Fatherhood has changed what I’m interested in lasering… slightly. Got some simple maple wooden rings from Amazon, and am engraving names on them as gifts! They are solid maple and engraved nicely even without masking!
I made a jig for it first by cutting a circle out of 1/4" draftboard.
Laser Engrave settings (also added them on this handy spreadsheet: Glowforge Links)
Material Height: .45in
Power: 45
Speed: 500
Focus height: .43 (ended up looking a little sharper than .45)
Affinity Designer Settings:
2.733 diameter for the jig (for 1/4" draft board) - holds the ring perfectly in place.
2.02in for the ring with the name on it.
Copied and rotated 180º for the second ring.