I am doing some test pieces for a birthday present map of Paris for my daughter. To test settings and get a sense of the contrast of some map art I decided to do some tests on .013" thick white poster board.
When my engrave was done I was stunned to discover that the laser had blasted right through almost all of the image, but only in the dots created by the engrave. Being able to look through a lacework picture on lowly Bristol board is crazy cool.
I want to explore mounting the output on a vivid coloured background matte and putting glass in front, as the engraved result is very fragile.
Back lighting does not create a very attractive look IMHO
Edit April 28, 2020
Mounted the middle sized version in a Rosewood frame I made. I put a sheet of brilliant blue coloured paper from Staples behind for contrast & engraved the back to make it birthday special.
Someday if I find a very thin light source I can back light it
I think a blue background with the option to turn on a smooth light wash could be a very cool day/evening art piece. LED’s around the edge so it’s a smooth wash?
Yes this is a very unexpected outcome as my initial intent was to just dial in contrast settings and get a sense of how good the definition of the file was. It is fun when something totally unexpected and cool happens by accident. I mean, the result makes sense in hind sight but I was stunned to realize that the paper was perforated by thousands of pin holes.
Maybe try putting bright color or even white card stock behind it and see what backlighting that looks like? Lots of experiments just waiting to happen for showing this fragile piece off. Looks amazing …and I agree…experiments that produce unexpected outcomes are fantastic and fun.
I am going to re-cut the first one to a larger size. Hopefully the magic scales well. If you examine the finished item it does not look like paper, but cloth of sorts. Almost like gauze.
I will play with lighting.
Hi Jules, I just cut another one, about 9 X 12 inches. The engraved piece is delicate with respect to losing super fine detail if you are rough with it, but still has quite a fibrous toughness from the paper.
I will post a picture of that one in a bit. The larger one turned out nice, but it has lost a bit of the sharpness & crispness. I am going to try one around 6 X 8 size. There is a bit of back flash on the reverse side, but it does not show from the front. I am loathe to put something under it as it is a long print and I do not want a fire
I posted pictures of the finished art at the top of the thread. The Rosewood frame was a pleasure to make, but I did find out from the seller of the wood that the dust is nasty; carcinogenic apparently. But then so are many other forms of sawdust… Rosewood sands very nicely. I have some left to try
engraving on.
Also, I tried out the Trial features to engrave the back. I liked the Text tool a lot, and found a nice clip art of the Eiffel tower too. If the Premium features are not too pricey I think I would subscribe.
Her B’day is still a month away, as you can see by the engrave. I just wanted to get this completed and it is done early. I am hopful that she will love it. It looks “store bought” LOL. I am thinking of other things to make for birthday gifts. Sometimes homemade is kind of cheesy, but the laser engraves so crisp and sharp. It still impresses me everytime I weed an engrave on Maple.
