Help with Power/Speed on Bamboo Cutting Board

Beyond the Manual
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This isn’t a problem; I just want to get smarter on the process of cutting.

I tested a cut on a bamboo cutting board, 0.285" thick. Here are the three tries, and the settings involved:

(1) Full power, 500 speed, 3 passes. Laser dug into the material, but not very deep.

(2) Full power, 100 speed, 3 passes. Laser cut completely through, but charred the heck out of the edges.

(3) Full power, 250 speed, 3 passes. Laser cut partially through. I did this twice more, for a total of 9 passes. I had a perfectly clean cut, no charring.

Obviously my best outcome was (3), but I’m hoping to get help doing this more smartly. Should I mess with the power and speed settings, or is this the best I can do?

Jack (not Christine)

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Sounds like you got smarter. Bamboo is a bear to cut. Congrats on getting it done without charring the heck out of it. :slightly_smiling_face:
(And I’m gonna write that down cause I still hadn’t managed to pull that off.) :smile:

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I have only done three bamboo boards, but I was happy with the results. These were my settings for engraving - speed:1000, power:100, LPI: 340, focus: .377. The depth of the engrave was about .03” (.8mm).

I can’t remember the actual thickness of the boards, but I did have to remove the crumb tray and use a riser.

I hope this helps.

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Bamboo is a bugger to cut through and I don’t think I’ve seen much of it cut without lots of charring. Sounds like you did very well!

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Hahaha, that’s exactly what I thought too!
kermit-typewriter-gif-5

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Agree with the others, you are doing fine because bamboo is TOUGH material, the fact they use it for cutting boards is testament to that for sure!

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Bamboo is a bear for sure. I am sure that there will always be a need for experimentation due to the fact that bamboo boards are a laminated product and the resins used to glue together can be so varied.

I too have written down your settings to try.

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My assumption with settings is that there is no one true combination: there are multiple solution sets that will work for a particular material.

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Speed 1000? … Am I missing something?

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Nevermind… score and engrave…

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Thanks for the tips! I made this for a Christmas gift. I messed up the name, so it took a little southern engineering with a copper etched inlay to cover up the mistake. I’m pleased. Still learning all the lasering things!

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Great Job! Can you provide the setting you used for this design? Also how long did it take to complete one board?

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Thanks! Here are the notes I jotted down for this piece: Board was .4" thick. Used thick maple plywood settings at 1000 / 100 / 340, .313 thick maple walnut. 55+ mins to engrave… The photo is before I cleaned it up. It did get a little lighter after washing.

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Thanks for those settings… I just finished this! I did wash and oil mine before taking the photo so its faded a little.

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Looks beautiful. Love the design!

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Lovely result.

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Thanks!! It’s based on one of my pen and ink illustrations :slightly_smiling_face:

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I do a lot of Bamboo cutting boards. Speed 1000, Power 90, LPI 340, 1 pass. I never mask bamboo-once it’s done I just use some dish soap and a soft toothbrush to clean it. Comes out perfectly.

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How thick are your cutting boards?

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I have 2 different sizes I use. .33 and .48 it works for both perfectly.

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