Using my NEJE Master 2 (20W) machine to laser engrave a wood plaque.
I engraved a sketch of a smiling hedgehog made last spring onto a soft, round wood plaque. I used my NEJE Master 2 (20W) blue diode laser engraver and wood stain.
In case it's helpful, below are the topics covered in this post:
Prepping
I bought my small, round wood plaque months ago for less than a dollar from my local Walmart store. Unfortunately, it looks like it went up in price on Walmart's website. I recommend checking your local dollar store first if you want to buy your own small, round wood plaque.
I peeled the sticker off and removed the plastic hanger. I left the staple where it was with the intent of engraving my design on the flip side.
I sanded both sides of the wood plaque well. There were many splinters I did not want to deal with. It took a while to smooth the wood plaque with a 220-grit piece of sandpaper.
Once smooth, I placed painters' tape onto the side of the wood plaque I wanted to engrave. Doing so prevents unwanted scorching on the wood's surface. I used a scraper to burnish the tape and smooth out wrinkles.
Engraving
I wanted to engrave my very first hedgehog sketch. I do not normally draw animals well, so I was pleased with the outcome of my smiling hedgehog. My niece also liked it and took the original artwork with her.
I saved a grayscale version of my artwork as a PNG file. I uploaded it to the NEJE app on my laptop and resized it to fit the wood plaque's dimension.
The easiest way I found to position something under the laser module is to use a ruler to determine the center of the wood plaque. I made sure to use the "To Center" option of the positioning feature in the app to prevent the laser module from moving while I adjusted the wood plaque's placement.
I wore my goggles to adjust and narrow the focus of the laser light. The smaller the light appears, the more accurate the engraving would be.
My laser engraving machine is in my garage. I opened the garage door for ventilation. Engraving projects emits an odor. The pungent smell of burning wood quickly filled the space even with the garage door opened. I made sure to wear a mask to keep myself from developing a migraine.
I used the following settings in the NEJE app:
Laser brightness: 35%
Sensitivity of tilt detection: medium
Motor speed: medium
Laser power: 70%
Burn time: 30mS
Total passes: 1X
The engraving took six and a half hours to complete from start to finish.
It is important to monitor an engraving. A malfunction, reflection, or insect could spark a fire. The machine attracts bugs because of the heat generated by the laser. Unfortunately, some bugs get a little too close.
Instead of hanging out in my garage on a hot summer day, I used an action camera and phone to monitor the engraving from the comfort of my air conditioning indoors. This allows me to work on something else with the phone streaming the camera's footage by my side.
Weeding
Weeding the smaller pieces of tape took a long time when I used the pointed tip of my weeding tool. I found the tip helpful for lifting or removing larger pieces of tape, but not the smaller pieces within the quills and other detailed areas.
Fortunately, using the flat side of the tip made weeding the smaller tape pieces significantly faster. I believe this was because the engraving was deep leaving the untouched parts of the wood plaque elevated and easy to rub tape off it.
It took me no longer than fifteen minutes to weed everything off the wood plaque.
Engraving Again
I believed the bottom was plain, so I added another piece of painters' tape for another engraving. This time, I engraved the phrase "Looking Sharp!" to fill-in some of the empty space.
I used the same settings in the NEJE app. The engraving took a half hour to complete from start to finish.
Once the engraving finished, I weeded the tape off the wood plaque.
Staining
I wanted a light stain like what I used on my holiday engraved wood plaque. Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to what I pulled from the shelf. I accidentally grabbed a stain darker in color than I wanted.
I attempted to lighten my mistake with furniture refinished. It worked, but not as well as I hoped it would. It was a reminder that I should read labels before use.
My Thoughts
Before staining, I loved my laser engraved smiling hedgehog! With experience and several past wood engraving failures, I feel I finally found the right NEJE app settings for softer wood pieces like basswood and balsa wood.
While masking is not necessary, I believe I will continue to do so to prevent unwanted scorching on the wood's surface. Sure, I could engrave without masking and sand off the scorch marks afterwards. Yet, I hate sanding because of the mess, so masking is what I will do!
My biggest regret was the stain. Personally, I wanted a lighter stain color. Shame on me for not checking the label before pulling it off the shelf.
The final piece does not look bad, but I may redo this and finish with a lighter stain color. Maybe I will give this one to my Dad or drop it off at a Goodwill.
What's Next?
I have several creative ideas I want to do in the next week. Check back to see what creative project I have to share with you next!
Would you have stained or painted the engraved image? Comment below to share what you would have done differently.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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