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laser photos on granite help please?
hi all, we need some advice about laser photos on to granite/marble
we are getting test pieces done by the suppliers of the laser before we purchase, but they are not turning out very good, is the a certin type of granite or marble we should try ??
thanks
andrew -
10 Replies
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Andrew are you supplying the samples for the laser supplier to engrave onto?
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yes nigel , but i think we might be suppling the wrong type, being told that i need absoloute black granite or jet black marble, but cant find it anywhere
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Andrew we used to laser granite and marble using a 100 watt laser but the results were poor and you had to run it at a very slow speed to get any depth to it. Decided it was not cost effective.
Peter
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Blimey Peter a 12w would be good enough how deep was you after.
Andrew absolute black does give better results, any chance of sending a sample to us to see what we can do.
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hi nigel, yes will send it if i can find it somewhere, will keep trying to source it or the marble, anyone know where to source it ???
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Andrew we looked at some samples of marble today for this very type of work, once we have tested it if all goes well then we could well start stocking it.
But the downside is that may be a few weeks away still.
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The marble is not really the problem , so long as its not too speckled , what is vital is the photo prep and there are 2 ways of doing this , the hard way or the easy way. The hard way is to futz around with photoshop , contrast etc and the easy way that gives stunning results most of the time is to use a program like Photograv. One can get really good results on marble with this and its mostly a matter of lets suck it and see with the lasers own drivers, IE very variable results. Flooring supply or kitchen top ppl will have absolute black granite and marble. If you arent using photograv , you need to increase the contrast of the image , do an unsharp mask to redefine edges better and dont use more than 100 pixels per inch in the image and if your laser driver has it , use a diffusuon dither and a dpi of not more than 200 in the driver itself.
You can co to http://www.engravingetc.org and look for some threads on photoengraving , there are lots and you can aslo go to http://www.sawmillcreek.org and look under laser woodwork for the same.
We get stunning resuts on most medias, marble, granite slate etc , so so should you.
We also use our lasers to ablate a polyester vinyl we apply to the stone and then sandblast fr much deeper engraving , but obviously you cant get the fine detail a laser has. -
Nigel we were trying to get it deep enough to have a good fill of paint. These items were for football grounds to go into their walk of fame. So many people would be walking on them.
Peter
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Peter
You will find that the laser etching will not go very deep into the granite , if you need to apply paint then you need to blast them. you will then be unable to get photo quality because it will have to be done manually.
Be aware of a lot of substandard granites being touted around at present stick to nero assoluto or nero zimbabwe but ensure they are what you are being sold . I can send you some samples if you need them.
Paul
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thanks for all the advice and help, it was much needed ,i will source some granite and take it from there
regards
andrew
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