Hermes VANGUARD OPTIMA, User Manual

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Sample Materials 8-21
WOOD
TYPE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH
RASTER ENGRAVING 100 70 500 1 .020”
COMMENTS: Engrave unmasked. If masking, reduce the speed setting to 50% to get the
same depth.
TYPE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH
VECTOR ENGRAVING 40 10 500 1 .030”
COMMENTS: Engrave unmasked.
TYPE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH
VECTOR CUTTING 50 1.6 250 1 .125”
COMMENTS: Elevate at least 1/8” off of the engraving table. Lightly dampen bottom side with
water. Both surfaces can also be masked and dampened with water. Elevating will let heat and
smoke escape from underneath and prevent burning.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
When engraving wood with a laser, a brown, maple syrup like residue will deposit on the
surface of the wood. This is normal and impossible to eliminate by
POWER , SPEED , or PPI
changes. More residue will be present when engraving deeper and/or slower. This residue
washes off with water and a sponge. We recommend using a kitchen sponge with a nylon
string mesh wrapped around it. Dampen the sponge and wipe off the residue. A damp chamois
cloth works well also. Do not use paper towels or a regular sponge because these materials will
get lodged in the engraved area when wiping and are extremely difficult to remove. A method to
avoid cleanup is to mask the wood with transfer tape and peel off the tape after engraving. If
desired, after engraving and before peeling off the tape, spray paint can be applied to color fill
the engraved areas. After the paint dries, peel of the tape. If an intricate drawing has been
engraved and there are many small pieces of tape to remove, it may be easier to flood the
masking, after engraving, with water. This will loosen the tape and it can be easily removed by
rubbing it off by hand. In the vector cutting example, the wood was elevated from the table to
let smoke and heat escape from underneath. If elevating the wood, mask and/or dampen the
bottom side of the wood very lightly and the water acts as a heat sink to prevent the underside
from flaming and charring. Elevating the wood also helps to determine whether the laser has
passed
completely through since the cut