How to Choose the Best Wood for Laser Engraving

July 5, 2022

If you plan to use wood as your primary material for laser engraving, or just want to dabble in creating laser-engraved or cut wood products, keep these things in mind as you venture into this versatile material and determine the best wood engraving for lasers:

1. Check the resin content
Wood typically burns lighter or darker, depending on the resin or sap content. If you want a deeper burn, choose a wood with a high resin content, such as cherry or alder. If you want minimal burn for a particular application, you'll want to choose wood with a lower resin content.

A great way to verify the resin content of wood without wasting any material is to use your wood laser etcher to engrave your business logo in a place that doesn't affect the overall personalization of the product. Not only does this test allow you to brand a product, it also lets you figure out how dark or light it burns.

2. Choose a lighter wood
laser engraving wooden sign
Unlike paper where color can be easily manipulated, the base color of laser etched wood products will not change. The base color always follows the color of the wood. Therefore, it is important to consider the color of the wood in order for you to get great results.

When checking wood color, don't use dark woods. Darker woods often mask laser-etched markings, making engraved photos or text difficult to see or identify. In contrast, lighter woods will have dark and deep burns when etched, giving you clear marks for optimal visibility.

3. Choose the wood with the fewest streaks
While stripes on wood look great on furniture, they can distract from engraving photos. Wood strips can quickly steal the carving of any detail. When buying wood for laser engraving, choose wood with minimal streaks and a smooth, consistent grain.

4. Pick the best wood species
There are many wood species available for laser engraving, some more suitable than others. If you're new to wood, we recommend starting with one of the following: (These woods are easy to work with and produce great results!)

Alder - This wood passes all tests. It is characterized by a light color, soft texture and minimal streaks.
Cherry - Golden cherry wood has a high resin content and is usually lighter in color. Although it has a high level of streak, cherry is still an excellent choice for many laser etched projects.
Maple - This is an excellent wood for engraving photos. It has slight streaks, burns very dark most of the time, and is very light in color.

5. ATOMSTACK Laser for engraving wood
In addition to determining the best wood for laser engraving, you may also want to know what is the best laser engraver for wood. You probably already know that there are more than a dozen laser machines on the market, each with their own advantages.

Our patented laser system features an open-architecture design that lets you engrave virtually any size or weight of material. Large furniture and other bulky materials can be easily carved. The removable laser top can be engraved directly on wooden floors or other wooden surfaces. A larger engraving means your business can earn more substantial profits, and you can offer services that your competitors can't.

Our wood laser engraving machines will complement your existing machines, offer high ROI, low operating costs, and are easy to learn and use. Using our laser machines, you can engrave logos, photos, and other custom artwork on wood, allowing you to add invaluable value to many of your wood products through personalization.

atomstack p9 , atomstack a5 laser , atomstack m50

Why Choose ATOMSTACK Laser Engraver ?
We are the official authorized distributor of ATOMSTACK. We have a professional technology team. We consider your needs, we spend a lot of time testing various Laser Engraver, just to show the best products. Hurry up and customize something unique for your family and lover!
Laser engraving is a popular option that provides a permanent and legible marking on an object through etching, ablation, or deep laser engraving. It is similar to laser marking, but the resulting appearance differs due to the depth of laser penetration.
Laser engraving is commonly used to create permanent serial markings on substrates made of: Metal, Wood, Plastic, Leather.
Benefits Of Laser Engraving Over Traditional Processes
Compared to manual engraving:
Minimally Invasive: Laser engraving can be performed at a range of depths without any direct contact at all. Surface marks can even be done on stainless steel with no depth. Overall, lasers are less damaging than manual engraving and keep the substrate material’s physical integrity intact.
Precise: Lasers provide a level of control that’s impossible to achieve manually. Compared to hand-engraving, the process is swift, clean, and highly repeatable, with little room for human error.
Versatile: A single laser engraving machine can be used to create a host of different designs with only minimal calibration. They can also produce exceptionally complex patterns. Affordable: On average, laser devices last longer than other engraving machines and require less maintenance, resulting in savings that can be passed along to the consumer.
Fast: Lasers can be programmed to render virtually any design in a matter of moments. Because the process is automated, it’s easy to scale production runs as needed according to demand.
Long-Lasting: Laser-engraved designs are permanent but can wear over time, depending on the substrate material that’s used. Soft metals, for example, may experience more signs of wear than hardwood. In general, however, laser-engraved designs tend to have a longer lifespan compared to other engraving methods.