When someone contacts us about engraving a piece of furniture, it’s always an interesting challenge. The scale is different from our usual plaques or medals, and you need the right equipment to handle it. Recently, we completed a project that shows exactly what’s possible when you combine a large format laser with a straightforward customer brief: a table laser engraved with a chess board design.
The customer approached us with an image of a table and a chess board they liked. They wanted to customise a wooden tabletop with that chessboard pattern. No fancy personalisation, no custom design elements beyond the standard layout. Just a clean, classic chess board engraved onto pine, for their home bar.
Working Out the Design in Lightburn
Once we had the diameter of the table, the rest was fairly straightforward. We loaded those measurements into Lightburn and created the best fit for the chess board design.
The beauty of working with design software like Lightburn is that you can scale things precisely. We knew the exact dimensions we were working with, so it was just a matter of fitting the standard chess board layout onto a round tabletop. The customer had provided us with the reference image, which made our job easier.
Testing Settings on Pine Before the Full Engrave
The table was made from pine. We already have a library of settings for different materials built up over our 11 years in business, so we knew the ballpark settings for pine before we started. But every piece is slightly different depending on the finish, the grain, and even how dry the wood is.
That’s why we did a small test engrave on the back of the table where it wouldn’t be visible. We adjusted the power and the air assist settings slightly until we got the look we wanted. There’s no point diving straight into the full engrave and then finding out halfway through that your settings are off.
The Advantage of a Large Format Laser
The biggest thing about this project was the scale of the piece. This is where having a Thunder Laser Nova 51 really makes a difference. It’s a large format machine, and it was big enough to accommodate the tabletop in one go.
We’ve engraved other pieces of furniture in the past with the benefit of having a large laser bed. If you’re limited to a smaller machine, you’re stuck doing projects in sections and trying to line everything up perfectly, which is a nightmare. With the Nova 51, we could handle the whole table in one session.
Turnaround Time and Customer Approval
The turnaround time was about 2 working days. We didn’t encounter any issues during the engrave itself, which is always satisfying. Once it was complete, we sent a photograph to the customer before shipping.
He was really happy with how it turned out. We then shipped the table to him. He was delighted with the finished piece and left us a positive 5 star Google review.
Why Furniture Engraving Is a Growing Area for Laser Services
This table laser engraved with a chess board design is exactly the kind of project that shows the range of what laser engraving can do. People often think of lasers for small items like plaques, medals, or signage. But furniture customisation is becoming more popular, and customers are looking for ways to make their pieces unique.
For printing shops that don’t offer laser engraving in-house, this is a perfect example of the kind of work you could outsource to us. Your customers might come to you asking about custom furniture pieces, and instead of turning them away, you can offer it as part of your service. We handle the laser work, you keep the customer relationship.
The chess board design is a popular request because it’s both functional and decorative. You end up with a piece of furniture that actually serves a purpose, not just something decorative sitting on a shelf.
What We Learned from This Project
Every custom job teaches you something. With this one, it reinforced how important test engraves are, even when you think you know the settings. Pine can vary quite a bit, and taking five minutes to do a test on the back of the table saved us from potentially ruining the front.
The other thing this project reminded us of is how much equipment matters. We invested in the Thunder Laser Nova 51 specifically because we wanted to be able to handle larger commercial projects and unusual requests like this. That investment has paid off many times over. We’re able to say yes to projects that other laser businesses simply can’t accommodate.
If you’re a printing shop looking to expand your offerings without investing in your own laser equipment, we’d love to chat. We work with businesses across Ireland, handling everything from one-off custom jobs to larger commercial runs. The table laser engraved with a chess board design is just one example of the custom furniture work we can do. We ship via An Post and DPD, so location isn’t a barrier.
Get in touch with TechCreate today to discuss your next laser engraving project. We’re based in Ballinagh, County Cavan, and we’ve been doing this for 11 years. We know our settings, we have the equipment, and we deliver results that keep customers coming back.