A receipt may be required to verify the material if it doesn't have a label. If you grab unlabeled materials from the Material Exchange, we may not allow you to laser cut it. For example, not every piece of clear plastic is acrylic, and there are many clear plastics that are prohibited.
| Type | Material | Max Thickness | Vector (cut or etch) | Engrave (raster) | Laser Cutters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabric | Leather, Suede | 1/8" | Yes | Yes | 1&2 | Must be chromium-free. |
| Twill | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | |||
| Other* | Yes | 1&2 | No plastic coated or impregnated cloth. | |||
| Glass | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | |||
| Metal | Alumamark | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | ||
| Anodized Aluminum | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | |||
| Brass (Painted) | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | |||
| Stainless Steel with Cermark Coating | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | Cermark can be sprayed onto stainless steel, brass, aluminum, copper, nickel, glass or light-colored stone/tile before being etched to leave behind a permanent dark black mark. | ||
| Paper | Bristol | Yes | All | |||
| Chip | Yes | All | ||||
| Corrugated Cardboard | Yes | All | You must watch the cuts on this material, as it may catch fire. | |||
| Matboard | Yes | All | ||||
| Museum Board | Yes | All | ||||
| Plastic | Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglas, Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) | 1/2" | Yes | Yes | 1&2 | Extruded acrylic will cut better. Cast acrylic will engrave better. |
| Stone | Marble | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | ||
| Wood | Cork | Engrave-Only | Yes | 1&2 | ||
| Plywood** NAUF | 1/4" | Yes | 1&2 | Be weary of any flammable adhesives used in the plywood. Due to the highly flammable nature of plywood, we require that you watch your entire cut. Utility Birch plywood can be cut, but Baltic Birch plywood can't. Wood naturally has trace amounts of formaldehyde, we require that any plywood have a formaldehyde-free glue, such as a soy-based glue. The plywood must conform to OSHA-PEL-TWA 0.75ppm. | ||
| Solid* | 1/4" | Yes | Yes | 1&2 | Balsa, Bass. |
Certain materials, such as acrylic, require a paper masking for the best results.
*See the Tech Desk for assistance with this material.
**MUST have no added formaldehyde (NAUF) (look for soy-based glue)
