Engraving Black Granite tile

Made on a Glowforge
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So it could be a lot of things.

  1. The settings have been re-jiggered since the original post, so you’re kind of on your own there.
  2. Natural materials can vary a fair bit. so settings are a guidepost and are not set in stone (sorry, couldn’t help myself.)
  3. When doing photo engraving you usually have to adjust the source image using photoshop or gimp or something similar. There are a lot of posts here of very impressive engraves and admissions that it took a lot of trial and error to achieve their results. From what I’ve read you do the opposite to the photo of what you do when editing for print: iirc up the contrast and then up it some more.
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I haven’t engraved any black granite tile since the settings were changed a while ago. What I did learn was that you are not trying to cut very deeply into the granite, but only making shallow cuts. The structure of the granite is not uniform enough for a deep engrave. The white acrylic paint is what brings the shallow engrave to life. :grinning:

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Thanks for sharing.I too have been trying to learn all I can about engraving on tile- slate- granite. So please can you share the settings for the jobs

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I haven’t engraved the tile with the current lasers, but I would try the settings used for ceramic tile that is so popular now. You don’t want to engrave deeply in the granite because it is soft. You only want to scratch the surface so she white acrylic paint will mark it.

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Sorry just didn’t read post from start. Just trying to learn all I can

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Love this but I’d like to do a pet marker that will sit outside in the elements. So I’m not sure acrylic paint will hold up? Any suggestions?

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I am not sure, like you I don’t think the acrylic would hold up outside either. The engraving is quite shallow . Maybe some kind of finish like spar varnish would work. :grinning:

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I just thought of something else. I have been playing with some glass tiles that you can buy from Lowes. The ones that might work for you are 4 x 8 inches. I got the 3 x 12 inch ones to play with. If you do a search for glass tiles in beyond the manual, you can see some samples and settings. I have only used the clear glass with the white backing, but there are other colors that might work for you.

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Wow! They all look so amazing.

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How deeply did the engraving go into the stone? You used the 2% power, 335 for speed and default 240? This was the setting that worked the best? Asking as I have a memorial to try to do for a friend and don’t really want to diamond etch by hand if I can help it. Thank you in advance for your help.

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The laser doesn’t cut deeply, but it is enough to take the white paint that makes the engraving show. The granite tile is actually kind of soft when engraving. When I initially did this, about 4 years ago when I first got my glowforge, I tried to go deep with the engrave and it looked terrible. This is something that you will have to experiment with. Good luck.

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Thank you! This will be for a cheeseboard, so I’m looking to have the design show up but it doesn’t have to be deep, but it will be sealed for any etching to stay “frosted” when dry.

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I had the same experience. I think on granite (or any stone), the laser doesn’t cut or burn, it chips the stone from the surface due to the heat produced. So higher power equals bigger chips, which just ends up looking ragged.

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