Guide: Easier Titanium Coverage for Tile

[Skreelink]

It’s well known about doing titanium dioxide… which is white… on white tile. So coverage can be a little finnicky to get right. However, you can just add a little bit of food colouring and viola, you can doublecheck your coverage.

8 ounces 91% IPA + 3 tablespoons titanium dioxide powder, and food colouring to taste

Shaky shaky… it’s pepto shoulda went with green.

Coat the tile, the colour lets you see if you missed any spots.

Take ~30 seconds infront of a fan to dry it, ignoring the touch mark.

Toss it on the machine and run it! Snapmaker A350 with 10W laser, 300DPI, 2000mm/m, 60% power, stucki.

Finally give it a wash and all the dye is gone! (ignore the darker part at the bottom, windows decided it was a good time to reboot for updates in the middle of the engrave, so I loaded it onto the USB drive and restarted it)

There you go. An easier way to ensure full coverage on your tile.

[sparhawk]

Such a simple solution that’s been staring us in the face all this time. Brilliant!!

Thank you so much!!

[rtrski]

What I really want to know is, how did you restart and get perfect overlap??? (I’m assuming the ‘darker bottom part’ mentioned was done twice).

For me, re-finding a perfect work zero for lasering is impossible unless my design includes some very obvious tiny geometry mark (fiducial square or something) at exactly (0,0) so when I run extents I can do my best to start over at that same point. Or do you use some sort of outline guide on your plate so your workpiece is always in the same place relative to ‘absolute’ machine X,Y coordinates?

[Skreelink]

I’ve had a repeatable laser origin guide for awhile now found here;

Accurate, Repeatable Laser Guide

My rotary guide (found here) seemed to be well received, so I’m going to move onto the laser. This guide will be a bit shorter, as it’s not too involved, but is mostly to help increase repeatability, accuracy, and quality of your laser projects. Likely any machinist will say a repeatable, accurate origin is a key component in quality production. You gotta know exactly where you start to know where you’re gonna end right? I know the snapmaker method is just eyeball it, be it with a mark and lini…

Though it’s a bit dated and is a bit easier using the box method with some additional info here;

Full Lightburn Control Guide

That’s very similar to mine. I was going to say if just pulsing a dot is a bit finicky (seems to be with the latest luban, the old version was better) you could draw a 10x10 square 10mm from the origin and run it. Then you could just measure to the lines. I’ll get an example this afternoon after work. EDIT: Example box, this is how to set it up in Luban. [Screenshot 2022-10-26 165838] The results. [PXL_20221026_215400324] I do have my corner jigs on, but to find your origin, line it up wi…

To realign, all I have to do is plunk it in the corner everytime.

[PMA]

Hello,
Is this powder or liquid food colouring?

[Skreelink]

Liquid food colouring.

[PMA]

Hello,

Interesting I have tried red liquid food colouring before seeing this post and my bottle shows the separation that you have but is clear. Perhaps my colouring gets diluted by the IPA. Was there a specific make that you used.

[Skreelink]

It was a generic store brand food colouring. Make sure to continuously shake as you spray.

[CandleFX]

That is a great hack. Saving this post for future playing. Thanks @Skreelink !