Capabilities and Limitations

Although there are endless applications for laser cutting and engraving, there are some things we cannot do. Here are some general parameters and tips to work within.

Laser Cutting Bed Size

The size of our laser cutting bed is 18” x 32”, which is the maximum sheet size we can cut.

Material Thickness

Here is a benchmark guide to how thick of a material we can cut. Listed are the maximum thicknesses for each material that we can cut.

Materials

  • Acrylic
  • Wood
  • Card Paper
  • Leather/Fabrics

Thickness

  • 3/8″
  • 3/32″
  • 1/4″
  • 1 oz or 1/8″

Component Thickness

As a general rule of thumb, we recommend not having any design components that are thinner than the thickness of the material. For instance, if you have a design to be cut from 1/4” acrylic, we would advise not have any parts of your designs thinner than 1/4”. It is possible to cut much thinner than this, but sometimes very thin components can warp or be very fragile.

Materials

There are some materials that we are unable to cut through. Additionally, some materials can release toxins or gasses that are either harmful to the environment or to our machine.

Here is a list of of our material capabilities:

Material

  • Acrylic
  • MirroredAcrylic
  • Styrene
  • Polypropolene
  • Mylar
  • Card/Paper
  • Wood
  • Leather
  • Rubber
  • Cotton
  • Felt
  • Linen
  • Denim
  • Nylon
  • Polyester
  • Silk and Chiffon
  • Suede
  • Glass
  • Polycarbonate
  • Lexan
  • PVC
  • Vinyl
  • Circuit Boards
  • Fiberglass
  • Carbon Fiber
  • Powder Coated Metal
  • Anodised Aluminum
  • Brass
  • Stainless Steal
  • Marble
  • Stone
  • Slate

Cut (Y/N)

  • Y
  • Y
  • N
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • N
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N

Etch (Y/N)

  • Y
  • Y
  • N
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • N
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y
  • Y

Kerfs and Thicknesses

Although our laser is extremely accurate and precise, the laser itself has a thickness, called a “kerf”. Because the laser burns or vaporizes material, the kerf is the thickness of the portion of the material that is lost when the laser cuts through.

For most applications of our laser cutter this is negligible, however in certain projects, adjusting the drawing for the kerf of the laser may be necessary. For example, if a design has slot and fill components that rely on friction of materials, adjusting for the kerf of the laser would be a good idea. Below is a list of average kerfs for some of our materials and thicknesses. These numbers are to be used as a guideline to base your design from and not absolute measurements. If you need to, you can get a few samples and prototype the design first, and then tweak accordingly.

Material

  • Acrylic
  • Acrylic
  • Acrylic
  • Birch plywood
  • Birch plywood
  • Birch plywood
  • MDF
  • MDF
  • MDF
  • Museum board
  • Museum board

Thickness

  • 1/16″
  • 1/8″
  • 1/4″
  • 1/16″
  • 1/8″
  • 1/4″
  • 1/8″
  • 1/4″
  • 12mm
  • 2 ply (1/32”)
  • 4 ply (1/16”)

Average Kerf

  • .007″
  • .009″
  • .01″
  • .006″
  • .008″
  • .01″
  • .006″
  • .008″
  • .01″
  • .003″
  • .005″