Kerfs and Laser Thickness­

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.