V-Laser Carving MDF

Using our laser for carving MDF isn’t something you’d think CNCROi.com could do, it’s generally something best left to CNC routers which we have as well but sometimes, a laser does a better job with less hassle and problems during production.

If you aren’t familiar with what a CNC router is, check this video to get the ball rolling.

The advantage for our millworking customers who have big industrial CNC routers is that by sending us your work that involves highly precise carving, you don’t have to worry about chip-out, breaking bits and the results are a lot more consistent across the board.

Before we get too deep down this rabbit hole, do keep in mind that there are limitations to doing our laser to replicate what our CNC router can do, there is only a very narrow window where the speed of the laser is more efficient and cost effective than doing the same work using our CNC router so yes, we could technically make the Corian carving below using our CNC laser, but it would cost exponentially more money to accomplish and the results from the router would still be better.

CNCROi.com has worked extensively with MDF, so we can source our own or you can provide us with this material, it makes no difference to us.

This process doesn’t work on all materials though as the material must be incredibly consistent to produce a V-profile using our laser, otherwise, we end-up burning or flat engraving without much of a profile at all.

With MDF, CNCROi.com can make a host of custom products to branded shields in the hundreds…

… to custom furniture that we use quite a bit in our shop, such as our custom downdraft table that’s just been amazing!

Like many other materials CNCROi.com uses on a daily basis in our shop, MDF does have its place.

In this demonstration, we are giving a V-grove or profile by carving MDF in a specific manner to accomplish this goal in the shape of multiple stars, unlike using a CNC router, we are not damaging the surface while carving MDF.

Carving MDF is different from just engraving where some depth and contrast is created and cutting where CNCROi.com just goes straight through the material, here, we are focusing the beam to produce a specific profile onto the base material.

In the shop, CNCROi.com uses MDF to make a variety of jigs for custom projects where repeatability is required such as corporate branding or manufacturing.

So it has a wide variety of applications, thus we keep some sheets in stock at all times in various thicknesses just because you never know when it comes in handy!

The nice thing about MDF is that it handles paint extremely well, in this case, carving MDF produces a deep v-groove which can be painted over and the groove will remain!

As a result, we make lots of profiles and shapes using MDF that at first, might not seem apparent but as mentioned, MDF carving is only the beginning of what CNCROi.com can build and do with this material.

Now that the MDF carving is done, we switch gears and cut out the star, at the same level of precision and accuracy as CNCROi.com did on the inner stars.

And there you go, a perfect star with stars inside, all carved and cut to absolute perfection.

We can make things other than stars, animals, jigs and furniture with MDF too, like a bunch of wooden gears!

Taking a closer look at the process we used to produce carving MDF with a v-groove profile, you can see that it’s consistent across the entire MDF board, this is quarter-inch or 6 mm but the thickness makes no difference.

The carving MDF v-groove would make any CNC router jealous, it’s incredibly consistent in both profile and depth, that’s thanks to MDF being such a homogenous material.

At another angle, you can see this even better, the v-groove is absolutely perfect, there is of course a bit of dust on the surface but that can be easily sanded, displaying a high contrast result (if you didn’t want to paint it) or a nice groove for the paint to adhere and show under it.

Do you have a project that requires MDF? Contact CNCROi.com right now!