When engraving wood with a laser, a brown, maple syrup like residue will deposit on the surface of the wood.  This is normal and impossible to eliminate by POWER, SPEED, or PPI changes.  More residues will be present when engraving deeper and/or slower.  This residue washes off with water and a sponge.  We recommend using a kitchen sponge with a nylon string mesh wrapped around it.  Dampen the sponge and wipe off the residue.  A damp chamois cloth works well also.  Do not use paper towels or a regular sponge because these materials will get lodged in the engraved area when wiping and are extremely difficult to remove.  A method to avoid cleanup is to mask the wood with transfer tape and peel off the tape after engraving.  If desired, after engraving and before peeling off the tape, spray paint can be applied to color fill the engraved areas.  After the paint dries, peel off the tape.  If an intricate drawing has been engraved and there are many small pieces of tape to remove, it may be easier to flood the masking, after engraving, with water.  This will loosen the tape and it can be easily removed by rubbing it off by hand.  In the vector cutting example, the wood was elevated from the table to let smoke and heat escape from underneath.  If you elevate the wood, mask and/or dampen the bottom side of the wood very lightly, in which the water acts as a heat sink to prevent the underside from flaming and charring.

Elevating the wood also helps to determine whether the laser has passed completely through since the cut pieces will fall through to the table when cutting is finished.  Also, set up the drawing so that the inner pieces of the drawing are cut first, otherwise pieces may fall through at the wrong time.

Not all wood finishes are created equal.  When ordering wood from a supplier, be sure to specify that it is being used for laser engraving.  Some finishes cannot handle the heat from the laser and will bubble, blister, and possibly turn white.  For engraving softer woods such as pine or balsa, reduce the power settings to acquire the best depth.  Engraving too deep on soft woods will reduce quality.  Every type of wood will engrave differently.  It is better to engrave woods that are finished.  If engraving unfinished wood and it is not masked with transfer tape, the smoke residue tends to embed in the wood and is impossible to remove without sanding.  To prevent this, mask all unfinished wood with transfer tape.