Excellent video with great information. Thank you for making it and sharing this with us.
thanks for the information!! i have a question haw do you engrave in metal? im trying to engrave on knives , an bottle openers?
You need a special spray to mark metal. The laser won’t actually leave a mark on metal. If you have anodized aluminum, the laser will burn away the color layer. Go to the search in the top right and search for “cermark.” You should find plenty of info on marking metals, and the dos and don’ts with that.
Actually, I found another post from the original poster:
You can see he used something on the metals.
John - I watched your video many times before I got my Glowforge. I also really like the other content on your YouTube channel. Thanks!
Thank so much!!! I was hoping to find something like this to use as a point of reference!
Very much appreciated!
After looking at the list, I started singing it to Johnny Cash’s “I’ve been everywhere”… I’ve cut everything, man, I’ve got everything… I’ve cut purple heart, redwood burl, cardstock, cast acrylic"
Wow!! You rock!!
Thank you so much for making this video! I’m still waiting for my machine, but the information in this video was so helpful to me and just added to my excitement for all that I can do!
Thank you so much for this! Heading over to view your video now.
Thank you John this helps a lot. Now I need to get a few other tools to get my projects going.
Omgosh - how in the world am I just now seeing this!! What an amazing resource. Thank you so much for sharing! Not only is it SO helpful/practical from a technical standpoint, it is also incredibly inspiring creatively ~ the possibilities are truly endless!
Thank you for this. I really had a question o n how and what the setting needed to be for various materials beyond the stock materials. This is very much appreciated.
Welcome to the forum.
Reading through the Glowforge information about manual settings will be very helpful if you haven’t done so already. Often you can start testing a new material with a Proofgrade setting for a similar material and then adjust slightly.
Thank you for the reply Dklgood. I have some non Proofgrade materials but I will need to work up to using those as I have an idea for some pieces of Black Tempered glass, sadly we don’t have similar proofgrade specs yet but its also only about my first three days in so I’m still learning the process and settings. I barely had my filter up for my first test prints so I’m learning slowly and look forward to more adventures in creation via this tool.
Wow, what a resource! I’ve been wanting to cut metal with my GF, but of course that does not work - I never knew about Delrin until now. I’ll definitely try it out. Your video showed exactly what I need it for - gears!
What about Crystal
This was so very informative. Thank you so much. I learned quite a bit. What mask material is used to help create a cleaner surface on wood products? Does that also help with acrylic?
Masking materials have been discussed lots in the forum, so a search will result in lots of information. Proofgrade acrylic comes masked and the masking helps reduce flashback from the honeycomb tray. Many people remove the mask for engraving since it can leave a sticky residue behind in the engrave.
The important thing to note is that there have been quite a few fires started with masking that came loose, so if you choose to mask your own materials be sure they are secured completely.
thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.
Thank you