Laser engraved front panels are pretty common. They use a material with a core of acrylic with a thinner layer in a different color on top (cap layer) forming a two-ply material. The idea is to laser the first layer away, exposing the core, creating a color contrast.
I’d like to replace the second layer with acrylic paint. That would give me far more choices for color than the manufacturers of “engraving plastics” offer.
Does anyone have experience with this? Could it work?
Unless this is proven to be a bad idea, I’d like to give it a try.
There are a lot of resources online regarding colour filling laser engraved items. This involves filling in the engraved areas with an appropriate paint. Google is your friend here.
When infilling laser engraved wood I cover the surface with either masking tape or masking paper before engraving. After engraving through the mask I spray the item with a clear coat to seal the wood fibers to prevent colour bleed. After the sealer coat is dry I colour fill with either spray paints or brush.
Infilling is great, good tip! But it isn’t what I had in mind. I was thinking of a subtractive process. Removing the paint, instead of adding it. The main advantage is the possiblity of adding back lighting. A translucent core with a layer of opaque paint on top. Remove the opaque paint with the laser, put a light behind it, and the result should look pretty nice.
Good article. I’ve done all three methods and I totally agree with the blogger. I generally only use infill when doing text or small line art graphics. I don’t pre-oaint often only because I usually want to preserve the natural wood grain and don’t work much in acrylics.