Materials that can be laser cut

• Metals – Require high power Co2 or Fiber laser cutters.
  • Carbon Steel – 1 inch thick is usually the max thickness
  • Stainless Steel – usually less than 0.5 inch thick
  • Aluminum – usually less than 0.5 inch thick
• Plastics – Plastics cutting is usually done with C02 lase cutters
  • Acrylic (Plexiglass, Lucite, PMMA) – This is the best cutting plastic
  • Delrin (POM, acetal)
  • Polyethylene (PE) – Recommend thin sheets only
  • Polypropylene (PP) – Recommend thin sheets only
  • Styrene
• Foam –
  • Polyurethane foam
  • EPM foam

• Rubber – Most rubber can be cut, as long as it does not contain chlorine.
  • Silicone Rubber
  • Latex rubber – leaves a sticky residue that must be cleaned
• Wood –
  • MDF
  • Hardboard (eucaboard)
  • Balsa
  • Plywood – birch plywood is most popular for quality cuts. Any good quality hardwood plywood is suitable
  • Hardwoods – birch, poplar, red oak, cherry, holly, walnut, hard maple, white oak, alder (great for engraving), butternut, zebrawood, wenge, aspen, ash, red cedar, basswood, mahogany, bloodwood, lacewood, yellowheart, padauk, poplar, purpleheart, curly maple

Materials that are not suited for laser cutting

• Polycarbonate (PC, Lexan) – releases toxic and corrosive fumes
• PVC (Cintra) – contains chlorine which is corrosive
• Vinyl – contains chlorine which is corrosive
• HDPE – Tends to melt to itself
• Nylon – melts
• Fiberglass
• Carbon Fiber
• Printed Circuit Boards (PCB)
• FR4 and other fiberglass based materials
• Teflon – Teflon release toxic fumes when burned
• Foam core – the foam core melts away compared to the top and bottom paper
• Stone
• Glass