[RiTides]

I feel I must be missing something obvious, and the only way to figure that out is to ask people who do this regularly.

I use two types of laser cutters regularly for cutting, an Universal machine and an Epilog Mini 24. Recently, I have tried something I hadn't been doing before when cutting, and that is rasterizing areas of a part using both matchines. But I have not had the kind of success that I now realize I should be having.

Here are two examples of what I feel I should be getting. The second is even done on the exact same machine, an Epilog Mini 24 (note the clear acrylic piece with the white rasterized area):




And yet, using an Epilog Mini 24, this seems to be the best I can do below. Note that the piece on the left still has some of the white paper liner attached, as I was experimenting with doing the rasterizing with and without the liner in place:



I have tried cranking up the settings, but I'm already getting a rather rough finish, and even at max power don't seem to get better results. Maybe more power is not what is needed, as the second picture above is done on the same model of cutter?

I can only think of two possibilities: the rasterizing settings, or the material choice (which is just a sheet of acrylic). Any tips on what seems to be something quite obvious that I am totally missing, would be very much appreciated!

[ELaser]

Raster engraving acrylic try 0.1 mm per raster and 0.08 mm per raster, speeds anywhere from 200 to 400 mm/sec and powers around 17 to 25 watts, very little if any air assist, and make sure your focus is on the top surface.

Do try it on clear acrylic first so you are doing a like for like comparison.

[RiTides]

I followed all of that except "0.1mm per raster and 0.08mm per raster". Does this mean, the laser progressing that much further with each "pass"?

My controls on both systems seem to just be power, speed, and pulses per inch, so perhaps this is what I'm missing. Will see if there is a way to adjust that parameter (if anyone already knows for either a Universal or Epilog laser, please do let me know!). Frustrating because this should be obvious, but I really appreciate the help =)