What kind of wood was this and how thick can we go? I need to make parking signs that will be exposed to beach front elements. I want thick wood that will withstand the salt and beach air. And be deep 3D like this amazing picture! Also, PLEASE give me the settings to plug into the machine(material, and cut etc). And where do I purchase this 1/2 inch (I’m guessing) wood from? I would love to get at least 1/2. Spell it out as much as you can. Some of us are not as advanced as you geniuses 
Figure the people reading this are dumb as the wood we are buying. You guys are awesome! Thanks
I’ve done it so far in maple (has to be solid wood, not ply) and the machine has this as stock settings in the GFUI so just trust it (obviously test, use the LPI to burn deeper). I am betting some other hardwood (say oak) would work. Obviously you can stain/polyurethane after to weatherproof it. I’ve done engraved red oak signs with shellac and they’ve lasted years. I just used basic red oak boards from Home Depot. While I have engraved cedar back in the PRU days, to describe it as smoky would be a gross understatement and it would likely burn in a deep engrave.
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I’ve tried and tried to do a 3D engrave and mine never turns out right. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but would love to learn if someone is open to guiding me.
So one quick way to check that it’s working is to use one of the many internet 3D depth maps and just try it out (always a cool demo). I include a bunch of files in this chain of posts:
If ever there was a thread that needs rebirth this should be it. I would love to hear from folks about their experiences with the things discussed here. That was the expectation. What we have now is the result.
I have had very good results but needed 1355 LPI to get there. 1/4"PG hardwoods would be nice as well.
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