Wood is one of the most common materials used in laser applications, including the use of a CO2 laser engraver for wood. Compared to traditional woodworking machines, laser machines can be applied to almost all laser wood projects through laser cutting and engraving, replacing tools such as saws, planers, mills, drills, and chisels.
Laser tech offers convenience, greatly enhances processing efficiency and quality, and easily laser cut various wood shapes.
In addition, a laser engraver for wood this means a CO2 CNC laser machine that can achieve laser engraving and cutting for wood. You can call it a laser etching machine for wood or laser carving machine for wood or a laser wood-cutting machine, they are the same type of laser machine.
There are hundreds of wood materials available on the market, and they are all suitable for laser engraving with a laser engraver for wood. However, for laser machines, all these materials must be processed by adjusting corresponding parameters based on the properties of different types of wood.
Common materials used in laser processing include plywood, solid wood boards, veneer panels, and medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
Solid wood boards are made from complete wood pieces (logs). They are such as walnut boards, cherry boards, maple boards, ash boards, pine boards, bamboo boards, etc.
Solid wood boards are very sturdy. High strength and hardness are advantages for their application, but they make wood carving and cutting a challenge. But for a laser engraver for wood, carving and cutting are very easy. As a sharp tool, a laser engraver for wood can handle various levels of hardness, cutting through even the toughest wood materials with sufficient energy.
1. Maple wood is a better choice because it has a lighter color, and the engraving result usually starts light and gradually darkens over time.
2. Cherry wood is another good option due to its beautiful grain patterns and color, resulting in deeper and more uniform engravings.
However, dark woods like Walnut can still be creatively used for deep vector engraving and 3D relief.
As long as the surface is smooth, any wood can be laser-engraved using a laser engraver for wood. With additional steps such as polishing, coloring, and painting, beautiful wood carvings can be created.
These laser wood art are beautiful, and a high-end laser engraver for wood is perfectly suitable for this. But if you use a low-end laser carving machine, it’s not easy.
You first need to laser cut wood to various shapes in the laser wood cutting machine.
Using the tools to wipe out the uneven edges and the surface contaminated by oil. Before you are done, you will need to buy a variety of dyes to paint the wood in different colors.
You will have to do the stacking and adhesion.
The hardest thing is, you have to hang your mind out of each piece. You not only have to think about a design program, a drawing breakdown program, but also about a stacking program, and, uh, a cleanup program. This means you’re going to spend extra money on buying these little parts. if you think these aren’t a problem, you can do it.
But if you choose laser wood as a business, or if you are a high-quality laser enthusiast, a high-quality CO2 CNC laser machine will be your best choice. It not only saves more than half of your time, but also reduces cleaning and makes it easier for you to make wood carvings that can be sold.
Look at these fantastic wood engraving designs made by a high-end laser engraver for wood. You only need to design drawings on Lightburn software and send them to the machine to start carving. After carving, you only need a piece of cloth to clean it, and then they are work for sale.
They are carved so finely that the shadow thread can be seen, realistic, these works are far from a low-end laser engraver for wood.
With high-speed engraving and cutting in the high-end wood laser engraver up to 2000mm/s, it takes only tens of minutes. The low-to-half price of the high-end Thunder laser engraving machine allows you to easily become a master of the art.
1. Lightburn, Rdworks
2. Automatic focusing
3. Touchscreen interface
1. Smart sensors control
2. The exhaust system
3. Minimizes noise
4. CE Level 1
1. 3D engraving
2. High-precision carving
3. Accurate modeling
NOVA35 | NOVA51 | NOVA63 | ODIN32 | ODIN22 | |
Plywood | 20mm | 25mm | 30mm | 20mm | |
Solid wood | |||||
MDF | |||||
Veneer panel |
The following parameters of basswood plywood on Thunder Laser Nova 35 are provided for reference. It’s advisable to conduct small-scale tests and adjust parameters accordingly for your specific needs.
Layer Name | Speed(mm/s) | Power(%) | Unidirectional or bidirectional | DPI | Blowing Type | Blowing Value |
Shallow Carving(image) | 500 | 10 | Horizontal Double | 300 | weak | below 0.1 |
The shallow Carving(text) | 500 | 10 | Horizontal Double | 300 | weak | below 0.1 |
Shallow Carving(label) | 500 | 8 | Horizontal Double | 300 | weak | below 0.1 |
Running a line | 40 | 5(Corner power5) | weak | below 0.1 | ||
utting | 45 | 75 | strong | 8 |
When cutting thicker wood using a laser engraver for wood, the desired results can be attained through various settings:
Higher power allows the laser to cut through thicker wood.
Slower speeds provide more laser energy to the wood per unit of time, enabling cuts through thicker material. When using high power and slow speed for cutting thicker wood, use maximum air assist to prevent overheating.
For exceptionally thick wood, if increasing power and slowing speed still don’t achieve the desired result, try multiple passes. Be cautious not to move the material between passes to ensure overlapping paths.
Consider using a 4.0” or 2.5” lens for cutting thick wood. Adjust the laser focus from the surface to the interior of the wood to create smoother edges.
Knots in wood are usually harder to cut through. Pay attention to avoiding them during cutting.
Air assist in laser machines serves several purposes:
1. Reduces the temperature of the cutting seam, preventing it from catching fire due to high temperatures.
2. Blows away smoke and debris, preventing contamination of the lens.
3. Removes molten material to keep the cutting surface smooth.
During laser cutting a laser engraver for wood, may create burn marks on the backside of the material. To minimize this effect, the following tip:
1. Optimizing cutting parameters.
2. Increase the speed (which can result in multiple passes)
3. Lower the power
4. Enhanced air assist to lower the temperature and avoid excessive burning.
You may need to sand the surface of the wood after engraving. Grinding should be done lightly and do not use pressure down. The surface after the first grinding is slightly rough, but after the next grinding it becomes smooth, and the last grinding will remove the remaining rough traces.
Use rough sandpaper when grinding – for most wood, you want to use 3/0 sandpaper,
For some very soft wood, such as pinewood or yellow wood, use 4/0 sandpaper.
Gradually replace with 5/0 sandpapers, and finally use 6/0 sandpapers.
Although theoretically, the sandpaper is more thin, the surface of the grinding wood is smoother, but using too thin sandpaper will not only block the thin holes but also affect the effect of the paint. So, you may need to use different sand according to your need.