...
- Test your material: If you have a small area of the material you won’t be using, or an extra item, take advantage of this area to test out your settings by engraving a small square or cutting a small circle. You can fine tune your settings in these areas.
- Similar materials use similar settings: When you are working with a material you aren’t familiar with, think about a similar material and what settings you would use with that product.
- When in doubt, start low: Remember, you can always re-run your job as long as you don’t move it in the machine. Let’s say you’re running a photograph in a one-of-a-kind wood plaque. Start with a lower power setting, look at the engraving, then run the project a second time at high speed and lower power a second time to add a little more depth if needed.
- Run only one part of the file: If running a job on a new material, you can always just select one piece of the engravinglinework, like a piece of text, and run that part first to make sure your settings are perfect before running the whole file.
Review the Prohibited Materials listed on the Laser Cutter Policies page before purchasing or cutting material.
Acceptable Materials
Epilog Fusion Pro 48 CO2 80W
Any links for materials go to the Laser Cutting Shapes website, which is a laser cutting service. These links are only to give context and examples of projects.
| Warning |
|---|
Suggested Settings – Always do a materials test before every new cutting session to determine the proper levels for your material. |
...
- The blue table covers cut settings for Vector Processes, which are for clean lines. If you wish to score/etch your material with clean lines, you will need to experiment with slightly weaker settings than the ones listed below. This is another reason running a materials test is imperative.
- The yellow table (under the blue table) covers Engrave Processes, which are for raster images. You will rarely, if ever, run an Engrave Process.
Vector (Cut/Etch) Process Settings
| Warning |
|---|
Suggested Settings – Always do a materials test before every new cutting session to determine the proper levels for your material. Settings in red shouldn't be changed without approval and assistance from Tech Desk Staff. |
Vector (Cut/Etch) Process | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Depth | Speed | Power | Frequency | Quality & Safety Notes | ||
| Acrylic Acrylic (Plexiglas) | 1/8" (3 mm) | 12 | 100 | 100 | Vector cutting table (cross-hatched) must be used. A general rule of thumb for cutting acrylic is to relatively slow speed and high power; this produces a more flame-polished edge. | ||
| 1/4" (6 mm) | 6 | 100 | 100 | There are two types of acrylic: cast is better for engraving (it creates a frosted look when engraved) and extruded acrylic produces a much better flame polished edge. | |||
| 3/8" (9.5 mm) | 3 | 100 | 100 | Note from manual: Adjusting the standard focus distance so it is closer to the lens by about .080” (2 mm) will produce better edge quality when cutting 1/4” (6mm) acrylic and thicker. Two passes can be used for cutting thicker materials. | |||
| Bristol | 100 | 12 cut / 3 etch | 5090 | 80 | 25 | ||
| Chip | 1 ply (0.5mm) | 100 | 25 | 50 | Always check material thickness with a caliper. | ||
| 2 ply (1mm) | 10070 | 50 | 50 | ||||
| 4 ply | 45 | (1.5mm) | 35 | 50 | 50 | ||
| 6 ply (2mm) | 25 | 50 | 9050 | ||||
| Corrugated cardboard | 1/8" (3 mm) | 100 | 60 | 50 | Always check material thickness with a caliper. | ||
| 3/16" (4.5mm) | 65 | 60 | 50 | ||||
| 1/4" (6 mm) | 60 | 60 | 50 | ||||
| Leather | 1/8" (3 mm) | 60 | 100 | 50 | |||
| Mat Board (Crescent/Canson) | 30 | 40 | 50 | ||||
| Museum Board (Strathmore) | 1 ply | 10027.5 | 25 | 50 | |||
| 2 ply | 40 | 25 | 50 | ||||
| 4 ply | 25 | 25 | 50 | Will have some char on edges. | |||
| Plastic*** | 2-Layer Laser Engraveable 1/16" (1.5 mm) | 10 | 40 | 100 | |||
| Plywood | 1/4" (6mm) max | 12 | 100 | 10 | Recent incidents of fire indicate that this material requires caution and additional supervision if cutting is attempted. Additionally, glue and air pockets may prevent complete cut-through in some areas. MDF is recommended instead of plywood. | ||
| Twill | 90 | 80 | 25 | ||||
| Wood | Thin Veneer | 50 | 80 | 10 | Note from manual: When cutting wood, multiple passes may allow cutting of thicker materials. Using Color Mapping you can adjust the focus point between passes down to the center point of the cut for the best results. Always use the additional Sweep Air Assist when cutting. | ||
| 1/8" (3 mm) | 25 | 100 | 10 | ||||
| 1/4" (6mm) | 13 | 100 | 10 | ||||
| 3/8" (9.5 mm) | 7 | 100 | 10 | ||||
| 1/2" (12 mm) | 4 | 100 | 10 | ||||
***Ask for approval/assistance for the exact plastic you want to cut.
(Raster) Engrave Process Settings
| Warning |
|---|
Suggested Settings – Always do a materials test before every new cutting session to determine the proper levels for your material. Settings in red shouldn't be changed without approval and assistance from Tech Desk Staff. |
Engrave Processes are for raster images only. Engraving information is located here.
(Raster) Engrave Process | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Type | DPI | Speed | Power | Quality & Safety Notes | ||||||
| Acrylic Acrylic (Plexiglas) | Photo | 300 | 100 | 40 | Vector cutting table (cross-hatched) must be used. There are two types of acrylic: cast is better for engraving (it creates a frosted look when engraved) and extruded acrylic produces a much better flame polished edge. | ||||||
| Text / Clipart | 300 | 100 | 60 | ||||||||
| Text / Clipart | 500 | 100 | 55 | ||||||||
| Alumamark | Engraving | 300 | 100 | 20 | Engrave only. Alumamark settings PDF. | ||||||
| Engraving | 500 | 100 | 10 | ||||||||
| Anodized Aluminum | Photos/Clipart | 400 | 100 | 35 | Engrave only. This material is reflective, so avoid using full power. Use low power and high speed for crisp edges. | ||||||
| Photos/Clipart | 500 | 100 | 30 | ||||||||
| Text | 500 | 100 | 40 | ||||||||
| Brass (Painted) | Painted solid brass | 300 | 100 | 25 | Engrave only. Must be painted. Not magnetic. Ask for assistance from the Tech Desk when etching this material. Use low power and high speed. Blue paints are more difficult to remove. If the finished product has a shadow, use alcohol or lacquer thinner to clean the edges. This material can be tricky: if it's polished before being painted, you'll see a polished finished product. If the brass isn't polished before being painted, the result will be dull. | ||||||
| Painted brass-coated steel | 500 | 100 | 15 | Engrave only. Must be painted. Magnetic. Ask for assistance from the Tech Desk when etching this material. Use low power and high speed. Blue paints are more difficult to remove. If the finished product has a shadow, use alcohol or lacquer thinner to clean the edges. This material is steel that has been coated with brass, that brass layer is polished, then a layer of lacquer is applied, then the paint is applied. When you etch it, you're exposing the polished brass that is protected from oxidation by the lacquer coating. This material is preferred over painted solid brass. | |||||||
| Cork | 300 | 100 | 30 | Engrave only. | Fleece | 200 | 100 | 15Engrave only. | Jarvis dithering pattern and using 80% grayscale for black is recommended.|||
| Glass | 300 | 35 | 100 | Engrave only. Be sure that your material isn't actually leaded crystal. Jarvis dithering pattern and using 80% grayscale for black is recommended. Frosting is the result of etching this material. To dissipate heat from the engraving process, use either a wet sheet of newspaper/paper towel or a thin coat of dish soap. | |||||||
| Leather | Photo | 300 | 100 | 20 | |||||||
| Text / Clipart | 500 | 100 | 25 | ||||||||
| Marble | Photo Engraving | 300 | 100 | 35 | Engrave only. | ||||||
| Text Engraving | 500 | 100 | 45 | ||||||||
| Plastic*** | Various | 300 | 100 | 20 | Ask for approval from the Tech Desk when etching this material. | ||||||
| 2-Layer Laser Engraveable 1/16" (1.5 mm) | 300 | 100 | 40 | ||||||||
| 2-Layer Laser Engraveable 1/16" (1.5 mm) | 500 | 100 | 25 | ||||||||
| Stainless Steel with Cermark Coating | 500 | 45 | 100 | Engrave only. Must be coated with Cermark metal marking spray. | |||||||
| Wood | Photo | 500 | 70 | 100 | Note from manual: When cutting wood, multiple passes may allow cutting of thicker materials. Using Color Mapping you can adjust the focus point between passes down to the center point of the cut for the best results. Always use the additional Sweep Air Assist when cutting. | ||||||
| Clipart / Text | 300 | 60 | 100 | ||||||||
| Clipart / Text | 500 | 65 | 100 | ||||||||
| Deep Engrave | 500 | 30 | 100 | ||||||||
***Ask for approval/assistance for the exact plastic you want to engrave.
| Page properties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
|