[rbtdanforth]

I have often found that a second pass at low power reduces the charring but multiple passes at low power increases the grain visibility and horizontal lines if the Lpi is low enough.