Difference between revisions of "LASER Cutter Materials"

Revision as of 11:49, 18 October 2015

NEVER CUT THESE MATERIALS -

WARNING: Because many plastics are dangerous to cut, it is important to know what kind you are planning to use.

Approved Materials

If your material is not on the list, check with Mike

Name	Engrave	Cut	Max thickness	Notes	WARNING
Acrylic (aka Lucite, Plexiglas, PMMA)	x	x	1/2"	Cuts well, leaves a smooth polished edge. Higher powers can leave smoke/scorch marks along edges. Some people remove paper/plastic protection sheets before cutting.
Cardboard, cartons	x	x	thicker	Cuts well, can catch fire	FIRE hazard!
Ceramic	x
Cloth (cotton, felt, hemp)	x	x		Cuts easily	NO plastic coated or impregnated cloth!
Corian	x	x
Cork	x	x	1/4"	Cuts nicely, the quality of the cut depends on the thickness and quality of the cork. Engineered cork has a lot of glue in it, may not cut nicely.
Delrin	x	x	thin	Comes in a number of shore strengths (hardness), the harder tends to work better. Great for gears!
Fiberglass	x	x
Glass	x			Has a sandblasted look, green glass works best
Leather, suede	x	x	1/8"	Leather is very hard to cut, can be if thinner than a belt thickness
MDF, engineered woods	x	x	1/4"	May experience a higher amount of charring when cut
Magnetic sheet	x	x		Cuts easily
Marble	x
Matte Board	x	x
Melamine	x	x
Mylar	x	x	1/16"	Works well if it's thin. Thick mylar has a tendency to warp, bubble, and curl	Gold coated mylar will not work
Paper, card stock	x	x	thin
Plywood, composite woods	x	x	1/4"	Contain glue, and may not cut as well as solid wood
Pressboard	x	x
NON-CHLORINE Rubber	x	x			Beware chlorine-containing rubber! If you're not sure, assume you've got chlorinated rubber, and don't cut it.
Tile	x
Wood	x	x	1/4"	Avoid oily/resinous woods	FIRE - Cutting oily woods, or very resinous woods can catch fire.
Wood Veneer	x	x	1/4"	Contain glue, and may not cut as well as solid wood

Approved Metal Materials

Name	Engrave	Notes
Anodized Aluminum	x	Vaporizes the anodized layer away
Bare Metals	x
Brass	x
Coated Metals	x
Painted Metals	x	Vaporizes the paint away
Stainless Steel	x
Titanium	x

CO2 lasers will engrave metals when coated with an added metal marking solution.

Suppliers

Under construction

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+'''NEVER CUT THESE MATERIALS'''
+-
-'''Approved Organic Materials'''
+WARNING: Because many plastics are dangerous to cut, it is important to know what kind you are planning to use.
+* Detailed information to test unknown material testing
+** [http://makezine.com/2011/09/22/identifying-unknown-plastics/ Identifying Unknown Plastics]
+** Watch this video  [https://vimeo.com/1615418 Polymer Identification by Burnination]
+*** [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beilstein_test Beilstein test]
+** You should read this (pdf) chemistry lab written by [David A. Katz] to learn [http://www.chymist.com/Polymer%20Identification.pdf how to identify what type of plastic it is]
+** [http://www.nclark.net/Density_Column.pdf Density Column Using Recyclable Plastics]
+{| class="wikitable sortable"
+|-
+! Name !! Engrave !! Cut !! Max thickness !! Notes !! WARNING
+|-
+| Ceramic || x ||  ||  ||  ||
+|-
+| Ceramic || x ||  ||  ||  ||
+|-
+| Ceramic || x ||  ||  ||  ||
+|}
+'''Approved Materials'''
 If your material is not on the list, check with Mike
@@ Line 79: / Line 102: @@
 * CO2 lasers will engrave metals when coated with an added metal marking solution.
+''Suppliers''
+''Under construction''