For those wondering about the physics/chemistry in the process I would highly recommend a video from Russ Sadlers YT channel. Watch it here: kzitem.info/news/bejne/mKZ824tns4Kcnpw. I'll put a link on the community tab on my channel page as well.
@musicamex
9 ай бұрын
I’ve just discovered Borax for engraving wood and was wondering how it would work with other materials. Well, as usual, I wondered “what would Steve think”? Never disappointed here amigo…..your cyber amigo in Mexico.
@SteveMakesEverything
9 ай бұрын
😁 hey! Well the bad news is that borax really only works on wood and I really tuned for softwoods.
@inmanjh
2 жыл бұрын
Unglazed white tiles absorb and benefit from the borax solution too. I blacken it with a magic marker, brush on the borax, and burn a reverse gray scale image. The impact on the tile image is very similar to Baltic birch.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Nice! Now I'll have to get some tiles. Logically any porous material will benefit to some degree.
@thebigfresh1877
2 жыл бұрын
Another great one! I tried this at regular engrave power and all I got was soot. It was messy. I need to try at reduced power, thx again for the tips and tricks! On a side note, after a lot of deliberation and research we got our new laser. I sidelined all the ‘classic’ players and went with TTP laser out of Manitoba! What a great experience. thanks for all your input on that also! Between the FSL and TTP we have have the diversity.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I’m always in support of shopping local. You will definitely need to reduce power
@riverjiang2040
2 жыл бұрын
I really liked your introduction, I really learned a lot, hope to see more videos from you!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Hope it helps you!
@PinItRight1
2 жыл бұрын
Love the comparisons Steve. When you did the leather test, was the entire piece of leather wet or dry? When I was in leather shop my shop teacher would always preach that leather should always be wet when engraving. However, I know we are talking about putting something wet into a laser?? And would the borax solution actually bleed into the side with just water? Either way Steve, your videos and your KZitem channel are tops in my book!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I spray half with Borax solution and then let it dry. Both sides of the image were dry, though maybe I'll need to try it wet to see if there is a difference.
@infered5365
Жыл бұрын
I use a spray bottle of borax water (hot water, lots of borax in a gallon jug, wait for it to precipitate out of solution and pour the water into a spray bottle, this keeps it at max precipitate percentage at room temp), about 5 sprays per coaster sized object to wet it, and dry overnight. On my CO2, it's 12mah at 300mm/s, comes out perfect, but the borax char does wipe if you touch it so I hit it with some clearcoat. Works a treat, highly recommend!
@SteveMakesEverything
Жыл бұрын
Yes this exactly what I do too. It’s fragile until you can get clearcoat on it but then it look amazing
@Teklectic
2 жыл бұрын
I actually just used this technique on bamboo and got gorgeous blacks!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Nice to know. Not really surprise since Bamboo has a lot of cellulose content, which seems to be the reagent in the material.
@kratz9
2 жыл бұрын
Interesting that it makes it darker. Borax and boric acid can also be used as flame retardants. Would be interesting to see if such a mixture would prevent flare ups and flames when cutting.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
That is in an interesting question. I'll have to find some time to coat a piece of cardboard and see if I can ignite it with the laser. 😈
@lasermania6194
2 жыл бұрын
impecable no tenia idea del borax gracias desde URUGUAY
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
You are very welcome from Canada 😀
@luke752010
2 жыл бұрын
Hello and congratulations for the great video! Speaking of plywood, how long should you wait (after applying Borax) to be able to engrave?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I’ve engraved immediately after apply borax solution and it has worked fine. If the wood is very wet though you can take a hair dryer or or heat gun to it to dry it out first
@TheMagicman1971
2 жыл бұрын
since it did so well on the cherry, I would bet you could get similar effects on honey maple as well.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Sound like an experiment is required, but yes very similar woods so result should be similar
@rativiv
2 жыл бұрын
Great video, thanks!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Hope it was useful
@Terry_Genereaux
2 жыл бұрын
Hey Steve another great video, I have a question where do you get most of your materials to work with (Box Store /Online)
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I buy a lot of material from Trotec. They have an engraving supply arm
@romancingthestrand8242
2 жыл бұрын
Awesome video and great information as always!!! I’m looking to purchase a laser later this year and I wanted to see if I could contact you through email or another way. Steve, I could use some advice because it’s a big purchase and I’m not sure which company to go with. Thank you and thank you for all the inspiring content you put out here!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Happy to help if you need it.
@ציוןנעימי
2 жыл бұрын
Hi Dear, I love your work!! I want to ask you if you have any tips to engrave leather? Best regards
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Leather isn’t too tricky, but settings will vary for your laser. Start with low power on a scrap and increase power until you’re happy.
@ציוןנעימי
2 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything yes, there is no any material for leather like borax for wood for example ?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
@@ציוןנעימי No, nothing specific. Borax has minimal benefit on leather.
@protozee
Жыл бұрын
Thanks very nice== how about borax vs baking soda
@SteveMakesEverything
Жыл бұрын
Baking soda is a decent replacement. It's not quite as dark as Borax, and tends to stain the wood a bit, but in places where Borax is unavailable, baking soda will work.
@cliffordmoon
10 ай бұрын
Hi, would there be any health issues using this on an engraved cutting board that someone might use for food? Great video btw!!
@SteveMakesEverything
10 ай бұрын
It’s probably not something you should do.
@dasg5805
2 жыл бұрын
I tried borax with 1/8" baltic birch. It was so dark I really couldn't find a laser setting that could work with it for photo engraving but it would work very well for designs that are full contrast (no shading)
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
You really need to dial back the power by at least 30% or more. As you can see from the samples in this video, images are possible but it requires some finesse to get the setting right.
@dasg5805
2 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything Thanks I'll give it another shot.
@fyireviewsandhowtos3118
9 ай бұрын
Do you wipe the image down before adding a finish and if so what do you use?
@SteveMakesEverything
9 ай бұрын
Good question, but the answer is no. You need to get the finish on it to protect the engraving. Borax really messes up the material to make it dark. Essentially it becomes full of hole like a sponge, so you need to fill those with a clear finish to ensure the they don't break down. This is that tax you pay for using borax. Nothing is free. :-)
@gabrielbogota
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for your info. I was trying with borax and wood. Undoubtedly the imagen is blacker, but two defects appear: 1) the imagen definition is lost 2) A background tint is produced that darkens the imagen in general. I would not use borax for my photo projects, not for writing text.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
You will lose detail and contrast if the power is too high. It requires some experimentation but with the right setting the image contrast can be improved compared to a regular engrave.
@gabrielbogota
2 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything thanks Steve for the reply. Yes, I have reduced the power quite a bit and increased the speed, but the depth that the laser produces is still lost. In liking there is no dislike. I prefer to increase the power more, without adding borax, with which I get more darkness, a real depth in the image, looking more three-dimensional, which makes it look more beautiful. Thank you!!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
@@gabrielbogota I you are using Lightburn you can try to defocus a bit to drop the power density
@fyireviewsandhowtos3118
9 ай бұрын
I have Borax residue left on the unburned areas of my engravings. How can I remove that residue before adding poly without smearing the image? I am using 1 tbls of Borax to 10 tbls of water with light spray. Also is there a clear coat that I can use on coasters that will dry faster than poly? Thank you for your time and videos.
@SteveMakesEverything
9 ай бұрын
Cleaning residue after engraving is probably not something you want to do, in part because it is permeated into the wood. As for clear coat I use a couple light coats of clear spray rather than trying to brush something on.
@fyireviewsandhowtos3118
9 ай бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything I am using a spray on poly but it takes a long time to dry and cure especially since I am making a ton of coasters with my Navy squadron logo on them. I was just wondering if a clear coat paint would be a good alternative.
@SteveMakesEverything
9 ай бұрын
@@fyireviewsandhowtos3118 For coasters, I'm not sure I would use this method unless you were putting them into resin or something. Even with clear coast, I'm not sure they would stand the wear and tear of coaster duty.
@harryragland7840
2 жыл бұрын
With cardboard and card stock not really working, one wonders what the underlying success of wood fiber such as Baltic birch and cherry ply is. I wonder about the the borax darkening over time also.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
It should be a permanent result since is chemically modifies the surface. I put a link to Russ Sadler’s video in the community tab on my channel page. If you want to see the theory behind this watch his video
@weboflies999
2 жыл бұрын
Awesome as always Steve. I tried it on a log slice and it work very well. Hey on another note, I have a FSL laser as well. Do you know if there is any advantage to using PDF's as opposed to say JPG or PNG file format? I don't really notice any difference but perhaps I'm mistaken...
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
PDFs don't really have an advantage in RE3 anymore. Some of the recent software changes added the ability to take SVGs as well as raster formats directly. I used to convert SVGs to PDF format but now I just drop them directly onto the RE3 workspace
@pintokitkat
2 жыл бұрын
Whenever I try borax on light ply the results looks fantastic until. I try to clean off any smoke etc. As that point all the black from the borax print smudges over the surface leaving a mess that can't be removed in any other way than sanding. After sanding the results are no better than no borax. Any tips anyone?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
It isn't without its drawbacks. On baltic birch you will definitely need to ensure that your engraving is clean (i.e. no smoke marks) and the very first thing you need to do is lock the engraving down with a coat of clearcoat.
@Teklectic
2 жыл бұрын
I wipe mine with a damp cloth after, that seems to work the best
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
@@Teklectic This should work too.
@thatonegamer2709
2 жыл бұрын
Did you rub off the ash like top layer when you finished the last cherry piece...?. A swipe of varnish wouldve made that thing POP!
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
The surface of this material didn't actually have a lot of ash so there wasn't much to rub (Cherry is quite a bit harder than baltic birch). After the video I gave it a quick coat of flat clearcoat but that was all I did.
@AlexVargasPipa
2 жыл бұрын
Would baking soda work also?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Yes baking soda works, though not quite as well
@shannonadams439
Жыл бұрын
How do you make your borax solution?
@SteveMakesEverything
Жыл бұрын
Just borax and water. You don’t need much borax to make things start working. Start with maybe tablespoon in a few cups of water
@danbemowski3014
2 жыл бұрын
Is this safe for cutting boards?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Since Borax is water soluble, you can just wash it off after engraving, but you would need to be very careful with the power and since cutting boards are made from denser woods, you need to probably determine the power for each type of wood you are engraving. It wouldn't be good if you hit a particularly soft piece of wood and the borax engraving dug in deeper than you expected. Personally on my cutting boards I just use a diode laser and get a wonderful engraving without any surface treatment.
@inkyhendershot781
Жыл бұрын
Will this work on granite and other gravestone monuments?
@SteveMakesEverything
Жыл бұрын
No, sorry. This will only work on wood and possibly a few other porous materials
@natsc1658
2 жыл бұрын
Hi Steve, loved the video. I used cherry plywood and got a great looking engrave. When I picked it up I noticed it smudged. I wiped the surface and it was like the borax was just a coating over the light engrave and the whole thing came off. Any suggestions on how to prevent that?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
This is the tax you pay for Borax or baking soda. Once engraving is done you need to handle the item carefully until you can spray a couple coats of clearcoat on it to protect the surface
@nats-onecityprayer5497
2 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything thanks
@renatopassero8857
2 жыл бұрын
Bom dia Testei aqui como chamamos MDF, fica muito bom velocidade alta potência baixa, em laser CO2 90w, velocidade 450, potência 9%, fica ótimo, mas sai todo, tem algum produto que fixe sem sair o preto? Tenho a imagem de uma mandala, ou melhor, um vídeo mas aqui não tem como enviar. Sou do Brasil aqui ninguém sabe muito sobre isso. Desde já agradeço sua atenção.
@pietpompiepompiepiet940
2 жыл бұрын
Try spraying clear lacquer after engraving
@renatopassero8857
2 жыл бұрын
@@pietpompiepompiepiet940 Muito obrigado, vou tentar e te mando como ficou
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Definitely do this
@loyalistman
2 жыл бұрын
When I use Borax, it looks great but I find it extremely sooty. When I go to clean it up, it just smudges. What am I doing wrong?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
After you do the engrave you will need to apply a good coat of clear coat to lock things in. Your surface really should be prepared for finishing before you do the engrave so you don’t need to touch it after. Just spray it with clear coat
@inkyhendershot781
Жыл бұрын
I forgot to ask if this works on caskets as well.
@SteveMakesEverything
Жыл бұрын
If they are wood. However, if there is already a finish on the surface this will likely not work.
@pietpompiepompiepiet940
2 жыл бұрын
Hi I tried boric acid and got same result but noticed laser power must be 10% 400mm/s (100watt CO2) to get solid black on birch. Seems if laser power is increased the black effect disappear wich tell me the penetration of the liquid has something to do with it.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I have seen the same result. For borax on wood I typically reduce the power by 50-75% otherwise the result isn’t pleasant. I assume that Borax is simply reducing the burn point for the wood and with higher power it is just flash burning the borax away. But I’m no chemist.
@Batendor
2 жыл бұрын
Any idea if the method works on MDF?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
MDF has random fibres rather than the type lattice structure of wood plus it has all kinds of glue in it. I doubt Borax would work, though admittedly I haven't tried it.
@williamcovell6324
2 жыл бұрын
How about leather?
@JohnMark61355
2 жыл бұрын
Is the dark color just from soot that would come off with sanding? Thank you.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
You need to be very careful after engraving with borax because it is easy to destroy an unprotected engraving. You really need to make sure your laser settings are correct to minimize and over-burn and soot (think low power here). You can do very minimal sanding but this has risks of damage so try some test sample first. After engraving spray some matte or semi-gloss clearcoat over things to protect the surface from future damage.
@JohnMark61355
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you.
@JohnMark61355
2 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMakesEverything Thank you.
@kennelson234
2 жыл бұрын
What's the ratio of Borax to water in the solution?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I usually put a tablespoon in a few ounces of water. The concentration doesn't seem to have a huge impact though. I've super-saturated a mixture and didn't see any real change versus a less concentrated mixture.
@rickrat
2 жыл бұрын
I wonder how air assist affects this?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
I have air assist on all the time and don't see any negative impact.
@jackhelm9852
2 жыл бұрын
Did you have any issues with excess charring? I tried a grayscale test on craft plywood (basswood I think) and while the image was beautiful, the slightest touch smudged it horribly. Is there something I can do to finish this or treat it after the burn to stop this?
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
You want to give it a couple good coats of clearcoat or you could fill it with clear resin
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
Also really cut down your engraving power (reduce by at least 30%). You need to find the balance between dark engraving and charcoal. If you continue to get charring then try to reduce the concentration of Borax - this requires very little borax.
@williamcovell6324
2 жыл бұрын
Oops, I spoke too soon.
@SteveMakesEverything
2 жыл бұрын
😊. I was about to point out the obvious. Kept leather and cherry as a surprise for the end just to see if you’re watching.
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