Account Center

Hi,

I've been experimenting with inlay on S1 40W : 

I cut out a shape in 3mm thick ply, then made a matching pocket in 12mm ply by doing a 3mm-deep engrave of the same shape, and finally glued the 3mm-thick cut out  shape into the matching pocket in the 12mm ply. 

Mechanically, everything fitted perfectly, but I can't find a way to do the deep engrave without leaving severe smoke-marks/residue. I've experimented with all kinds of settings for percent power, speed, number of passes, and air assist settings, all without success.

The residue is always going diagonally outwards from the top/left of the engraved shape i.e. in the direction of the S1's exhaust fan. 

Has anyone else tried a deep engrave for inlay? If so did you get the same smoke problems, and can you offer any advice please? (I do appreciate that a lot of material is being burnt away and a lot of smoke to clear.)

I know of course that there would be sanding in any case to make the inlay flush with the main piece, but particularly if the main piece is ply, too much sanding to clear smoke staining is a problem.)

Many thanks

Update :
pewosk's suggestion to use masking tape (see lower down this thread) worked perfectly, as per the following photos.

Pic1 shows how bad the residue would have been after deep engrave if tape wasn't used.

Pic2 shows nice clean wood after tape removed - just very slight marks around edge of masked area, probably where the tape got hot and slightly peeled. Not tried, but I think these would sand off easily.

Pic3 shows it with inlay loosely in place. (Would still need to be properly glued, sanded etc.)

Also I remembered afterwards that I should have cut the inlay piece 0.1mm bigger all round to allow for kerf, which would have given a tighter fit.