Borax Laser Engravings that Don't Smear!
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- I've recently released a new video about a method to get darker engravings without using Borax or any other chemicals. Check it out here: • Video
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In a previous video I talked about why I'm not using Borax with my laser engraving. I received a lot of suggestions and comments so in this video I'm testing them out to see if you can use Borax on laser engravings and not have it smear.
Previous video: • Why I'm Not Using Bora...
If you buy something through my links below I may get a small share of the sale.
Tools and supplies used in this video:
Ortur Laser Master Pro 2 Laser Engraver: amzn.to/3eiEOp7
Ortur Laser Master Pro 2 Enclosure: amzn.to/3zhYqSf
Ortir Laser Head Focus Controller: amzn.to/3MgycUZ
Borax: amzn.to/3fJEccs (shown but not used)
Mineral Oil: amzn.to/3egH6oT
Disclaimer: The content presented in this video is for entertainment purposes only. The information provided is not intended to substitute or replace professional advice, and viewers should not rely solely on the information presented in this video. Viewers should always do their own research and consult with professionals in the appropriate fields before making any decisions based on the information presented. The creator of this video does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented in this video.
#Making #LaserEngraver
I don't laser engrave cutting boards, but I do a lot of personalized military and law enforcement plaques. I builds the plaque, stain it and let dry for a day or so. Then i put a table spoon of borax in a cup of warm water and sponge brush it on with 50% over lap. I let it dry over night and then laser engrave it. It comes our beautifully; crisp and dark. I put several coats of poly on it then do a final sand and recoat. Perfect every time. I have a low wattage laser (2.8w) so it speeds things up and gives me a good image without a deep engrave. Thanks for the video!
Glad you liked it!
any chances you share you brand laser 2.8W ?
I'm about to test this myself in the coming weeks, but I just heard tonight that if you sand and clearcoat the wood before burning then the soot can be more easily removed if it smears.
Great Video, Borax can be a life saver on Bamboo.
As you get a far more consitent black tone across the board.
or should I say black "Toner".
Try the method in this video on Bamboo and let me know if it works! ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
I use Borax because the crystaline structure that forms on the surface of the wood gives me a more consistent and better overall burn when I am doing images, When I am doing lettering for things like cutting boards, then I tend to avoid it and rely on the settings of the laser. I usually finish the project with compressed air, then, a brush, then air again, followed by wiping it off with a microfiber cloth that has denatured alcohol on it. Seems to work great for me.
I will have to give this a try!
What do you use as your sealer? Have you tested different ones or Danish oil? Thanks for the videos.
The only other sealer I used beside the clear coat was mineral oil which didn't do any good. In the video I used Rustoleum Universal Advanced Formula Clear Durable Topcoat Dead Flat.
I use 2 coats of sanding sealer 😁
Great idea!
I've only had luck with it when doing images. You can seal it like you said, but it's more work than its worth for what I'm doing.
To remove masking, I prefer Gorilla Tape- much stickier than regular duct tape
Thanks for the tip!
In an early wood engraving of a photo that I did (10 W diode), I forgot to turn on the air assist at the beginning. It ran about 20 mm before I turned it on. The bottom of the foreground is noticeably lighter than the rest of the foreground. This is because the beam was losing some power in the smoke rising from the wood. This tells me that air assist does make a difference for engraving. You might not see the difference between two separate pieces, but it showed up within the same project. BTW, I gave up on borax when I first learned about the soot.
Thanks for the comment! Since this video I have started using air assist on all my laser projects because I started to notice it did make a difference. Basically the same way you did, I started a project and forgot to turn on the air assist. Then after turning it on I could see a difference between the two once it finished.
I've found a better method than borax for getting darker engravings and haven't messed with Borax since this video. Here's the video I made about darker engravings without Borax if you haven't seen it yet: ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
So for my cutting boards (bamboo, oak, cherry, maple, black walnut) I lower the CO2 laser bed and take it out of focus roughly 2mm. Turns out much better than the laser at it's proper focus. (my 80watt cuts at 8mm and engraves at 9 to 10MM)
Thanks for sharing! I discovered the defocus method a while after I made this and did a video about it.
Hi, what do you call the clear coat used in the video? I'm not from the US and when I search "clear coat", there are many options, top cat, lacquer clear coat, clear coat paint. If you can specify the brand please, it would be very helpful.... thank you... 😅
It's been a long time since I made this video so I'm not 100% sure what I used in the video. Currently I'm using Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Acrylic coating when I need a clear coat. I haven't tested it on Borax as I don't use Borax on my engravings any more.
Borax is just allowed for jewelers in Germany. If you order it, you have to identify as a ringmaster or something like that. It’s because of the chemical law here.
Thanks so much for the information!
Same in uk
borax is not toxic
@@breaknstuff yes Mike you are right. It’s just on the chemical index 🥲
Sir, Borax is not food safe.
😆 I thought this was a new trick - clear coat sealing is an old fix. Ps. Borax isn’t available in some countries / states because it’s deemed a cancerous substance. It definitely should not be used on chopping boards or food related products unless you want to get sick 😅
Regarding sealing for wooden food surfaces from "Soot" smear.
Prep laser area with original lemon "Mr Sheen" furniture polish.
Rub in & wipe off with dry cloth.
Now apply Borax/water 1:10 ratio.
Allow to dry completely.
Engrave using Speed @ 100%
Power @ 10-20% depending on.
The Watts laser can output.
Now the magic sause.
Clean the whole surface with
White Vinigar gently dabing.
Until you stop getting any soot.
Finally seal with Food Grade
Coconut Oil.
Rubbing it in until it maintains slightly wet look.
Coconut oil will better handle the hot temperature of dish washers.
Although, I would surgest only on the shortest cycle available.
I prefer to hand wash any wood.
Thanks for the tip! I've stopped using Borax though as I've found an easier way to get darker engravings. ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
Borax seems to yellow my wood. anything i can do?
It won't be as black as using Borax but you can try this method: ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
+1 for the compressed air approach.
Not sure if this has been spoken about already - there is similar technique with amonium chloride (NH4Cl) solution. It generally chemically burns the wood upon temperature rise. Basically - you paint something on the wood with clear solution, heat it up with heat gun and it comes up darkening (chemically burning) the surface....
One of things on my to do list (along engraving borax treated peaces) is giving this solution a try as all lasers engrave with heat, right? 😁
Thanks for the comment! I found a way to get darker engravings without the need for chemicals and without changing the speed or power on the laser. Check it out here if you're interested: ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
I'd also not recommend using harsher chemicals on a laser as the laser will release compounds into the air while engraving. If you don't have top notch ventilation you will end up with them floating around in your workspace.
You shouldn't laser anything with chloride it, it releases chlorine which eats the metal parts of your laser and will potentially kill you. This is why you don't laser cut PVC.
That's a mighty fine Ortur enclosure you have there. I'd have one too if they would ever get off their dead asses and actually ship it to me. They took my money right away. So in the meantime, I made a cardboard one with a couple clear windows hot glued in. I used the inside lenses from a Nova air fed sandblasting helmet, and it serves it's purpose. Oh and I'm using an 80mm computer fan with 3" exhaust flexible hose. No smoke is let into the room but it looks kinda unprofessional. Anyway, I tried the borax thing and it does make it black, and it does smear. Lol Thanks and take care.
I'd recommend upgrading your exhaust fan and ducting to a 4 inch inline or centrifugal fan. You want to get the smoke out as quickly as possible, not only to keep it out of your workshop but also to keep it off of the material you're engraving. The 80mm fan you have is probably pushing 30-50 CFM max and you want to be 150 CFM+ with your exhaust.
@@LetsMakeAThing Ok, thank you for the advice, much appreciated. Oh, and their Chinese ears must have been ringing because my wife got the email from UPS that's it's being delivered TOMORROW! Now I don't even want to go to my customers tomorrow at all because all I wanna do is PLAY! LOL Take care.
Not just Germany the whole EU, it was banned over possible harm to health.
Thanks for the info!
Use masking tape or even clear coat (shellac or lacquer) plus masking tape for pieces that will be finished. After you engrave the piece blow it off with 100+ psi from your air compressor and remove the transfer tape. Your laser is burning the wood...that's what lasers do. Your goal should be how to remove the excess soot from the lasered areas and keep the color of the charing.
Thanks for the advice!
@@LetsMakeAThing I have also used defocusing for darkening
engravings. I have absolutely no idea if that would work with a diode laser but it did a really nice job with my co2.
@@ClintonCaraway-CNC That's a great idea to test out. I'll give it a try and see what happens!
Im on a 100w co2 and I just for the life of me can't get proper results with borax. Sealing it in for something that's got a photo and going to hang on the wall its probably plausible. But on a cutting board? I don't think so.
I agree, if it won't be handled and it doesn't need to be food safe sealing is fine. I don't use borax on my cutting boards because you can't seal it in and I don't want a bunch of soot coming off on someone's food!
One solution can be defocusing the laser beam little bit.
Thanks for the comment! I discovered the method for defocusing the laser after I made this video. Then I made a video about defocusing the laser for a darker engraving. ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
Update - I found a different method for getting darker engravings WITHOUT using Borax. You can check the video out here: ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
I made this video as a follow up to a previous video about why I'm not using Borax on laser engravings. I received many comments and suggestions on the previous video and tested most of them out in this video. You can view the original video here: ruclips.net/video/Ma_mwcd31eQ/видео.html
I am new to lasers in general and borax specifically, I discovered spray Poly seems to work well, and on hard woods my 5.5 w laser burns well on these softs woods the color is a problem
Welcome to the wonderful world of laser engraving! I don't recommend using borax anymore after I found a better method to get darker engravings. You can check out my video on the method here: ruclips.net/video/3IqJLrk_f6c/видео.html
e\Excellent research!
Thanks!
Stellar video! Thank you, very much.
Thank you!
it looked like it smeared from the left side onto the right side(air asst) you should have also wiped separately
You're right, I should have wiped them separately. Some of the soot smeared from theft onto the right. Despite the single wipe during my test I am still confident in saying the air assist made little to no difference. It still creating soot that wipes off and not a darker engraving.
Thank you for this video. I am new to my engraving and I was having this same issue and I wasn't sure what to do. I would love to see how others do this without the smearing it. I'm not sure for me it is worth it for a cutting board but maybe for something like Christmas ornaments that won't have food on it. I love these machine but it is a lot of trail and error but still worth it! I hope you do more like this. thanks
Thanks for leaving a comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I don't have any laser videos planned at the moment so if there is any topics you'd like to see let me know!
I have used a paint brush to brush the soot away before i wipe or seal hope this helps.
What I do sometimes if it’s a little bit light, is just to engrave a second or even a third time.
Definitely!
Did you use the same magnets from original shield ? a friend printed me one with air assist and magnets werent strong enough to keep shield on
I didn't reuse the magnets from the original shield. I designed the new air assist shield to use magnets I had laying around. They just happened to be about the same size as the magnets on the laser module.
@@LetsMakeAThing ok thanks , the printed one must be heavier than the original that melted😬
It probably is heavier. Plus it's also dragging around an air tube too so that adds weight and stress that the original magnets weren't specced for. I looked but couldn't find where I got my magnets from. But shouldn't be too hard to find neodymium magnets about the same size as the originals.
@@LetsMakeAThing Thanks
I use artist's charcoal fixatif spray and it works pretty well on Borax. Give it two or three coats.
Thanks for sharing!
but can you use that on a cutting board
No idea. I don't do cutting boards only decorative objects. I will have to try it out.@@pblais404
@@pblais404 No, you don't want to use borax or any other chemicals on food prep surfaces like cutting boards or serving trays!
@@LetsMakeAThing you can, if you seal it with thin layer food save epoxy.
Use vinegar to wipe after your engraving.
How long are you allowing the solution to dry? This may not even be an issue, I didn't hear you say anything about how wet/dry it is, this may even be mentioned in a previous video...
I make sure it's completely dry before engraving. I think I mentioned it in the previous video, but it's been so long since I made that video I honestly can't remember.
1 tsp per 6 oz of water is his solution
Thanks for the info! That's about the same as I used in my testing.
@@LetsMakeAThing I did it for ppl who don’t have time to watch the whole video :) thanks for your testing I will watch at a later time :)
First use triple thick Glaze from rustoleum , after aplying borax solution. Then engrave the coating wont allow the smear.
Thanks for sharing!
does that work ??? @@LetsMakeAThing
Vacuum the surface?
Thanks for the idea! Sadly, that would remove the soot which is what makes the engraving darker. I've stopped testing Borax as I've found a better method to get darker engravings with no chemicals. You can find the link in the pinned comment.
what kind of clear coat, please?
I used matte clear coat from a rattle can. I can't remember what brand it was though.
I have a question is it also possible with baking soda instead of borax
I have heard of other people having success with baking soda, but I haven't tried it.
@@LetsMakeAThing thank you my friend
You can buy Borax in Germany. No problem at all.
Thanks for letting me know! Not sure why a couple of my other viewers said they couldn't get Borax in Germany.
@@LetsMakeAThing just bought one kilo yesterday. On ebay.
@@LetsMakeAThing I am from the Netherlands and just like Germany we can not buy it here because it is on the toxic list and there for they can't sell it here but we can order it in another country and let it deliver
@@cindyvancroonenborgh3982 That makes sense. Thanks so much for letting me know!
@@LetsMakeAThing you are welcome and thank you for the videos. I am still saving to buy a laser cutter
That's what I thought as well, that the borax just burns faster than the wood and creates the darker color, still a good technique for non-cutting boards. I just got my ORTUR pro 2 s2 something something laser with the air assist and rotary tool. great vid.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video! I hope you enjoy using your new laser!