It is not always obvious which materials will work – for example polycarbonate sheets (Lexan) produces flames, creates long stringy clouds of soot that float up, ruin the optics and mess up the machine and are extremely hazardous to your health.
Yet acrylic – which looks just like Lexan, cuts smoothly and cleanly and is one of the best materials to use with the laser! So double check what you’re cutting. If you aren’t sure, test the material.
| Material | Danger | Cause/Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) Vinyl Artificial leather | Emits chlorine gas when cut! | Don’t ever cut this material as it will ruin the optics, causes the metal of the machine to corrode as chlorine is released and ruins the motion control system. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| Thick ( >1mm ) Polycarbonate Lexan | Cuts very poorly, discolors, catches fire | Polycarbonate is often found as flat, sheet material. The window of the laser cutter is made of Polycarbonate because polycarbonate strongly absorbs infrared radiation! This is the frequency of light the laser cutter uses to cut materials, so it is very ineffective at cutting polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a poor choice for laser cutting. It creates long stringy clouds of soot that float up, ruin the optics and mess up the machine. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| ABS | Melts / Cyanide | ABS does not cut well in a laser cutter. It tends to melt rather than vaporize, and has a higher chance of catching on fire and leaving behind melted gooey deposits on the vector cutting grid. It also does not engrave well (again, tends to melt). Cutting ABS plastic emits hydrogen cyanide, which is unsafe at any concentration. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| HDPE – Milk bottle plastic | Catches fire and melts | It melts, it catches fire, don’t use it. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| PolyStyrene Foam | Catches fire | It catches fire quickly, burns rapidly, it melts, and only thin pieces cut. This is the #1 material that causes laser fires! |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| PolyPropylene Foam | Catches fire | Like PolyStyrene, it melts, catches fire, and the melted drops continue to burn and turn into rock-hard drips and pebbles. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| Epoxy | burn / smoke | Epoxy is an aliphatic resin, strongly cross-linked carbon chains. A CO2 laser can’t cut it, and the resulting burned mess creates toxic fumes (like cyanide!) Items coated in Epoxy, or cast Epoxy resins must not be used in the laser cutter. (see Fiberglass) |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| Fiberglass | Emits toxic fumes | It’s a mix of two materials that can't be cut. (etch yes, cut no) |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| Coated Carbon Fiber | Emits noxious fumes | A mix of two materials, thin carbon fiber mat can be cut with some fraying, but not when coated. |
| ----- | --------------- | |
| Material with Sticky Glue Backing | Coats lens, cracks lens | Examples include cork tiles, thin wood laminate, acrylic tiles, and paper stickers. Never cut these materials in the laser cutter if they have this backing. The glue will vaporize forming a coating on the lens that will coat it, cloud it, heat it, and then potentially crack the lens. The glue residue is worse than resin, and can’t be removed without risking damage to the lens, requiring a lens replacement. |
