wouldn’t you have to do that to cut through ½ when you engrave the back? reverse/mirror the image so they’d match… wood or acrylic?
1 Like
?? Not quite understanding what you said 
On clear acrylic, I always etch the back side so from the front its smooth…hense the reverse image…
5 Likes
Oh… you’re saying ONLY etch the back side… I thought you were referring to lasering both sides of acrylic so the design would be equally distinct on both sides… oops
1 Like
Lol…you really had me confused 
Not yet, but I’ll throw it to @Tony for the hopper.
7 Likes
Hidden tip from expert! Score! 
8 Likes
Lol not hidden or a secret…it just looks better…I also dont deep engrave on acrylic for edgelighting since it makes a shodow effect that renders the image blurry IMO
6 Likes
It is not a secret once you tell it…
I wish I had seen this before doing my star trek console project.
The logo was on the front and I know it will accumulate dust.
Once I realized my mistake it was too late to go back and redo the panels.
5 Likes
Well darn I wish I had to Spilled the Beans about it earlier LOL
3 Likes
I’ll do front engraving for challenge coins - people seem to like rubbing their fingers over them like worry rocks.
The other not secret trick is to defocus the laser. It smooths out the very fine striations that can sometimes be visible. Crisp etches look good for LED edge lit items but defocused engraves look better when not lit I think.
9 Likes
And another great tip!
You guys must not realize how valuable these little gems are to those of us who don’t laser yet.
8 Likes
Funny you should mention it, just watched the latest SarbarMultimedia video in which Russ defocusses his laser to “print” on a T-shirt.
11 Likes
I’ve never seen that before! @dean has done some cool laser-cut T-shirts but we’ve never tried engraving. Neat!
3 Likes
That guy cracks me up…love his modeling at the end.
May have been smarter to do a few test cuts before running that long of a file though…lol
I’ve got a stack of tshirts wanting to be laser scorched now!! Would be fun to do outlines for coloring in.
4 Likes
That guy would be a great grandpa!
His series chronicles the journey of learning from square one. His engineering background coupled with his Witt make an entertaining video.
All his mistakes, exploration into the problem and the solution he arrives at make an excellent instructional experience.
He ordered an upgrade tube for his machine, and the vendor having seen his videos gave him an even more powerful tube at no charge.
I think I have seen most of his productions. A good one is his reflecting on what he has learned over the first year with his laser.
I highly recommend his series to anyone like me who is new to lasers.
@smcgathyfay - that coloring idea is great!
2 Likes
That t-shirt engraving is going on my must-do list!
2 Likes
Gonna try today if I have time 
7 Likes
I did this on a pair of Chuck Taylors - works on canvas sneakers too 
1 Like
Is that something basic most lasers can do is defocus? <which doesn’t seem to be a word but it works>