Can laser cutting be an alternative technique for marquetry completion in furniture conservation?

Abstract: This study describes experiments and findings of an investigation to evaluate the use of laser cutting as an alternative to traditional sawing techniques in marquetry completion conservation. Experiments on veneer from 11 different species of wood, covering ring porous, semi-diffuse/-ring porous and diffuse porous woods, were carried out and examined. The optimal cutting metrics with respect to speed, power and frequency for the types of wood were determined. The most important ethical question for a conservator is to be able to preserve as much as original material as possible. The results of this project show that the use of a laser cutting machine is indeed a suitable solution to produce replacement veneer for marquetry works in furniture conservation with respect to quality and time. Especially when it comes to the precision in the shape of the replacement piece, laser cutting is superior to hand sawing. This makes laser cutting an interesting option and reduces the need for expert skills in hand sawing in order to perform very detailed completion work. It also reduces the need of invasive work on the original marquetry to accommodate the replacement piece. The findings are general for all of the examined types of wood. On the negative side, the laser cutting machine requires a relatively big initial investment, making it difficult to say if it is really a cost-effective method of cutting replacement veneer pieces.