How to PROPERLY Laser Engrave Acrylic | LIT Tutorials
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- Step-by-step guide to getting that PERFECT and SMOOTH engraving on cast acrylic. Great for Nightlights, photo frames, etc... This works on CO2 lasers.
LINKS:
Preparing PHOTOS for laser engraving (for beginners):
• Quickly Preparing Phot...
GET YOUR CAST ACRYLIC HERE:
www.engraving-supplies.ca/acr...
MESSAGE me if you want to buy the LED base shown in this video!
Hope this helps you all in any way.
Cheers!
Marco - L.I.T.
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Just getting started in laser engraving and looking to do acrylic first so this was great. And really nice job on your home-built machine.
Dang sharp turn out! Looked flawless from here! Great work and tutorial, thanks!
Thank you for the easy to follow instructions!
Absolutely great tutorial!! Thanks!
Thank you for explaining the process step by step.
Great video. Only learning at the minute so it’s nice to see simple easy steps walking through to the end result.
Thank you :)
Great demo .. Thanks for sharing
Great video! Thanks for your simple explanation and perfectly paced instructions. You’re a true asset to the laser community.
Thank you so much for the kind words!
@@laserillusionstech please tell me does it works on laser diode i have creality 5w laser
@@manus409 This method wont work with Diode lasers. Only for CO2 lasers.
This was awesome and helped me so much. Thank you
Super informative video! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for the tips, and I learned something new about lighburn! Love the project, it is lit! (sorry couldn't resist.)
Very well done sir. Thank you!
Just came across this video. Very nice job! It great out great. You are very good at explaining the process. I believe I heard you say that you built your laser. Very impressive!
Nice clear tutorial, good detail with the LB process. You detailed the reason you used the DC fan (good idea!) but you didn't detail what purpose the soap had. Keep up the good work! (Oh, and prop's for the homemade laser!)
Very nice project.
Wow, the quality looks amazing! Thanks for sharing. I didn't know you could build your own laser, Very Cool. 1st time seeing your Channel. Liked and subscribed. 🙂
This is the first time that anyone used dish soap as the laser medium...Love it
Well done. Cheers.
What Sonderklasse said. This tutorial was just perfect!
Checked out your video because I'm learning CNC Milling and CNC Lasering for my job.....Did my first Acrylic light up project today. ..Still testing Speeds and Feeds but it worked really...........................Then i saw FPV beside your name. I fly Quads too. Full Send Bruh! Cheers
Great video, never seen anyone using dish soap before engraving, I’m pen turning and engraving and looking fir different options on engraving and painting after. Thank you
Awesome video thank you for sharing. Is it possible to reach same result with small laser machine? 20w?
Very helpful thank you
Thank you Jonkiks for your video. I've been using my Diode Laser since 2020 but Acrylic engraving and cutting is new. Your video have taught me more things and I will definitely try out. Can you confirm the dish soap use is the same like those liquid soap we use for washing hands and dishes. Thank you
Thank you. That was really helpful. I am a fellow Canadian so I'll check out that supplier.
great video. great tips
Thank you :)
Hey thanks for the video, I made a test card for acrylic and tried with and without dish soap, didn't seem to make much of a difference. But the rest of the video helped a lot. I was able to really dial in my settings and get a really clean engraving.
Thats really good to hear! The soap is just an extra measure to prevent any hot splatter from landing back onto the surface and fusing to the plastic and creating small white dots on the final product. If you have all settings dialed in perfectly, then it shouldn't do that, but the soap just gives a little bit more room to make errors. Happy laser cutting :)
This is awesome! What kind of machine did you use? Is there any any alternate machines? That one is big. Also where did you get the black light base?
Thanks!
Thanks a lot for this informative video. Just a simple question from a novice .. why does your mouse pointer have a red dot on it. I tried to create the substrate for my logo but the shape I create doesn't close and I can't go any further, no Boolean operation or anything. Do you have any idea what I am doing wrong?
Awesome video mate these look awesome. Would this work with a diode laser?
Hi there, i have 50watt co2 laser, what setting should i use for vector cut, should i use high speed?
thanks. very informative video. keep up the great work!!!!! I also have a 60w laser. Its an Omtech brand. I wonder what settings I would use to engrave and cut on a 1/4" thick piece of acrylic?
Thank you! You can do some power/speed tests to see the optimal settings for your machine.
How long did it take to engrave this? And what laser machine would you recommend for a small business?(amateur).
Very nice
I have recently started using soap to cover my acrylic. What are you using for your air assist? Psi?
Hi Jonkiks ! I've must have gone through your Video more then a dozen times and its really great. I'll try out when I get my Acrylic sheet which I ordered. You are using C)2 lasers but I'm using a 30W Diode Laser and hope it will perform like what you have done. Thank you again.
Hey John! Thanks for the kind words :) Unfortunately, this method is only for CO2 lasers :(
Do you happen to have the settings for engraving and cutting for a ortur master 2?
Great video with easy to follow instructions. Newbie question - can this process be done with a 20W diode laser? I realize that the settings will be different. Thank you!
No this method is only for CO2
Great demo, i am waiting for my china machine..
Hello LIT, thanks a lot for learning use those lightburn features. It's so clear ! I need to practice a little the boolean on some type of shapes, but it was really clear. You were talking about the Image version , do you have the link somewhere ? thanks
Thanks! I have a video on how to quickly prep your image for photo engraving on my channel. I think its my 2nd video. Check it out!
@@laserillusionstech perfect ! thanks again I have now understood the boolean union :)
Do you have a link for the base?
Do you do engraving for other people? Was is the size limit you can do on a sheet of acrylic?
Hey great video, and nicely explained. Just curious if i can use the Creality laser module fitted on the ender 3 to engrave acrylic sheets.. TIA 🙏🏼
Thank you! This method will not work with diode lasers like the one you mentioned. Only with CO2 lasers :(
Awesome
Hallo hii sir.where u from..anyway im from malaysia.i just want you to suggest me.the line cutting ,u dont have to do anything setting to cut?if 3 mm arcylic,then the setting just like that ?if 5 mm how?it auto detect or what? Tq plss answer my question.Cause i just buy sclupfun s6 30w .i need to learn from u cause i also use lightburn.nice to know u brother .🤗
Thx for sharing with us! Would tell us how to set z-axis. I mean wich distanc when I want ti engrave the backside? And is it the same way when I use I diode laser?
Z-axis focus on a CO2 laser depends on your mirror focal length. Smaller Focal length = harder to focus, but finer details, and vice versa. For acrylic, there is a trick called " de-focusing" which helps in getting a perfect engraving by slightly putting your laser out-of focus. Hoping to do a video on it, but there are also many tutorials on youtube on how to do this. :) For diode lasers, I don't have too much experience tho.
Hello!
First of all, thanks for the video! I tried to do the same, and it looks OK, but I have fingerprints, or some other smudge on the acrilyc, just like yours had at the outro (only visible when lit), how can I clean that? I tried everything, soap, alcohol (you were right, I shouldn't have), window cleaner, even bought an acryl cleaner as well, but the marks of the wiping are always visible. (Also tired with microfibre, cotton cloth, paper towel, with the same results)
what are you using? Is that grease lube? or what exactly is that, would be nice if you could tell me, I always get these brand marks on the edge. 😪
Can I use xtool d1 pro 20 wat ? Second where did you get the base and what exactly acrylic sheet did you use
I've been running laser cutters for years, the soap method was news to me ;p. I will definitely be trying this 🤓
Was wondering even with the fan, if the particles would get stuck on the sheet due to the soap.
Hello brother do u know any software which have templates for mobile skin and temper cutting
And and software which can convert 3d file to something laser can understand and make 3d modal
so does this work a 20W diode laser? I've heard you can't laser engrave/cut on clear acrylic. What laser do you use?
Please help me, I have a 100w co2 what would be the etching and cutting power to make the exact same pattern as you? Thanks
Don’t know what sort of finish the edge has but if you want a clear/polished look they use a hydrogen flame on the edge.
Hello i cannot have a good engraving résolution like yours fir 40w laser diode how speed and pop must i use🙏🏼
Where are you sourcing the LED base? Link please :)
Does it matter if the soap dries? I'm assuming it does rather quickly, since its been spread so thin for an application. Thanks
Hi! Yes it does, but I haven't had problems with it drying too fast before. If you have excess soap from a previous job that has been dried up, make sure to wipe it off and apply a new layer of soap on your acrylic sheet before you start. I use baby wipes (water based) to quickly wipe off old soap. :)
Your method is cool, on which side did you applied the liquid soap
Thanks. I applied the soap on the engraving side.
Sub and like from me! But I have an important question, I "Only" have a 50W Diode Laser (Neje), can I go with your settings? Power adjusted to 20% instead of 12.5?
What is the ideal thickness of acrylic for engraving photos?
Hello . Where csn i buy those led base for cheap. I have a co2 laser i will like to start do that
Thanks for sharing! That came out really nice!! Can you do an engraving on acrylic that's not a vector? I'd like to see how that comes out too! Thanks!!!
Thanks for tue kind words! Sure Ill keep that in queue for my future videos :) stay tuned :)
Is lightburn better than ezcad?
Interesting technique to use a soap covering… This works great for lasers (usually older ones) that do not provide "bottom up" laser movement. One issue with lasering _engraving_ lots of plastics is the zapped residue is still hot immediately after lasering, so the "dust" sticks to the plastic that is not lasered - both top and bottom, but mostly on top. Using soap (rather than that expensive acrylic cleaner stuff) resolves that; and so does bottom up lasering (which most / nearly all new laser machines have). Additionally, you are the first person I have seen that also did what I did: have an auxillary fan to assist in blowing away dust - as well as helping suppress / extinguish unexpected flare-ups when some stuff just ignites (gas from cutting acrylic, paper backing, etc.). Another fire suppression I have used with my old laser is to feed CO2 (carbon dioxide, for you non-chemical folks) thru the air-assist tube. I was cutting some 3/8" thick acrylic and it just kept "catching" on fire because I had to laser very slowly (the speed) to cut thru. Cutting two times at 65% of what is needed just did not work well for me. The CO2 suppress fire: combustible stuff requires O2 (oxygen) occur. Also, another technique I ALWAYS use when cutting acrylic is to raise the plastic above the vector grid. This prevents the backside flash-back melting of edges that happen to be resting on the metal vector grid. Some people think ½" or more is needed: nonsense. All one has to do is elevate an eighth of an inch or so (3-4 mm), but slightly more is better. How is this done, you ask (actually I am asking for you)? Put round headed screws in vector grid, screws with heads large enough to NOT fall thru the vector grid but small enough so the body (where the threads are located) fit into the grid. This works perfectly. And, if you use a fan like the LIT guy (and me) does, there is enough fan air blowing under the plastic to help suppress backside flames as well as dissipating (some) flash-back heat that caused the flash-back melting. Avoid using a screw to elevate the plastic is too much that it would cause the acrylic to be higher than the X & Y alignment guides - so the plastic is not crooked on the bed. As long as the plastic elevation does not cause the plastic to be above the alignment guides, the better you are: so go as high as you can. However, there also ways to "raise" the height of the alignment guides: if your alignment guides are secured with screws to the vector / engraving table, you can make an acrylic strip (that is why lasers were made: to cut acrylic) to screw on top of or underneath the "real" alignment guides, just make sure the holes in the plastic match up with the screw holes in the alignment guides. And do not waste plastic to get the alignment holes correct: created a "screw hole" template using paper. When that is perfected, the cut ONE the supplemental alignment strips from one piece of plastic: measure twice (or more), cut once…
Very great point you made. I 100% agree with everything you said. I dont have much problems with getting backflash when I cut acrylic because I dont peel off the protection on the back of the acrylic. But when there is no protection on the back of material, backflash is a terrible and very common thing. I usually use rivets inserted into the holes of the honeycomb in order to elevate the material, then I can just pop it off later when I dont need it. But it does create a problem sometimes when the rivets are not made the exact same length as each other. Another good point you made is that if the material is elevated, the DC fan can blow fumes and particles from both sides.
Sir,
please help, my laser starts my design the stop. I dont understand.😞
Hello. Why use soap With CO2 laser ?
Hello please what's name the application that you use it
Your speed and power are for a 60w.
What about a 20w?
hey brother i have a atomstack s10 pro, I am trying to find settings for engraving and cutting acrylic using GRBL software but having no luck, I cant even get a mark on my acrylic, any recommendations to what I may be doing wrong?
Hey Sigi! Youre not doing anything wrong. Atomstack S10pro is a Diode Laser, which you cannot cut acrylic with. You will need a CO2 laser to properly engrave on acrylic.
how about without liquid soap. wont work well ?
why did you use soap?
Hi, Great video. I use a 40W laser and as material Plexiglass cast acrylic but I can't obtain a frosted engraving with high contrast like you. It's just clear like the begin.
I tried with this settings:
Speed: 100mm/s
Power: 10% of 40watts
I hope you can help me
Hi! You might need to bump up your power. 10% i think is too low for 40w. Try bumping up to maybe 15% or somewhere in that area. Im using a 50W. Are you using a CO2 laser?
@@laserillusionstech Thank's for your answer. Yes I use a CO2 Laser. With much power I obtain only a deeper engraved image and have the same problem. Do you know if it's possible the problem comes from the cast acrylic?
My CO2 Laser Tube Glass is from Cloudray like the power supply.
@@mrarmonius Hello Erwan I have already cross this issue on a CO2 . Most of the time it's because it's NOT acrylic. Buy your acrylic sheet at trottec website or gravograph. The other issue I have met with this joke , was due to lens issue , where the focal distance was not good on the machine.
3 things to check. 1st, be sure that the acrylic truly is cast acrylic and not extruded. I've ordered cast acrylic in the past and found it was actually extruded. Cast acrylic will "frost" much nicer. 2nd, de-focus your laser by 3 mm or so. That puts it slightly out of focus so the engraving will be frosty but still in focus enough to cut your piece out after engraving. Finally, set your lines per inch to 318. Lightburn will probably change that to 317.50 but that's close enough.
@@sillywwabbit @gerald oliver Thank's for you answer and sorry to answer this late. I make several test with differents configurations about focal, speed and power. Always the same result. I think it's the consumable. Do you know a way to be sure that it's acrylic extruded ? (a chemical reaction or any way). And do you know a site where I can buy acrylic cast ? (I'm an european and I don't have VTA number, it's a hobby and not my business) I tried trottec and gravograph, but the both need to be a business in Europe. Thank's for your time.
From where you get base ?
Where did you get the bass
Hallo, was für eine Paste hast du auf den Acryl gestrichen ?
So, I have the 3018 pro CNC Router with 5.5w laser. Would this technique work for me?
Unfortunately this only works for CO2 laser cutters :( Seems like you have a diode laser.
Thnx
Just tell me more about ur homemade machine ...i'm so interested
Can't wait for ur response ...
appreciate you taking time to make this video, but why would you leave your background gray / black? very tough to see.
Thanks. I usually use lightburn in night mode because my eyes are sensitive to light. I just forgot to turn it off when making this video. My new videos are in regular mode.
@@laserillusionstech no worries. It was tough for me to see. Not sure if colorblind has anything to do with it.
Like I mentioned though, very easy to follow as we all do appreciate it.
What about using a othur laser 20w fixed focus
I dont have a diode laser, but I believe you cannot cut or engrave transparent acrylic using a diode. You could possibly put a black coating on top of the acrylic and try engraving it.
Please i need name that application ❣️
Just fyi, magic erasers are just really fine sandpaper blocks..may still work for this but not good for something's
What's the soap for? I've never seen anyone else do that. Is it because you use a CO2 laser?
Yeah this method only works with CO2 laser. Its to avoid the little hot particles from sticking back onto the acrylic. Also makes for an easier clean later on.
@@laserillusionstech Thanks. I have a 5 watt blue laser and I'm trying to find instructions before I try my first engrave.
what does the soap do for you
When engraving the acrylic, sometimes there will be some very tiny and hot particles that will splatter and land back on the acrylic if your settings are not spot on. Since these particles are still hot, it will fuse to the workpiece, and you will see some white dots on the end product (I have some pictures, but unfortunately I cannot post on here). IDK if you've ever welded before, but it is similar to a weld splatter that lands back on the workpiece and fuses back onto it and you will get small balls around where you are welding. This is the same idea, but on a smaller scale, and with plastic.
By adding a very thin layer of soap, it cools the hot particles before it even touches the acrylic sheet and prevent it from fusing onto the workpiece. Plus, adding soap also makes it easier to clean after engraving.
Although adding soap is not a necessity, it increases the tolerance for error of whatever power settings and setup you have for your machine. For example, in order to avoid these particles from splattering, your power settings and setup have to be tuned pretty much to within 2 or 3% of the optimal settings. By adding another mitigation (soap), you are able to increase the room for error without compromising the final product since splatter will not be an issue anymore.
I hope that makes sense :)
is there anyway to prevent smudges on the acrylic after engraving and got a slight problem where some bits are not engraved properly where they appear to be half engraved and half blank, can anyone help?
Either turn your air assist off, or use a nozzle with a larger hole and minimum air assist. You can also use a dc fan blowing parallel to the workpiece to clear the debris during engraving, as seen in my video.
@@laserillusionstech thanks, I will give it a try. Is there anything I can do to get rid of the black dirty bits after engraving, I’ve used rubbing alcohol which removes most of it but you can notice a little bit of the dirt being stuck in the engraving which doesn’t come out even with rubbing alcohol.
@@TarunSonga Im assuming youre using a CO2 laser right? Those small little dots are hot splatters while youre engraving. When they land back on your acrylic, it stays there. Add a very thin layer of dish soap to the acrylic right before engraving. Then when those splatters land back on your acrylic sheet, it will automatically cool, and you can wash it out afterwards with warm water. Dont use rubbing alcohol to clean acrylic. Sometimes it creates clouding and micro-cracks. Only soap and water. Cheers!
@@laserillusionstech I’ve got a few more questions if you don’t mind, I’ve messaged you on instagram.
Good video but if your canvas was white, it could be seen better.
will 2mm thickness be sufficient enough?
Depends on your led base. First check what thickness your led base can take. Typically, the single layered base can take 3mm or 4mm, but it can differ.
It will be a little wobbly using 2mm acrylic and a 3mm opening, I have wedged thin pieces of plastic to the base opening so it doesn’t wobble
How do I make a white stitch (K40)?
Hello :) Im sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by 'White Stitch"? Could you explain?
10:45 for settings
Very nice and informative video. Thanks. It would be a little helpful, at least for video purposes, if your Lightburn grid wasn’t so dark. 👍🏼
How many watts is your laser?
This one is 50w :) planning for an upgrade to an 8w tube soon.
Hello! Looks very nice. But ... the right side of the " T " - Bar is not properly lit because there's a corner which prevents the light from reaching the right T - Bar. You should straighten the hard corner underneath so that the light from the base reaches the horizontal bar. ;-)
Thanks! Good tip! :)
Can u explain it, for cricut maker
Sorry I have never used a Cricut before :(
No matter what I do I can’t get anything to etch on the surface using this technique....Very frustrating. If I paint the surface with black matte paint it burns easily at 10% power...in fact, it burns too much and just looks like melted goo instead of having that frosty look. I’m quite frustrated at the whole process right now. :-(
Are you using a CO2 or a diode laser?
@@laserillusionstech yeah...discovered my mistake. I’m on a 5.5 watt diode laser. I Can’t get any decent results on acrylic with it. I see people doing it with a diode on TH-cam but I just can’t seem to get anywhere close to the results. I’ve tried every technique I can find yet nothing produces decent results. It either fails to etch or it just sort of melts it. Ah well...I’ll keep at it and see if I can find some useable technique... I may end up just etching it with a drag bit or v-bit in the end...want to use the laser if possible because it should produce finer results
@@KerryJapan1 Your 5.5 watt laser diode is probably an 'input' power rating, whereas generally they measure gas or tube lasers with (as) output power. You are lucky to get 15% of that out, which is about 825 mw. So if you run 10% power, you may only be getting 83 mw out... I have a 30 watt diode laser that gets around 5 watts out. I had to run mine around 70% power (about 3.5 watts,) if I remember correctly. Most of these people are talking 40 watts or more.
Check focus... If you can run some test runs that vary speeds/feeds that might help you figure it out. If you have a LightBurn compatible controller they have some tutorials on how to set up a test grid... Best of luck.. Take care...
@@jackwilborn2353 Thanks for the reply Jack. As I mentioned above, with black paint on (or permanent black marker) on the surface of the acrylic I have the opposite problem...the acrylic seems to just start to melt rather then turn into that nice frosted look. I just downloaded Lightburn and will play around with that. Maybe better software will help?
Thank you. I don’t think my 3018 Pro-Max will be up to this method. Perhaps engraving would work better.
I've tried engraving on my small cnc (a smaller version of a 3018) with a 0.2 mm V bit and it works very well.
hello. i need a help...
Which laser machine you using sir?
I built my own. If you go to my channel, I have a video of my homemade laser cutter.
@@laserillusionstech will you please suggest machine for acrylic and mdf work
How many mm did you focus at?
On my specific setup its at 6mm from yhe tip of the nozzle. Each setup will be different so you have to do a ramp test.
13:42 Frome where did u got this can???
Poland. My wife is polish :)
such a lovely country
@@laserillusionstech
Great great video.
Can i have your email or something to send you a picture to ask you how to do a specific thing on white acrylic?
Just an observation. I have been making these LED signs for quite some time. In my experience, the liquid soap and the cross fan are unnecessary steps. I just use air assist and engrave on the bare clear acrylic. After engraving, you just rinse the engraved side with water and use a soft microfiber cloth to lightly wipe the surface while running the water on it. I'm sure the liquid soap works but it takes extra time and materials that aren't really needed.
Thanks for your comment :) I have done that before in the past, but have found that bare dry acrylic sometimes leaves a clouding effect on the engraved part, even with air assist turned way down. And without the help of the fan, it doesnt clear as well and I skmetimes get little white dots around the engraving. In my experience i found that this method gives me the best and most consistent results, and ive been using it for all of my orders with acrylic :). Ive never had any clouding and random white dots since using this method. And the engravings end up really smooth. But totally use which method works best for you ;)
And also with air assist turned up too high, the engraving looks "dotty"instead of smooth. Thats why I turn down my air assist to minimum. Thats the secondary reason why I use my fan. It helps to clear smoke from the mirror since air assist is super low and might not be enough as is.