Hi everyone,
I own a Snapmaker 2.0 (A350T). I mainly use the laser module for engraving photos but also for cutting plywood. Since I found the basic 1600mW module too weak for my needs, I decided to upgrade. I purchased the 10W module, which turned out to be excellent for both photo engraving and cutting. However, it left some marks on my plywood during cutting due to the lack of an AirAssist module.
After some time, I decided to purchase and test the 20W module, primarily because it comes with AirAssist. That works wonderfully too. Cutting with this laser is a dream. However, when it comes to photo engraving, it’s a disaster. I’ve tested a lot of different settings, but all of them yielded similar results.
Below is a comparison of photos engraved with the 10W and 20W lasers:
With the 10W laser, the black areas of the photo are truly black, with no deep grooves or burn marks. All the photo details are clearly visible. On the other hand, with the 20W laser, the black areas are not nicely engraved in black but instead create fairly deep grooves in the plywood, and the black color is almost missing in some spots. I’ve tried virtually all configuration options for engraving, such as laser power, ms/dot, interval, etc. I mainly use the dot-fill method for better detail, but I also tested the line-fill method. Everything produced the same result. I should also note that I tested all of this on the exact same piece of plywood.
Is it normal for the stronger 20W laser to engrave like this? Or are there settings I might have missed that could improve the result? Is there anything I can do about it, or am I forced to stick with the 10W laser if I want to engrave high-quality photos?
I thought that by buying a more powerful laser, I’d gain more possibilities, but it seems like it limits me more in photo engraving than it helps.
I’d appreciate any help!