Many clients want photographs engraved onto marble or wood, but many request memories engraved on metal. When engraving photographs, remember that practice produces better results. With spare time and materials, practice engraving photos of your own family. One trick to engraving photographs is to remember that materials produce different results even with the same photograph. Imagine the picture engraved on each of your materials before recommending one to a customer. Recommend to customers that they use photographs with a great deal of shading and a large central object for the best results.
Working with colored metals can be frustrating because engraving will sometimes leave behind a colorful residue. The problem usually occurs when engraving with a red or blue-finished brass-plated steel or aluminum. One trick to removing this residue is to re-engrave the piece. This method could still leave a noticeable color hue on the metal, however. Before attempting to engrave the plate again, try rubbing the piece down with a polish instead. This may reduce the color hue to a negligible finish and will save you the time involved in engraving the plate again.
When laser engraving different types of wood for desk accessories, you may have noticed that some spots take on a dark, almost charred appearance. This is a result of the wood lacquer burning from exposure to the laser. One way to prevent this charring is to turn the laser's intensity down a bit, but your quality may suffer as line depths decrease slightly. A better trick for preserving the quality of your work and eliminating blackening is to place well-moistened newspaper on top of the piece. This allows the laser to go through the newspaper easily and keep the lacquer moist enough not to burn.
One of the best tricks for doubling productivity is to fasten a double head attachment to your laser engraver. This splits the single laser into two separate beams that will produce two separate, near-identical pieces in the time it would take you to engrave one. The only problem is that one piece will be more in focus than the other. To prevent this fuzziness, prop up the piece that is not being focused on using a one or two sheets of thin aluminum.