This is How to Use Laser Cutters for
Crafting Wood Carved Leaves
Our complete guide on using laser cutters and engravers to make wood carved leaves on different crafts and what to pay attention to during the process. Read the full guide to learn all of it.
Laser Cutters X Wood Carved Leaves
Wood carving and engraving have been treasured for centuries, and it directly showcases the skill of the artists doing it. Such artists can carve calligraphy, design schemes, and sculptures. One of the famous designs is wood carved leaves, which have been crafted for centuries on different objects.
In the past, making wooden carved leaves was very time-consuming and even needed high manhours to achieve such delicateness. Nonetheless, with the increasing improvement and availability of laser cutters and engravers, the production of such quaint designs has been made much easier. With a laser, one can engrave and also cut, which is very fast as compared to hand carving, and also delivers accurate results.
Things to Remember before DIY-ing Carved Leaves
Although laser technology has made the entire process quite simple, still the process of using them demands learning and knowledge of the wood material to be used for creating wood carved leaves. To create such designs, first, you need a complete design made in Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or Inkscape with the below details in mind:
Veins and Edges: The details of the stems and the veins of the leaves should be considered and drawn in finer detail to be visible in engravings.
Textures: Always increase the dpi, or depth per inch, of the project to make sure that the details of leaves are preserved on the engraving.
Vector Files: Always remember to use vector file format for designs like SVG or DXF, which are preferred because one can get accurate results of engravings and cuttings.
Selection of the Proper Wood for Laser Cutting
It is worth pointing out that not all types of wood are suitable for laser cutting and engraving processes. There are different characteristics of woods of each type that will impact the final results of crafting wood carved leaves. Below are the most common wood materials used for such projects:
MDF (medium-density fiberboard): Its surface structure is homogeneous, making it suitable for creating such laser-cut crafts. Grain patterns exist in natural wood, which can hinder very delicate and complex patterns from being imprinted, such patterns are virtually nonexistent in MDF.
Hardwoods (Maple, Cherry, Walnut): Such woods are suitable for additional intricate and of higher quality crafts. While these sheets have a fine grain, their cutting ability is highly efficient; as such, they create a clean cut as well as a smooth finish. Only select when you have a heavy budget.
Plywood: It is the easiest to find and is also the cheapest of all. The quality of the cut, however, may not be up to standard, especially if the glue used in the production of the plywood is low quality.
Once you have decided on the above points, the next step is to make sure that your selected laser hardware is capable and will give reliable results. The Ortur LM3 laser cutter and engraver is designed for crafting such crafts thanks to its air assist system and dual fan setups coupled with an ultra-accurate laser module, which makes sure that the veins and small details of leaves are carved out with accuracy and without burn marks.
Laser Cutting Wood Carved Leaves
Once you have a design, have learned the basics of wood selection, and have also chosen your laser cutter and engraver, follow the below-mentioned steps to get going:
1. Ensure that there is no dirt or any other material on the surface of the wood to have a proper reflection of the laser beam. Once satisfied, import your vector design file in laser cutter software and adjust the power, speed, and frequency. Higher power is necessary when dealing with a thicker piece of wood, while a lower power is needed when there is the need to carve intricate designs.
2. After everything is ready for use, begin the cutting process with your presence till the end. The cutting and engraving will take some time depending on the thickness of the wood and the detail of the design.
You can finish off the process with sanding, staining, and varnishing to apply a wood stain or smooth out the rough edges from cuts. Such laser-engraved wood carved leaves designs can be used in home décor items, Jewelry sets, for event decorations and DIY student projects.
