Laser Materials and Settings

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Revision as of 00:18, 28 September 2020 by Jeffs (talk | contribs) (→‎Plastics)
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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
Acrylic - factory masked on both sides. 1/8” Line 90 20 1 Excellent cut quality, but can likely reduce power.














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