| Many woods |
Depends on the density |
Avoid oily/resinous woods |
Be very careful about cutting oily woods, or very resinous woods as they also may catch fire. |
| Plywood/Composite woods |
Up to 10mm |
These contain glue, and may not laser cut as well as solid wood |
|
| HDF / MDF |
Up to 10mm |
These are okay to use but may experience a higher amount of charring when cut. |
|
| Paper, card stock |
thin |
Cuts very well on the laser cutter, and also very quickly. |
|
| Cardboard, carton |
thicker |
Cuts well but may catch fire. |
Watch for fire. |
| Cork |
1/4” |
Cuts nicely, but the quality of the cut depends on the thickness and quality ofthe cork. Engineered cork has a lot of glue in it, and may not cut as well. |
Avoid thicker cork. |
| Acrylic/Lucite/Plexiglas/PMMA |
1/2” |
Cuts extremely well leaving a beautifully polished edge. |
|
| Thin Polycarbonate Sheeting (<1) |
<1mm |
Very thin polycarbonate can be cut, but tends to discolor badly. Extremely thin sheets (0.5mm and less) may cut with yellowed/discolored edges. Polycarbonate absorbs IR strongly, and is a poor material to use in the laser cutter. |
Watch for smoking/burning |
| Delrin (POM) |
Thin |
Delrin comes in a number of shore strengths (hardness) and the harder Delrin tends to work better. Great for gears! |
|
| Kapton tape (Polyimide) |
1/16” |
Works well, in thin sheets and strips like tape. |
|
| Mylar |
1/16” |
Works well if it’s thin. Thick mylar has a tendency to warp, bubble, and curl |
Gold coated mylar will not work. |
| Solid Styrene |
1/16” |
Smokes a lot when cut, but can be cut. |
Keep it thin. |
| Depron foam |
1/4” |
Used a lot for hobby, RC aircraft, architectural models, and toys. 1/4” |
cuts nicely, with a smooth edge. |
| Gator foam |
|
Foam core gets burned and eaten away compared to the top and bottom hard paper shell. |
Not a fantastic thing to cut, but it can be cut ifwatched. |
| Leather/Suede |
1/8” |
Leather is very hard to cut, but can be if it’s thinner than a belt (call it 1/8”). |
Real leather only! Not ‘pleather’ or otherimitations! |
| Magnetic Sheet |
|
Cuts beautifully |
|
| NON-CHLORINE-containing rubber |
|
Fine for cutting. |
Beware chlorine-containing rubber! |
| Teflon (PTFE) |
thin |
Cuts OK in thin sheets |
|