Here are settings that I used for engraving my gravel.
For most of my rocks, I decided that I like 400/full power at 270, and I stopped documenting after that.
Truly, though, slowing it down is pretty nice. 200/full looks really really good on the Zoey rock.
Some rocks behave differently than others, regardless of settings
I love this!!! Thinking my Grandson would love to see “Ben” when we picked up a rock outside!
Growing up my Mom collected rocks from everywhere across the country. They built an entry room, hand laying rocks & bottles (end to end to add light to the room). They also added a couple of regular windows. The inside of the walls were coated to bring out their color to look wet. It was pretty cool.
Very cool tests!
On the ‘Lexie’, That kinda like what my light grey slate does at higher power, under magnification, what looks like little black flecks that remind me of obsidian - Volcanic glass.
The laser effectively bleaches many minerals, I would like to understand what the heat is doing to the minerals.
So great to see those results! We up here in Maine have beautiful rocky coastlines and over the years my family and I have been known to be rock smugglers from time time. We have so many that my wife wants to make a fairly large rock garden and she had more than enough for one. So boy was she excited when she knew we could engrave rocks with the . See the criminals below! My inlaws, wife and daughter! (We didn’t actually take any rocks from that particular beach, orrrrrr did we?)
Pretty cool! tried doing some of my own yard rocks and couldn’t get the depth you’re getting there. May be the type of rocks or something.
I am a little confused, you said “400/full power at 270”. Does that mean speed 400, full power? What number is the 270? Sorry if this is a silly question, still new here!
Great idea! I was showing the family and my mother-in-law, who is visiting from CA, said she would bring rocks out to us from Lake Tahoe… O the things she brings in that Marry Poppins bag of her’s
Not exactly… not clear, anyway.
Different rocks definitely provide different effects.
Different properties.
Rocks are really cool… even the ones in the driveway.
Yes, different minerals react differently and the only way to know is testing. Most often I see a bleaching effect, but on granite I think it is the the hornblende that darkens. So for consistency a stone without any matrix in it would give better results.
. See the criminals below! My inlaws, wife and daughter! (We didn’t actually take any rocks from that particular beach, orrrrrr did we?) 
