CNC Laser Engraving A Wooden Log
CNCROi.com has done numerous blogs about wood, from source logs to finished MDF laminates. I’ve included a small gallery at the bottom of this blog post so you can see more of the wood stuff we’ve done that’s “log related”.
Laser engraving and cutting wood can be done across endless applications from custom millwork to industrial jigs, in this case, I’ve used a log to demonstrate a signage idea. The nice feature about laser engraving wood is that you get a good depth out of it relatively quickly and the resins in the wood itself provide the contrast. Paint filling is rarely needed in this case.
As this log isn’t symmetrical, the area ABOVE the focusing key is actually high enough to hit the gantry head of the laser, special settings were used so that the head never reached that area to begin with.
There was nothing added to this log after it was split, it has no preservatives, sealants or clear paints applied. Just raw wood.
The engraving process is very flexible on wooden logs, even if things are up to a cm out of focus, you still get a pretty sharp and readable result. Not possible with metal or other materials, that’s why wood is such a fantastic material for designing with and for.
The vaporizing process is permanent, as you can see, about a mm of material has been removed from the surface and what’s really neat is that it follows the height variations of the log itself. So, if the surface is bumped-up by 2 mm, the engraving is only 1 mm into that surface, same as if it was bumped-down by the same amount.
The accuracy of our Austrian wide format industrial laser is in a league of it’s own. The results seen on this log would be identical even if we had to do this across thousands.
Just to show you the height variances in this log, you can see in the image above how the surface goes up and down while the close-up below shows the head not even able to get onto the surface as it’s blocked by the log itself. Of course, we can bring the table down if we wanted to engrave that area as well… so it really isn’t a true limit.
The results of the resin can be seen bleeding into the log but all lines are solid regardless.
There you have it, CNC laser engraving a log! Now for the mini gallery of logs we’ve engraved in the past.
If you need a company to make something awesome out of a log, from a unique corporate award to signage and even custom gifts, give CNCROi.com your specs and we’ll make it just for you!
