Borax vs Bicarbonate of Soda: Who Wins To Make Your Laser Burns Darker?
Being very lucky and very spoiled, I have a number of CNC machines and lasers, starting from the 3018-Pro with 5.5W laser. Then, up to the 6550 with a 15W and later 40W, to my weapon of choice right now: The Mandrill with 40W laser.
- although I have just built my brand new YoraHome CNC Laser Engraving Machine 6550-Pro (All-In-One System) with its 80W diode laser.
So, that may take over laser-wise, and I’ll leave the Mandrill for engraving.
Throughout my trials and general “having a go test, trying to get the perfect burn has been the aim.
Some people like the sepia brown style burn, others want their burns to look as dark as possible, and the debate over what to use to make laser engraving appear darker has raged on.
Using Borax or Bicarbonate of Soda? If so, what proportions, how to put it on, how long to leave it on, does it actually make any difference, or are there other options?
The time has come for me to try to answer at least some of those questions.
Testing Time
A while ago I did some testing on preparing slate to laser engrave, What You Need To Know About Laser Engraving On Slate and since that had turned out well, I thought I’d use the same template again, only this time I was going to use Lightburn, meaning I could differentiate burn styles between the line shapes, the text and the image.
First, I needed to divide the board into equal sections.
Originally published at https://yorahome.com on July 8, 2022.
