Seattle Skyline Etched on Reclaimed Wood Lath

Made on a Glowforge
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I just received my Glowforge a few days ago and after doing some test prints on proofgrade materials, I’m venturing out on my own materials ( I was a bit concerned it would start a fire - so had my fire extinguisher and wet towel ready to throw on the wood if needed :slight_smile: )

I work with reclaimed wood lath in a lot of my projects, since it’s not a plywood with glues or treated wood, I figured it would be “safe” enough to give a go in the Glowforge. It’s 1/4" thick so I couldn’t cut through it… I was able to etch on it though.

Now I just need to learn how to make vector images, edit them and customize them to my liking vs being stuck with available vector images…

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Looks great! The reclaimed lathes really give it a rustic look.

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That is absolutely lovely! :grinning:

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Super cool! You can really see interesting grain in the engraved areas.

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It should be able to cut that. The trouble with lath is it’s often got other stuff absorbed into the would, like plaster, that might prevent it from being cuttable.

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Really nice work.

I really like how the wood grain in the second and third laths from the bottom add to the overall flow of the image.

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I think I’ll do 2-3 passes on the cut to see if I can get it to cut through… on 1 pass at full power it was about 1/3 of the way through the wood.

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You probably have it covered, but just in case, speed is just as import as power. Go slow. But play with it to minimize char.

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I bet there’s a fairly high concentration of plaster in it. The plaster goes on wet and that lath just soaks it up and then it dries over the course of a hundred years :slight_smile: Started out as roughsawn oak I bet and turned into rock over time :slight_smile:

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thanks! I’ll try a few different settings… I just ran the lath through my planer as well to get some consistent thickness…

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It worked! I did one past at full power and high speed then, a 2nd pass at full power and very low speed. Cut perfectly!

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It’s fantastic. I really love it.
I love the texture you get with that old wood - the waves show the rough sawn origins.
Way to go.

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I would be surprised if slowest speed and highest power didn’t cut that easily. I suppose the absorbed plaster might be a slight issue.
My only experience is with a pre-release unit, So I can’t really speak for the production units. It is possible this machine has a pro tube in it, I have just been impressed on what it can do. I cut right at 1/2" oak with this at slowest / highest power

Your work is great! marvelous use of that material. :sunglasses:

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It worked - I was doing the highest power and fastest speed, so I slowed it down and it cut through it no problem :slight_smile:

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Wow. That’s amazing. Where do you get that wood from?:grinning:

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Lindsey, I’m SO HAPPY you got your Glowforge! And even happier to see what you did with it!

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