Laser engraving machines have made wood engraving easier, better, and faster than ever. But unfortunately, wood laser engraving has always been challenging for new users because it requires expertise and experience.

The wood might not offer the expected engraving results or ruin your whole effort. There are many inconsistencies that prevent beginners and new users from engraving wood. Many users get frustrated and quit engraving wood at the start of their laser engraving journey.

In this article, we have gathered every piece of information required for wood laser engraving. We will share how to choose the best wood for engraving, which laser engraver you can choose, the settings of the machine for engraving, and various other tips and tricks to make wood laser engraving easier for beginners. We will also discover how wood laser engraving can be done with ultimate perfection.

In This Article
How to Choose the Best Wood for Laser Engraving?
How to Avoid Burn Marks When Laser Engraving Wood?
How to Deal with the Smoke and Smell Produce When Laser Engraving on Wood
Wood Laser Engraving Ideas for Beginners
Best Laser Engraver for Wood Engraving
Conclusion
How to Choose the Best Wood for Laser Engraving?
All types of laser engraving machines, including diode laser engravers, are capable of wood laser engraving. They have enough power to vaporize the material where the beams fall. But sometimes, you don't get the desired results. It is because of the wood you have selected.

Unfortunately, not all types of wood can offer you the best engraving results. There are many inconsistencies when it comes to wood. Surprisingly, even if you are using the same species of wood, the best result is not guaranteed because even though the species are the same, their internal resin content can be different.

While selecting wood for laser engraving, there are three things that the user should keep in mind.

1) Resin Content
The first thing that you need to consider is the resin content of the wood you are choosing. Resin is a natural viscous liquid present in the trees, especially in the resinous trees known for producing resins.

If the resin content of the wood is high, the final engraving will be darker. It is due to the burning of the resin when laser beams fall on the surface. Contrarily, woods that contain low resin content have a light engraving pattern.

Resinous trees are soft as they contain the resin liquid, and on the other hand, non-resinous trees have very hard wood. For instance, cherry wood is soft because it contains resin.

If you are an experienced craftsman and have been seeing different types of wood for years, you might have an idea of the color of the wood. If the color of the wood is lighter than usual, it is low in resin content.

2) Shade of the Wood
The next important factor in choosing wood type is the shade. This factor is self-explanatory, and the shade of the wood can easily be seen.

Engraving is actually the burning of wood, so the result is a dark pattern that is darker than the original color of the wood. But if the shade of the wood is already dark, the engraving won't be much visible. Thus, it is better to choose wood types that have a lighter shade.

3) Streaking
Streaks refer to the lines that are naturally present in the wood. These do not create any hindrance in engraving, but they affect the final result. The streaks are visible after engraving, and they ruin the beauty of engraving. The streaks should be as minimal as possible to make the engraving more visible to the viewer.

Some of the common natural and engineered wood types preferred for laser engraving are:

Alder
Cherry wood
Maple
Basswood
Plywood
MDF
HDF
Balsa
How to Avoid Burn Marks When Laser Engraving Wood?
When laser beams strike wood, the surface starts to burn, and the particles start to burn and vaporize quickly. Due to burning, there can be burn marks after laser engraving that give a bad look or unfinished appearance to the engraved object. It is a must to avoid burn marks to ensure the attractiveness of engraving.

Read Here More About Wood Laser Engraving: A Beginner's Guide