New to the community and super excited to get my GlowForge! Anyway, here is my question: What, if any, stone tiles have you tested? Can Slate be cut or Engraved? How about Marble? Granite? Clay tiles? Would there be a reason or concern to test these ourselves?
Thank you for your time, Keep up the good work, and have a great day.
Ray
It appears that a 40-45Watt laser can easily engrave many types of stone.
You probably can’t cut them though!
A google search for “co2 laser stone engraving” or “co2 laser tile engraving” will give you LOTS of results, and anything those 40-45 watt lasers can do a Glowforge can do.
I believe those stones can be engraved, but cutting seems unlikely
A friend of mine is into stone engraving, and has worked a lot with Indiana limestone and some with sandstone. Stone “engraving” is definitely possible, but it’s not the same as fully ablative engraving like you get with wood or acrylic–it’s more of a bleaching/light ablative/surface crazing (like you get with glass) method. Cutting really isn’t an option–even at full power, you’re barely removing any stone, if any.
There was a sample of a stone tile engraved with “GlowForge” at the Seattle open house when I went. I might have a photo around that I can upload later. It looked real cool.
Thanks @dragon_silver! That was a random marble tile we bought from Tiles-4-Less down the road. We haven’t experimented much, but every random rock we’ve picked up and shoved in there seems to work great.
Is there a photo of that tile somewhere that I may have missed?