Darryl Keil Last Activity 2025-09-09 11:09 AM
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Jim Clement

Posts: 18

Joined: 2007-03-06
Location: Seattle

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Subject : Laser cutting parquetry pieces
Posted : 2007-04-06 4:11 PM
Post #33739
I'm considering a large tabletop made up of interlocking marquetry units perhaps 1 by 2 inches, much like patio stones. I will need hundreds (if not more) of these identical pieces, and am discouraged thinking about the tedious precision hand cutting. I've searched the forum and found past postings regarding laser cutting, but the web links are dead.

Does anyone have a firm they use for this? Any concept of cost? - $0.05 a piece might be feasible, $0.25 won't cut it (pun intended).


 
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Brian Gray

Posts: 339

Joined: 2004-01-21
Location: Sandusky, OH

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Subject : RE: Laser cutting parquetry pieces
Posted : 2007-04-06 4:56 PM
Post #33741 - In reply to #33739
Why not set up a jig on the tablesaw?

Not to discourage your ambition towards laser cutting. I've outsourced work to a laser, and it was pretty neat.

However, you can cut veneer for parquetry in an extremely uniform and precise manner with a sliding crosscut jig on the tablesaw.

The real trick to this is you need to have a waste piece of mdf, or some similar material to press down on top of the veneer. Raise the blade so it is barely high enough to cut the veneer. Then press the mdf block on top of the veneer, so the blade will partially cut into mdf. This sandwiches the veneer, and prevents tearout.

If you would like to check out Silas Kopf's video, he demonstrates this with a parquetry backround.

http://www.silaskopf.com/home_index.html

Even if you have no intention of pursuing this avenue, the DVD is well worth it, as he covers many aspects of marquetry.

Good luck, and let us know how you go about this.




 
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Jim Clement

Posts: 18

Joined: 2007-03-06
Location: Seattle

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Subject : RE: Laser cutting parquetry pieces
Posted : 2007-04-06 9:19 PM
Post #33743 - In reply to #33741
Thanks, Brian, but I'm not sure I can use your suggestion. The pieces I'm using to build up a field are not entirley linear. They fit together in an interlocking fashion like patio stones, nesting together at 90 degree angles. They sort of look like dog bones or baby rattles, but with straight lines rather than curved lines. Each approx. 1" by 2" piece has 15 different cuts to make. Perhaps 500 pieces times 15 precise cuts per piece = tedium.

I'll check out the Kopf video.


 
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Brian Gray

Posts: 339

Joined: 2004-01-21
Location: Sandusky, OH

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Subject : RE: Laser cutting parquetry pieces
Posted : 2007-04-08 12:25 AM
Post #33750 - In reply to #33743
Ahhhh.....in that case, maybe a laser is your best bet.

Advise that I have in these regards, then...

Make sure that your veneer is very flat. You can put some weights on the veneer inside the laser cutter to hold corners and edges down, but not on the material that is being cut. If your veneer is wavy, you won't have perfectly uniform pieces.

I would take lots of different samples to the laser cutter to find out which one burns the least. The real challenge that I found when I went to a laser cutter for marquetry work was that some species showed burned edges where it was cut, and there was nothing that we could do about it.

That being said, the laser guy that I went to had never done veneer before. He and I were both learning as we went along. Maybe there's someone that you can go to that has lots of veneer experience, and knows the ins and outs of how to get burn free cuts in all kinds of woods.

As far as finding a laser guy...I would call Epilog and ask them for people with machines in you area, or even for people that specialize in veneer. That's how I found the guy in my area.

Also, there are other companies besides Epilog, but that's the only one that comes to mind....google around.


 
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Spider

Posts: 1

Joined: 2007-04-11
Location: Central Texas

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Subject : RE: Laser cutting parquetry pieces
Posted : 2007-04-19 5:44 PM
Post #33777 - In reply to #33750
Lasercutting veneer can be done very successfully when utilizing a "shield gas" that envelopes the laser beam as it cuts, minimizing or eliminating the slight scorching of the edges. These gases are usually either carbon dioxide or argon. Many lasers that are designed for cutting metal (200 watts+) are too powerful to be delicately calibrated enough to cut thin veneer, each of which could require very different power settings to just cut through without overly burning the edges. Some species are more vulnerable to scorching than others, but I have found that it's minimal and does not distract from the artistry of the piece when done properly. The laser is particularly useful for cutting exact duplicate pieces, such as for parquetry. I have been lasercutting marquetry for years; some samples can be seen at http://spiderjohnson.com/artist-new.html and at http://spiderlaser.com. I regularly do custom laser work for well-known furniture makers and lesser-knowns alike and am very satisfied with the results, graduating from Hegner to laser.
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