Laser Cutter Materials

This list is not complete, a material not listed here is NOT necessarily safe. Be sure to do your research and ask others in charge if you don't know about the material you are using.

This list is adapted, and to a large degree copied, from ATX Hackerspace.

NOT SAFE

Material	Problem	Notes
PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride)/vinyl/pleather/artificial leather	Emits pure chlorine gas when cut	Don't ever cut this material as it will ruin the optics, cause the metal of the machine to corrode, and ruin the motion control system.
Thick ( >1mm ) Polycarbonate/Lexan	Cuts very poorly, discolor, can catch fire	Polycarbonate strongly absorbs infrared radiation, which is the frequency of light the laser cutter uses to cut materials, so it is very ineffective at cutting polycarbonate.
ABS	Emits cyanide gas and tends to melt	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).
HDPE/milk bottle plastic	Catches fire and melts	It melts and gets very messy.
PolyStyrene Foam	Catches fire	It catches fire, 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.
Fiberglass	Emits fumes	It's a mix of two materials that can't be cut. Glass (etch, no cut) and epoxy resin (fumes)
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.
Un-coated Metals	Reflects the laser	While coated or painted metals can be etched to remove the coating, the laser will not mark or cut the metal itself.

Safe

Material	Cut?	Etch?	Notes
Wood	Yes	Yes	Avoid oily/resinous wood
Plywood	Yes	Yes	Contain layers of glue which might become exposed
MDF/Engineered Woods	Yes	Yes	'
Paper/Cardstock	Yes	?
Cardboard	Yes	Yes	May start fires if too thick.
Cork	Yes	Yes
Acrylic/Lucite/Plexiglas/PMMA	Yes	Yes	Cast Acrylic cuts and etches very well, extruded acrylic cuts but doesn't etch well.
Delrin	Yes	Yes
PLA (3d printed model)	Yes	Yes
Cloth/Felt	Yes	?	Not plastic coated or impregnated.
Leather/Suede	Yes	Yes	Real leather only.
Rubber	Yes	Yes	Make sure rubber does NOT contain chlorine.
Magnetic Sheet	Yes	Yes
Corrugated Plastic	Yes	Yes	Difficult to cut.
Glass	No	Yes
Ceramic Tile	No	Yes
Anodized Aluminum	No	Yes
Painted/Coated Metals	No	Yes
Stone/Marble/Granite	No	Yes