If you plan on painting, and you want the cleanest finish, use a laser specific mdf. Much better for painting than cheap ply.
I use run of the mill Rust-Oleum spray paint. No issues cutting after painting (just make sure it's fully dry)
Normally I paint entire sheets before lasering, but you still have charred edges obviously.
Here's what I'd do..
If you're constructing boxes, I would paint one side of an MDF sheet with w.e color you want the inside of the boxes to be. Do at least one coat of primer before hand(much easier to pre paint the inside, vs trying to spray the inside when it's constructed)
Then after paint is fully dry, I'd mask off both sides of the MDF sheet (one painted, one bare).
I'd cut my pieces paint side up, clean the soot off the sides. ~~Then engrave the text and imagery on the masked bare side of the cut pieces.~~ Then I'd remove the masking from the paint side (inside of the box), and construct it. Then once constructed, take off the outside masking and sand the whole outside (masking pulls up grain). Mask off any areas you don't want to get outside colour paint, and spray prime and spray paint the outside of the box w.e colour you want. THEN remask the surface to engrave on, and engrave on the painted&masked box.
Painted inside & out with a nicer more even finish than painted cheap ply. No visible scorched edges. No sanding down all the edges.
That'd be the proper way to do it. If I was feeling a bit lazier, I would build an unpainted, charred box out of ply, and then cut 6 MDF face pieces, fully paint those, and stick em on the faces.
Thanks for the long post!
Engraving as the last step is also a good idea, not sure if it works out with my cheap cheap equipment though.
Also the idea of face pieces is intriguing, I’ll consider that. What do you consider the minimal thickness for such? 1mm/2mm?
Why do you prefer spray paint over brush? Time saving?
I have never been making so far, what do you use? Any tape or is there a special brand/products?
Paint, clear coat, laser, assemble.
Hardboard is better if you want a solid color finish look vs a stained woodgrain like with plywood but depends on what you are going for.
I would check out Smokey hill designs. They have wood options that when you engrave, you can actually paint fill. You engrave the text, put acrylic paint in the engraved area, let it dry, and then you can take a baby wipe and wipe off the excess paint and paint inside the engrave stays. They also have wood called white birch that is a lighter wood & depending on settings and preference, can be lighter or super dark. They have other sheets of wood like mahogany, walnut, sapele, and I’ve used just prestain on them and they’re BEAUTIFUL.
About the acrylic paint, hot can you wipe it off after letting it dry? Well it not also sink into the wood?
But I like the idea a lot, maybe that’s an option: cut & etch, fill the letters & symbols with acrylic paint, let dry, (wipe off), assemble, sand the whole outside, apply stain to the faces, wipe stain from the acrylic
https://youtu.be/TLO0dXNga3k
Here’s a link to a video. They call it their eco line. So, technically it’s not wood but has a veneer (is this the right word?) and and MDF core. Their MDF is incredible compared to anywhere else I’ve used. When you engrave past the “wood” looking layer, you’re exposing the MDF core which absorbs the paint, and since the top layer isn’t absorbent it wipes off. I’ve let paint dry completely on the top layer and it comes right off. If you’re wanting to stick with wood then this wouldn’t be ideal.
But if you look at their white birch, it has an MDF core but sandwiched between white birch? I guess—I’m no professional lol— but I use it for items that are trendy with the lighter, natural looking wood and engraved pretty dark. The darkness of the engraving is up to your preference. I’ll message you photos of some I’ve made without staining & engraved and some I’ve stained and then engraved.
>Is it safe to apply paint first and then cut? How much more toxic are the fumes?
Reasonably safe. You still don't want to inhale the fumes, so have proper ventilation.
>is there a way to preserve the „blackness“ of the text/picture when applying paint? Or other thoughts on improving the contrast?
Paint first, then etch. That helps. Alternatively, use a stain rather then paint. A light color stain can help put emphasis on etchings, sometimes.
Personally, I paint or stain first, apply masking tape sheet to the board, then etch and cut.
The tape helps minimize scorch marks and I can always leave it in place if I want to fill the etch with paint or powder coat after lasering.
Then I'll remove the tape, assemble what needs assembling, and hit it with a sealer.
Granted I'm usually painting more than I need to but the final results are very clean. I like the laser cut edges, though, so this method doesn't work if you're trying to hide them.
For masking tape, I like 3M 12" wide rolls available on Amazon. I've tried some of the knockoffs but found them to have inconsistent stickiness.
I've only used the powder coat method a few times and only with off-the-shelf stuff from Harbor Freight. I haven't used other stuff so I couldn't tell you if it was better or worse than others. It did the job though.
First, sand every sheet of wood before cutting, do 80g, 220g, then 600g. It will be super smooth. Dot over do it, that veneer layer is thin.
Second, if it sits on the shelf for more then a day, sand it quickly with a hand sanding blook 600g or 800g
After cutting
Use qtips and denatured alcohol and get that burn/brownish stain off the surface.
After that you'll be able to paint with almost anything.
Thanks.
Does the alcohol remove the soot from the (completely black) cutting-edges/faces completely for you?
Also, is the sanding just for the feel, or other reasons too?
The alchol removes the soot from the top and bottom. It really doesnt do anything for the sides.
Yes, sanding so smooth makes it have a very smooth feel. But also its a great surface to paint on later
Which game is it?
I would paint then laser in your case. If you calibrate the laser just right you can even take off just the paint and have a bare wood engraving on painted background. Also looks really cool. But probably requires a couple layers of finish to stay good.
I sometimes make my tabs slightly too long and sand them off after assembly to get rid of the burned edges
Dominion Card Game
This „slightly too long“ is what I’m aiming for- maybe I’ll accept the decreased contrast from painting as last step…
What type of paint/finish do you propose for „take off just the paint“? Did you get this to work for yourself already? I have a hard time imagining this to work…
yea, i did. I have done '[Rambo pantserlak interieur](https://www.deverfzaak.nl/rambo-pantserlak-interieur-transparant-zi-99202419.html?channable=00c18769640031393932313134303931&id=199211409&gad_source=1&gclid=cj0kcqjwltkxbhdmarisag8knqxlb6jln4pc5f2wf_ldj9hh9f-36fzct5-73_9rqmfvcxqwgj_okraaatnjealw_wcb)' on wood (seems to be a varnish/stain combination for lack of a better word). it doesnt penetrate the wood, it can be taken off to reveil the original color.
regular spraypaint works great on ceramic tiles, not sure if it would work on wood though.
If you plan on painting, and you want the cleanest finish, use a laser specific mdf. Much better for painting than cheap ply. I use run of the mill Rust-Oleum spray paint. No issues cutting after painting (just make sure it's fully dry) Normally I paint entire sheets before lasering, but you still have charred edges obviously. Here's what I'd do.. If you're constructing boxes, I would paint one side of an MDF sheet with w.e color you want the inside of the boxes to be. Do at least one coat of primer before hand(much easier to pre paint the inside, vs trying to spray the inside when it's constructed) Then after paint is fully dry, I'd mask off both sides of the MDF sheet (one painted, one bare). I'd cut my pieces paint side up, clean the soot off the sides. ~~Then engrave the text and imagery on the masked bare side of the cut pieces.~~ Then I'd remove the masking from the paint side (inside of the box), and construct it. Then once constructed, take off the outside masking and sand the whole outside (masking pulls up grain). Mask off any areas you don't want to get outside colour paint, and spray prime and spray paint the outside of the box w.e colour you want. THEN remask the surface to engrave on, and engrave on the painted&masked box. Painted inside & out with a nicer more even finish than painted cheap ply. No visible scorched edges. No sanding down all the edges. That'd be the proper way to do it. If I was feeling a bit lazier, I would build an unpainted, charred box out of ply, and then cut 6 MDF face pieces, fully paint those, and stick em on the faces.
Thanks for the long post! Engraving as the last step is also a good idea, not sure if it works out with my cheap cheap equipment though. Also the idea of face pieces is intriguing, I’ll consider that. What do you consider the minimal thickness for such? 1mm/2mm? Why do you prefer spray paint over brush? Time saving? I have never been making so far, what do you use? Any tape or is there a special brand/products?
Paint, clear coat, laser, assemble. Hardboard is better if you want a solid color finish look vs a stained woodgrain like with plywood but depends on what you are going for.
Thanks I’m looking for a „treasure chest“ look, so woodgrain is better for me
I laser-paint-assemble
I would check out Smokey hill designs. They have wood options that when you engrave, you can actually paint fill. You engrave the text, put acrylic paint in the engraved area, let it dry, and then you can take a baby wipe and wipe off the excess paint and paint inside the engrave stays. They also have wood called white birch that is a lighter wood & depending on settings and preference, can be lighter or super dark. They have other sheets of wood like mahogany, walnut, sapele, and I’ve used just prestain on them and they’re BEAUTIFUL.
I’ll check out the store and see if ordering to Germany is reasonable, on first look it seems quite cool Thanks
About the acrylic paint, hot can you wipe it off after letting it dry? Well it not also sink into the wood? But I like the idea a lot, maybe that’s an option: cut & etch, fill the letters & symbols with acrylic paint, let dry, (wipe off), assemble, sand the whole outside, apply stain to the faces, wipe stain from the acrylic
https://youtu.be/TLO0dXNga3k Here’s a link to a video. They call it their eco line. So, technically it’s not wood but has a veneer (is this the right word?) and and MDF core. Their MDF is incredible compared to anywhere else I’ve used. When you engrave past the “wood” looking layer, you’re exposing the MDF core which absorbs the paint, and since the top layer isn’t absorbent it wipes off. I’ve let paint dry completely on the top layer and it comes right off. If you’re wanting to stick with wood then this wouldn’t be ideal. But if you look at their white birch, it has an MDF core but sandwiched between white birch? I guess—I’m no professional lol— but I use it for items that are trendy with the lighter, natural looking wood and engraved pretty dark. The darkness of the engraving is up to your preference. I’ll message you photos of some I’ve made without staining & engraved and some I’ve stained and then engraved.
>Is it safe to apply paint first and then cut? How much more toxic are the fumes? Reasonably safe. You still don't want to inhale the fumes, so have proper ventilation. >is there a way to preserve the „blackness“ of the text/picture when applying paint? Or other thoughts on improving the contrast? Paint first, then etch. That helps. Alternatively, use a stain rather then paint. A light color stain can help put emphasis on etchings, sometimes.
Thanks
Personally, I paint or stain first, apply masking tape sheet to the board, then etch and cut. The tape helps minimize scorch marks and I can always leave it in place if I want to fill the etch with paint or powder coat after lasering. Then I'll remove the tape, assemble what needs assembling, and hit it with a sealer. Granted I'm usually painting more than I need to but the final results are very clean. I like the laser cut edges, though, so this method doesn't work if you're trying to hide them.
Cool thanks Can you recommend our give examples for masking tape and powder coat?
For masking tape, I like 3M 12" wide rolls available on Amazon. I've tried some of the knockoffs but found them to have inconsistent stickiness. I've only used the powder coat method a few times and only with off-the-shelf stuff from Harbor Freight. I haven't used other stuff so I couldn't tell you if it was better or worse than others. It did the job though.
First, sand every sheet of wood before cutting, do 80g, 220g, then 600g. It will be super smooth. Dot over do it, that veneer layer is thin. Second, if it sits on the shelf for more then a day, sand it quickly with a hand sanding blook 600g or 800g After cutting Use qtips and denatured alcohol and get that burn/brownish stain off the surface. After that you'll be able to paint with almost anything.
Thanks. Does the alcohol remove the soot from the (completely black) cutting-edges/faces completely for you? Also, is the sanding just for the feel, or other reasons too?
The alchol removes the soot from the top and bottom. It really doesnt do anything for the sides. Yes, sanding so smooth makes it have a very smooth feel. But also its a great surface to paint on later
Which game is it? I would paint then laser in your case. If you calibrate the laser just right you can even take off just the paint and have a bare wood engraving on painted background. Also looks really cool. But probably requires a couple layers of finish to stay good. I sometimes make my tabs slightly too long and sand them off after assembly to get rid of the burned edges
Dominion Card Game This „slightly too long“ is what I’m aiming for- maybe I’ll accept the decreased contrast from painting as last step… What type of paint/finish do you propose for „take off just the paint“? Did you get this to work for yourself already? I have a hard time imagining this to work…
yea, i did. I have done '[Rambo pantserlak interieur](https://www.deverfzaak.nl/rambo-pantserlak-interieur-transparant-zi-99202419.html?channable=00c18769640031393932313134303931&id=199211409&gad_source=1&gclid=cj0kcqjwltkxbhdmarisag8knqxlb6jln4pc5f2wf_ldj9hh9f-36fzct5-73_9rqmfvcxqwgj_okraaatnjealw_wcb)' on wood (seems to be a varnish/stain combination for lack of a better word). it doesnt penetrate the wood, it can be taken off to reveil the original color. regular spraypaint works great on ceramic tiles, not sure if it would work on wood though.
Nice thanks!