I case someone else needs a starting point on denim.
I used a height of .015 and engraved at full speed (1000). The numbers next to the pics represent the LPI. Both have been washed already.
1st pic is Medium weight denim.
The set of pics on the left was done at 15 power. The right side was just 1 power.
Notice the top right “1/full” text that looks great. I mis-typed and it engraved at 31 power instead of the 3 I wanted. It was too much. It didn’t eat through though the denim, you can just see it from the back and likley won’t wear well.
The second pic is a much lighter weight denim shirt I tried at 15/1000. It was too much and ate through in one place. I’d dial it back and start about 8 on the lightweight stuff.
Thank you!! My partner just bought me some denim for the Forge, and I knew I’d be puzzled as to where to start. (I think I also have that same series of crow & raven SVGs, which I love.)
I have some local doctors who want their scrubs lasered with name/logo. Has anyone done that light cotton material. I am not sure if I’m ready to go there yet!
It can be done, but it’s tricky as it easily eats through and weakens the fabric. Since scrubs need a lot of washing, it might be an issue. The shirt up above with the raven on it was actually pretty thin material not too dissimilar to thick scrubs. At the settings I tried, tge laser still ate a small hole towards the bottom and it wouldn;t hold up to much washing. Get some old scrubs and give it a shot though!
Oooh! Thanks so much for doing this! I sew/quilt/weave/God-knows what else so I hoard old t-shirts and jeans. I have an entire Sterilite container of old jeans that are waiting to become something else. I’m going to have to try this now!
I have been using your settings for .0990 of an inch for 1/1000, 5/1000, 20/1000 and its not even making any marks on the denim.
Here is a picture of me trying 1/1000, not seeing anything being marked, then trying 5/1000, not seeing anything being marked, then 20/1000 and not seeing anything being marked.
When one is engraving, does it make a pass that doesn’t mark, then makes another marking pass? Its not really marking the pants at all. I don’t know if this is because of the thickness of the denim or the strength of the denim on this pant leg.
I also want to know how to do you gage the thickness to be thin versus thick?
You need to use the “set focus” option on the target engrave area, there’s virtually no chance your material is identical to that of the original poster here.
In the GF UI click on the gear icon (it’s on the top icon bar under the Support text that’s at the very top of the screen. Click on Set Focus and your mouse cursor changes to [ ]. Center that over where you want to engrave and click your left mouse button. The GF will go there, scan the material and determine the distance from the head so it can automatically calculate the focus for the lens.
I have a PLUS, but I still haven’t been successful with a nice engrave onto denim. Engraving jpg, or png’s don’t do as well as svg formats. The problem with svg formats is if your design like mine are line heavy, the svg will be too large to load in the GFUI.
Another problem is the pant leg is sloped when it is folded into the GFPLUS without the tray inside, and doesn’t get an even engraving. I still need to do more testing with this as I haven’t really fully given it a 100% effective try.
I wish the GF hardware had a USB connection instead of an online connection and would print just like a printer. They could still do software updates just like any other application. I don’t understand why they had to go via online?
If the power goes out and I cannot get online my business is pretty much done for.
The OP has a Plus, though.
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