Are you committed to using the laser to color the design? Or could it be colored with a dark stain? If the latter, you could do everything on one machine at one time, which saves you a lot of fuss making sure you have the piece oriented and positioned correctly when moving it to a new machine.
I would definitely cut out the designs and the outside shape in the same CNC session; then you know they’re correctly positioned relative to each other.
I would put down tape over all of the area where the design will be. If you’re going to use a stain, one layer is enough; if you’re using the laser, then you’ll need it thick enough that the laser won’t burn through it at the settings you’ll use to do the etching. You’ll definitely need to experiment ahead of time to get those settings nailed down.
The CNC will easily cut the tape away, then you’ve got a perfect mask for the next step. Do take into account the tape thickness in setting the cut depth.
If the next step is on the laser, then you would intentionally over-cut the design, and as long as you don’t burn through the tape, you’ll have crisp edges without having to position the piece perfectly.
But I’m dubious about using the laser here. If your edges for the design cuts are vertical, it seems to me that you won’t get much color on them. If they’re sloped a little, you could maybe do it (though you’ve made your CNC cuts a lot more complicated), but you’d have to use different settings for the edges and bottom to get the same appearance. And then tape won’t save you; you’d have to get the piece positioned exactly right.
I’m not expert on the laser, so perhaps I’m overthinking things. But you see why I think a dark stain would be easier: you just cut it, stain the design (edges and bottom), pull up the tape, then you’re ready to use the light stain for the rest. (Addendum: your two inspiration pieces were both cut then had the insets painted/stained.)
I guess this all depends on how deep your design is inset. Since you were planning on using the CNC, I’m assuming something non-trivial, like 0.1” or more. If the design doesn’t need much depth, you could do everything on the laser. The design would be a “heavy etch”, then you could cut the main shape out on the laser as well, again ensuring your positioning without any fuss.
When @valerie and @mark999 made the desks for the laser room, they masked over where they put the QR codes. The laser burned the tape away with the engraving, and then before they removed the tape, they painted over it with black paint. Then, when they removed th blue tape, it was a perfectly masked surface.
Your designs are thicker than what they did, but an approach like that might be helpful
Use V-Carve “pocket” operaration for the graphics.
Then use Lightburn’s Print And Cut feature to align and scale the laser job. This will be accurate, near-perfect alignment is fairly easy.
That’s a lot to laser, but Tarkin can carve out a pretty good depth quickly, I would consider just doing it there. It won’t have any min tool radius problems on inside corners. The lettering depth will vary with the density of the grain, but this may be seen as an aesthetic plus.
I should clarify that part of the reason for adding the black paint to the QR codes was to give it a crisper contrast than the laser produced on its own.
I agree that the CNC then color with the laser sounds a bit tricky (perhaps I will save that for a follow-on project). I see Danny’s comment below, and I can imagine many future projects where you would CNC & then laser something… good skill to know.
I did consider laser’ing the whole thing, but thought this would be a good opportunity for me to learn a new tool & finishing process. I haven’t done most much wood working (eg cutting, painting, staining, sanding, finishing), so could use all the guidance I can get!
CNC + paint the lettering. That sounds nice - similar to the design inspiration.
I do have two pieces of material (wood I brought from Colombia) - try could do several approaches
Now that I know there is a tool for handling the alignment issues, I’m curious how the vertical edges of the pocket would turn out on the laser. To get a uniform appearance, you’d probably need to run the edges with one setting, then do the bottom of the pockets with another. But maybe you don’t need that much uniformity, which is another aesthetic choice.
If the finished piece is small enough to go through the drum sander you could CNC → mask (optional) → rattle can → drum sand → round the edges on the router table (optional) → clear coat.
I was thinking of working on this project Thursday 8/4 in the afternoon with @Jordanva2. - @jamesfreeman would you be available & interested in some CNC collaboration-mentoring with us? Friday could also work.
Anyone else who’s interested in learning about CNC would be welcome to come too - its fun learning together a project.
V-carve would definitely be the process of choice. I’d paint the carved area through a making tape mask rather than lasering.
V-carving is sensitive to where the top surface is, so it would be a very good idea to surface it and v-carve at the same time, that is, without remounting.
A masking tape mask would have to be applied after surfacing but while it’s still on the bed, then v-carve.
If you wanted to finish the top with after surfacing, then mask and vcarve through it then paint the unmasked carved area, that is a bit complicated to do finishing after surfacing without taking it off the bed.
Not that taking it off the bed after surfacing would be tricky though, you’d have to stain it or whatever while on the bed.
It’s quite possible to remount the work- it is sensitive to level though, how much depends on the level of detail you’re asking for. That would be the narrow “In your neck of the woods”.
