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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Oct 30, 2024 20:28:47 GMT -5
My burn on the purple Australian rock (the name escapes me now) Mookaite? Absolutely Mookaite! :-) |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 31, 2024 14:56:40 GMT -5
I hadn't heard of mustard. I wonder if there's any chance of that staining a rock? Not something like Montana agate, but a more porous rock like Petoskey Stone might turn a little yellow. Toothpaste worked really well and was easily removed with a toothbrush, believe it or not. The problem with masking tape is that it burns around the edges and it's very difficult to remove all the burnt areas. One thing I did notice, and imagine would be the same in most cases, is that the laser etching with this weak laser would not work as well on something like Petoskey stone where there is an irregular surface. You can see how my burns on a homogenous flat surface looks great, but where I had printed the WCD bit at the top where there are cracks it did not do so well. But perhaps a stronger laser would just laugh at that and make it look fine. I actually haven't tried a Petoskey Stone because I don't think I'd want to cover up the pattern on the stone itself. I have tried unakite, though, and that was a disaster because of the different minerals in the rock. They all react differently to the laser. |
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Oct 31, 2024 20:58:05 GMT -5
So a report back on trying to burn on a transparent agate with toothpaste and mustard. It really did not do anything more than the burn I had using black sharpie to give the laser something to focus on. Certainly did not come with that great white mark that Rob got. Possibly because the laser is so weak at 3W.
But I did forget about the little black sheet of laser engraving marking paper that they had included in the package! I only remembered when I saw it as I was packing away! Stoopid. But from what I glean, that is for etching on glass, so that will be what I try next time I have a gap.
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Nov 2, 2024 0:16:56 GMT -5
     Sooooo! Did the tests with blue tape and acrylic, did not work even after leaving it to dry overnight on a second attempt. The dried acrylic just comes off too easily. Did the tests with toothpaste and mustard, both those did nothing more than just a burn on blacks sharpie. You can see it, but it does not stand out. I suspect that is because this laser is so much weaker than the one Jugglerguy was using, I think his was 20w while mine is 3w. That was disappointing, because I had high hopes for the toothpaste. The white marks Jugglerguy got was pretty cool! Final test, once I remembered about it worked an absolute treat! They include a little piece of laser marking engraving paper. From what I understand, it is some sort of thin film of acrylic. The laser melts the acrylic onto the stone. I get the impression you can get this stuff in more colours too. That is the last picture. Also here the laser strength was 100%, speed 80% and only one burn, no repetitions, so it went in under a minute! So, the little Daja DJ6 works quite fine for our purpose to put our tiny (less than 1cm) logo on both opaque and translucent stone! Massive win! :-) |
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Post by liveoak on Nov 2, 2024 6:29:16 GMT -5
It's getting better and better in my opinion.  Pretty impressive with the paper & the cheap laser. You have me convinced 
Patty
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Nov 2, 2024 7:01:09 GMT -5
It's getting better and better in my opinion. Pretty impressive with the paper & the cheap laser. You have me convinced
Patty
Thank you Patty! For my purposes, this is quite grand! |
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Post by Rockoonz on Nov 2, 2024 10:54:16 GMT -5
Looks like a win to me. I will be researching the diode lasers further, most likely in the late spring when all activities move indoors here in AZ. The one that Jugglerguy Rob is working with, or one like it, may fit the bill perfectly, and building a small negative air flow chamber for it from the pile of acrylic sheets I recently acquired would be a snap. |
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 2, 2024 18:56:31 GMT -5
I had an idea of making tombstone shaped cabochons and offering to laser engrave epitaphs. The problem I ran into was cost. I decided to wait for the technology to improve and the cost to come down.
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Nov 2, 2024 23:02:43 GMT -5
Looks like a win to me. I will be researching the diode lasers further, most likely in the late spring when all activities move indoors here in AZ. The one that Jugglerguy Rob is working with, or one like it, may fit the bill perfectly, and building a small negative air flow chamber for it from the pile of acrylic sheets I recently acquired would be a snap. I think his one would be much better! For my purposes, the cost and the small footprint of the machine are benefits! The machine is about the size of my two hands held side-by-side. |
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Post by whalecottagedesigns on Nov 2, 2024 23:04:37 GMT -5
I had an idea of making tombstone shaped cabochons and offering to laser engrave epitaphs. The problem I ran into was cost. I decided to wait for the technology to improve and the cost to come down. Hee hee, that was exactly what I was thinking about two years ago when I saw what they cost, and when everyone said one has to at least have a 20 watt or preferably stronger machine! |
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