I’m very new to the Glowforge - I have been making some jewelry with the basswood I got in my starter pack but I recently tried to stain some.
I read online that basswood is “thirsty” and soaks up stain. I seem to have the opposite issue - its beading on top like there’s a coating on it. If I sand the pieces it loses the intricacies of the design and then stains in a blotchy fashion.
Any advice on staining it, or can you recommend other, better woods for jewelry that I can stain?
As a note, I’m based in the UK and there are no suppliers of the proofgrade materials here, so once it’s gone I have to source other laser safe woods so it won’t be the proofgrade stuff for too much longer. I already have some poplar and birch veneer from Hobarts. As well as a bunch of perspex. The poplar seems a bit flimsy.
Proofgrade wood is already finished so it won’t stain. You’ll need a raw wood that you can sand and stain and finish yourself. Just search the forum for “wood suppliers” and you’ll find a plethora of knowledge on where to get wood in the UK!
Ah, I didn’t see that anywhere when I was looking. Thank you for the info!
Do you know if it takes a wax?
The Proofgrade material, except Draftboard, is all finished with what I think is polyurethane. You should not need and will not gain additional benefit from additional finishes. You may be able to apply a wax layer but it will just sit on top of the finish.
Thank you for reaching out about this. It looks like you’ve already received some excellent information from our other community members. Thanks folks!
Did the information they shared answer your questions?
Hello @bluehyena, its been a few days since we last heard from you, so I wanted to check in. Could you please let us know if you have any other questions? Thank you!
Hi @bluehyena. It’s been some time since we’ve seen any activity, so I’ll go ahead and close this thread. Please feel free to create a new thread, or write us at support@glowforge.com, if you need any further assistance and we’ll be here ready to help. Thanks!