Over the past month I've been slowly saving precious eggshells to test and try to engrave. The first 3 or 4 burned and cracked miserably (and left a very bad smell). I decided to try some presets but ended up changing the settings in the end. There are many applications for engraving eggshells. You can create lighted decorations or just lay out a display in your living room. I used various style tea lights and faux grass in addition to previous projects to create these displays.
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Step 1
So, you want to engrave eggs? I hope you have been saving eggshells for a while or plan to have a meal with a bunch of eggs soon. There may be some trial and error when you try to engrave your eggshells. There are a lot of parameters to consider. I can help you out wth most of them but the "distance" is usually the one area that gives me problems because all eggs are not created equal. Be sure to get the largest eggs and clean thoroughly.
Step 2
Setting 1
Process Method
Vector Laser Engrave
Process Material
Eggshell
Power(%) or Cut Pressure(g)
100
Speed(mm/s)
40
Pass
1
Bitmap mode
Grayscale
Other Parameters
RA2 Pro / Laser Cylindrical / Distance -use auto measure / Mode - Chuck / you will have to measure each individually to get the best results / I used score but you can also try engrave it will burn a solid image and take longer.
I was able to find some FREE Easter graphics at Creative Fabrica. Once you import them you'll want to make sure you're set up your workspace to use your RA2. Keep your egg as close to the camera as possible to get a better alignment. I don't have a riser but I do have a deep cabinet that allows me to raise objects to position them under the laser head in the RA2. Also, there will be a lot of strong smelling smoke. My cabinet can be enclose to minimize the odor from escaping. I also have an in-line fan to assist in sucking out the smoke. I did 5 test eggs where 3 were burned badly and two were "ok." I had to take a break because it got smelly. I picked it back up the next day and did an additional 5 more before the smell got bad again. I made sure to clean the laser head after each set of engraving because I have no idea what the eggshell dust can do to the laser head.
Step 3
Once engraved, you can wipe them down, and trim the bottom so that they "stand" properly. The best part of these is even if you engrave a crocked image on the egg, you can fix it by breaking off parts at the bottom to level it out.
Step 4
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This step is optional. I had it in my head to use tea lights to illuminate the eggs from inside. Before painting the eggshells, I put them on top of this LED light to check the visibility of the image and for cracks. There were a few unseen cracks and for the most part the images were ok. I made sure to clean out the soot really good from the engraving and for my next batch I'm going to use a small gentle scrub to help get the dark soot out of the etching. But as you can see, they are beginning to look great!
Step 5
Finally, painting them is the final step in creating your eggshell works of art. There are many ways to paint/color your eggs. You can use the "vinegar and food color" trick, colored pens/markers, decals or the way I did it with acrylic paints, sponges and towels. Basically I just found an old towel, wet a portion of it and dabbed it into a color of acrylic paint. I worked the color into the etching then wiped off the excess. Set aside to let dry while you color others. You don't have to color the entire egg just have fun with it. This could probably be a fun event for families to do together.
I created a small display for this posting but you can do whatever you want with them.
Thanks for reading this posting and as always, if you have and comments, questions or suggestions, please feel free to write them down below.
So, you want to engrave eggs? I hope you have been saving eggshells for a while or plan to have a meal with a bunch of eggs soon. There may be some trial and error when you try to engrave your eggshells. There are a lot of parameters to consider. I can help you out wth most of them but the "distance" is usually the one area that gives me problems because all eggs are not created equal. Be sure to get the largest eggs and clean thoroughly.
I was able to find some FREE Easter graphics at Creative Fabrica. Once you import them you'll want to make sure you're set up your workspace to use your RA2. Keep your egg as close to the camera as possible to get a better alignment. I don't have a riser but I do have a deep cabinet that allows me to raise objects to position them under the laser head in the RA2. Also, there will be a lot of strong smelling smoke. My cabinet can be enclose to minimize the odor from escaping. I also have an in-line fan to assist in sucking out the smoke. I did 5 test eggs where 3 were burned badly and two were "ok." I had to take a break because it got smelly. I picked it back up the next day and did an additional 5 more before the smell got bad again. I made sure to clean the laser head after each set of engraving because I have no idea what the eggshell dust can do to the laser head.
Once engraved, you can wipe them down, and trim the bottom so that they "stand" properly. The best part of these is even if you engrave a crocked image on the egg, you can fix it by breaking off parts at the bottom to level it out.
This step is optional. I had it in my head to use tea lights to illuminate the eggs from inside. Before painting the eggshells, I put them on top of this LED light to check the visibility of the image and for cracks. There were a few unseen cracks and for the most part the images were ok. I made sure to clean out the soot really good from the engraving and for my next batch I'm going to use a small gentle scrub to help get the dark soot out of the etching. But as you can see, they are beginning to look great!
Finally, painting them is the final step in creating your eggshell works of art. There are many ways to paint/color your eggs. You can use the "vinegar and food color" trick, colored pens/markers, decals or the way I did it with acrylic paints, sponges and towels. Basically I just found an old towel, wet a portion of it and dabbed it into a color of acrylic paint. I worked the color into the etching then wiped off the excess. Set aside to let dry while you color others. You don't have to color the entire egg just have fun with it. This could probably be a fun event for families to do together.
I created a small display for this posting but you can do whatever you want with them.
Thanks for reading this posting and as always, if you have and comments, questions or suggestions, please feel free to write them down below.
Happy Easter!
Robert
Oui B Cr8f