Narwhal Labs Laser Material and Settings Library
A library of known materials and laser settings that have been tested to work at Narwhal Labs on a Thunder Laser Nova 35 100W CO2 Laser Cutter and Engraver. Settings are not guaranteed to work and should be considered a baseline. Please add to or update this page if you test a new known material. Please obey all safety protocols listed on our main laser information page.
Never Ever Cut These Things
| Material
|
Also Known As
|
Reason
|
| PVC
|
Poly Vinyl Chloride, Sintra, Oracal Vinyl, Pleather
|
Emits deadly chlorine gas, corrodes machine internals
|
| Rubber
|
|
Smells like a tire fire. Potential cyanide gas.
|
| Polypropylene
|
|
Melty plastic mess
|
| Carbon Plate
|
|
Melty mess
|
| Unknown
|
Anything you don't know the composition of
|
Risk of fire, damage, injury or death.
|
Wood
| Material
|
Thickness
|
Line/Fill/Image
|
Power (%)
|
Speed (mm/s)
|
Passes
|
Notes
|
| Baltic Birch Plywood
|
6mm
|
Fill
|
25
|
100
|
1
|
Dark/deep image. Can dial back.
|
| Baltic Birch Plywood
|
6mm
|
Line
|
60
|
15
|
2
|
Mostly cut through, some areas with voids or pin knots are troublesome.
|
| Baltic Birch Plywood
|
6mm
|
Line/fill
|
20
|
400
|
1
|
Good quality line and raster engraving
|
| Baltic Birch Plywood
|
9mm
|
Line
|
95
|
10
|
1
|
Should be a complete cut with proper focus. Work piece should be a few mm closer to the cutting head than auto focus distance. NOT EXTERIOR GRADE
|
Plastics
| Material
|
Thickness
|
Line/Fill/Image
|
Power (%)
|
Speed (mm/s)
|
Passes
|
Notes
|
| Cast Acrylic - factory masked on both sides
|
1/8”
|
Line
|
50
|
20
|
1
|
Excellent cut quality
|
| Cast Acrylic - Remove top masking
|
NA
|
Fill
|
15
|
400
|
1
|
Good light etching, focus must be perfect
|
| Cast Acrylic - factory masked on both sides
|
3/8"
|
Line
|
80
|
10
|
2
|
Unable to cut in a single pass
|
| Cast Acrylic - factory masked on both sides
|
1/4"
|
Line
|
60
|
10
|
1
|
Excellent cut quality, may want to move focus to middle of cut.
|
Other
| Material
|
Thickness
|
Cut/Fill/Image
|
Power (%)
|
Speed (mm/s)
|
Passes
|
Notes
|
| Paper Micarta
|
4.45mm
|
Line
|
60
|
15
|
1
|
Complete cut. Residue at cut edge can be cleaned easily with acetone / alcohol mix.
|
| Ozark Trail Tumbler
|
NA
|
Image
|
40
|
300
|
1
|
Requires clean up with acetone/alcohol mix.
|
| Glass
|
NA
|
Image/Fill
|
50
|
800
|
1
|
Good quality etching
|
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