Epilog Fusion13000 Owner's Manual page 180

Section 13: Material Engraving Techniques
The most common woods used with the laser 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 uniform 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.
Epilog laser systems can engrave in very fine detail. The spot size ranges from .003"
(0.08mm) to .008" (0.02 mm) of an inch in diameter, and, if there are large variations
in the material that one is engraving into it will greatly affect 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 and other factors it is
virtually impossible to cut cleanly through 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.
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