Hard cover book

I need some advice on engraving a name into the cover of a hardcover of a book I need finished today so a friend can get it into the mail in the morning. Any information would be exceedingly appreciated!

In general, not something easily done without a lot of practice to determine what works on that particular book.

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#1: Find a similar book and test the settings on that.
#2: Hardcovers are made from many different coated paper materials or cloths. The only way to get decent results is to test low power settings, adjust those settings, and test again. I’m guessing that some covers will never offer decent results. Some might work just fine.
#3: The crumb tray will have to be removed. With the tray removed the book can not be any thicker than 2"

Beyond that… Can’t offer any real advice.

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Thanks so much for the prompt reply.

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I’ve done this a few times. @rpegg is right, you need to test until you get the right settings. If you don’t want to buy two copies, you can find an unobtrusive part of the book to try on. What I’ve done a few times is make a tiny engrave with my name on it, and put it on the back cover, starting light and dialing the engrave up until it looks right. It’s small and on the back, so if it screws up it’s not as noticeable. Perhaps I’m too conservative, but I started very low (max speed, minimum power) and it took perhaps a dozen tries to get up to a power that worked. That’s why small is good - if it takes a long time to run each test, you’ll be there all day!

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You may be able to make an educated guess. Most hardcover books have book board inside and a paper or linen cover. There is a certain amount of consistency there and you aren’t trying to cut it, I agree on finding a similar book to practice on. Also, people HAVE engraved linen, so search for that if that’s what you’re working with. You can get a nice discoloration without burning all the way through (or turn up the settings a bit for a deeper mark).

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Can books be wrapped in pvc? I’d be careful.

I suppose technically, but traditionally, no. Book cloth is usually linen (or some other fabric) backed with paper. If it’s not linen, it’s a coated paper, but I don’t think PVC is likely. It’s not archival.

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