Approved Laser Cutter Materials

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)