Owner's Manual for EPILOG Legend Model 6000
December, 2000
56
Section 10 – Engraving Techniques
The most common woods used with the Legend are Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Alder, & Oak. These woods are
considered hard woods, and have grains that work well with lasers.
Grain can very greatly in density. Cherry, Alder, Walnut & Maple all have fairly little veins of grain in them,
while Oak has medium to large veins in it. For example: If a large box was engraved into a piece of Cherry
and a piece of Oak, the box engraved into the Cherry would have a very uniformed appearance, the area
engraved or the background would be smooth with little variation in height. The Oak on the other hand
would very greatly in height and have a very non-uniformed appearance.
Legends can engrave in very fine detail. The spot size ranges from .003” to .008” of an inch in diameter, and,
if there are large variations in the material that one is engraving into it will greatly effect the quality of the
finished piece. Therefore the majority of laser users will stick with Cherry, Alder, Walnut or Maple.
The differences between Cherry and Alder are little. The grain, color and densities are nearly identical. The
color of these two woods is a light red. We recommend stains that are clear allowing the natural color to
show through. Alder isn’t quite as expensive as Cherry and it is a little more readily available. Walnut is a
dark brown in color and has a greater density than either Cherry or Alder. Maple is light blonde in color and
has a density that is even greater than Walnut. It is important to mention the density, because it will take a
little more laser power to cut and to engrave to the same depth in woods that have greater densities.
MANUFACTURED WOOD PRODUCTS
Plywood
Standard building grade plywood is a material that usually does not produce an acceptable result
when engraved. It is also a very difficult material to cut. Plywood is constructed of layers of wood
glued together. Since the grain of the wood chips in the plywood run in different directions it is
difficult to obtain a consistent depth when engraving. Air bubbles within the plywood cause
problems because they severely disrupt the laser beam when cutting. Because of the air bubbles it is
virtually impossible to cut cleanly through standard plywood.
There are specialty plywood products that can be found in hobby shops or specialty wood stores that
will engrave and cut much nicer than standard plywood products purchased through your local
lumber supplier.
MELAMINE
See MELAMINE earlier in this chapter.
