Cutting Boards and Walmart

Hey, y’all.

So… I bought a bunch of cutting boards from Walmart… I’m wanting to make a business out of this. Ordered some masking sheet that I chose after reading the recommendations in the community (so helpful!!) I’m just terrified to try it out when the masking gets here. I’m terrified of fire. Does anyone have any advice? Can I put just any old/new cutting board in the machine and go? And also, do I need to mask the whole board or just the part that I’m engraving?? Thank you!!!

I’m not sure what kind of masking you got, but you do need to rub it down with the edge of a credit card or hard squeegee to activate the adhesive in a lot of the masking. (Small piece of acrylic works too.)

Be sure to do that…it can come up if you don’t.

If the cutting board is thicker than about half an inch, it will not fit on the tray…you will have to remove the tray and prop the engraving surface up into the correct range for the laser to focus on it.

You don’t actually have to do the measuring any more, but you do have to get the engrave surface into the correct range before you use the Set Focus tool.

You will also want to run the Calibration Routine before using it.

I’d also suggest you read everything at the Support button at the top of your browser before you start trying to use this for a business. There are things there that you need to know.

6 Likes

Thanks so much! That’s very helpful info! Loving the support in this community! :heart:

1 Like

I skip the masking on a cutting board. It’s a trade off between depth of engrave and soot deposit on the surface of the cutting board. I use a sanding sponge to give it a clean if needed. I had issues with masking not sticking to bamboo and flappy masking is one of the worst fire hazards. Just plain wood works great. If they are thinner boards, it will work with the tray in, but most boards are thicker than 1/2" so require removing the tray, which means a little math. That topic @Jules posted will get you going.

5 Likes

Omg. Such great info! Thanks! Most of the ones I already have are less than half an inch but I do have some larger ones to contend with. I guess it’s all gonna be trial and error but I quit a job I absolutely HATED to do this full time, so I’m def willing to put in the work!! Thanks so much for your help!!

2 Likes