Hi Heather, it's very hard to engrave acrylic that deep and get clean results. I only engrave deep when making acrylic stamps, in that case I engrave with normal focus the 1st pass and defocus the 2nd pass to clean up any remaining lines. Those visual lines are normally related to the engraving lines overlapping. I don't believe is possible to engrave that deep at 400 DPI without line overlap... My 2 cents are, use minimum power that way you get the thinnest engraved line/dot and play with DPI/LPI to find the best results, also like you I defocus 2mm (Pros: Better quality. Cons: Longer engraving time because of Higher DPI) Remember Higher Power and/or Defocus will engrave thicker lines, so you will need to decrease the DPI/LPI (Pros: Faster engravings. Cons: Lower quality) Some people also uses a fine layer of dishwasher and get good results, didn't try this because I'm very happy with my results. My best engraving machine is the k40 because the 35w tube have a really thin laser beam and in low power can engrave at 500 DPI easily, my 100w at minimum power I engrave only at 250 DPI or lower. Take my tips with a grain of salt, every machine is different. Only trial and error will get you to a quality you're happy with. This is my job for +10 years ☺ Best of Luck with your channel, you got a new subscriber. Greetings from Portugal.
Another great video Heather. Love learning these little tricks. Didn't know you could adjust the Z axis in Lightburn. Awesome!
Appreciate the feedback! 🎉 Thanks for watching!
Hi Heather, it's very hard to engrave acrylic that deep and get clean results.
I only engrave deep when making acrylic stamps, in that case I engrave with normal focus the 1st pass and defocus the 2nd pass to clean up any remaining lines.
Those visual lines are normally related to the engraving lines overlapping.
I don't believe is possible to engrave that deep at 400 DPI without line overlap...
My 2 cents are, use minimum power that way you get the thinnest engraved line/dot and play with DPI/LPI to find the best results, also like you I defocus 2mm (Pros: Better quality. Cons: Longer engraving time because of Higher DPI)
Remember Higher Power and/or Defocus will engrave thicker lines, so you will need to decrease the DPI/LPI (Pros: Faster engravings. Cons: Lower quality)
Some people also uses a fine layer of dishwasher and get good results, didn't try this because I'm very happy with my results.
My best engraving machine is the k40 because the 35w tube have a really thin laser beam and in low power can engrave at 500 DPI easily, my 100w at minimum power I engrave only at 250 DPI or lower.
Take my tips with a grain of salt, every machine is different. Only trial and error will get you to a quality you're happy with.
This is my job for +10 years ☺
Best of Luck with your channel, you got a new subscriber.
Greetings from Portugal.
Appreciate you! 🫶🏻 Thanks for watching and following along!