Where to Get Laser Cutting Supplies


    The "Bat Laser," so named for the 
    background image on the computer


  By Michele McNeilly

Last November the Creation Station finally installed our long awaited Laser Cutter from Universal Laser Systems. After all the heartbreak, stress and tears that came with our previous laser, we were overjoyed to have a machine that WORKED and worked beautifully. 
      Once staff completed training, we began teaching our Laser Cutting Level 1 class in December which focuses on how to laser cut wood and acrylic materials.  In March 2020 the MakerSpace staff finished the lesson for Level 2 which involves etching glass, painted metals and using a rotary fixture for round objects.

  If you've taken our Laser Cutting classes, or plan to take the class, you might be wondering, "Where would I get the materials to laser cut?"  There are several places you can buy materials from, and the Creation Station is here to break it down for you.

Wood Materials
Thickness: 1/16" - 1/4" (to vector cut through)
  Thinker wood from Lowe's, Home Depot or other stores can be engraved, but not cut.  It is recommended to use some type of saw to cut through thinker material in order to prevent fire or damage to the machine
 Primal Cube made by MakerSpace member
 Raziq N. using 1/8" craft plywood
Check the Resin Content
  Wood usually burns lighter or darker, depending on the resin or sap content. To get a darker burn, use wood that has high resin content like Cherry or Alder wood. If you want to leave a small burn in your design, you’ll want to go for wood with lower resin content.

Opt for Lighter Wood
  When checking out wood color, you would typically not work with dark wood for rastering or engraving. Darker wood usually hides the laser vector marks, making engraved photos or text difficult to see. Lighter wood, typically develops a dark and deep burn when etched, giving you well-defined marks.

                                                      Colorizing Wood
  In some instance, the images on a laser cut piece might be difficult to see be it an incorrect laser setting, temperamental material or a plethora of other issues, but you can salvage the project. Using a similar technique of colorizing photos, you can colorize wood. Just add a little bit of water to you favorite acrylic paint to create a colored stain.  Apply the paint in small sections to you wood, wait a few seconds and wipe away with a towel.  This is similar to staining wood, only substituting with paint. If the result is too light in appearance, you can get stronger results by using undiluted paint.
Maurader's Map Plaque used colorization
      to give the effect of the map's ink

Acrylic
Thickness: 1/16" - 1/2" (to vector cut through)
  Similar to wood, thicker acrylic can be engraved but not cut.

Delvie's Plastics: Online
My Little Acrylic Shop: Online (Australia based specialty acrylic)
B.F. Plastics, Inc.: Online
Canal Plastic: Online
Unites States Plastic Corp.: Online
Johnson Plastic Plus: Online (Engraving plastic for signage, name badges, etc.)
Inventables: Online

Cast Acrylic
  Cast acrylic sheets are made from  liquid acrylic that is poured into molds that can be made into different shapes and sizes. This is the type of acrylic used for most of the laser cut acrylic projects. Cast acrylic is ideal for engraving because it turns a frosty white color when engraved or rastered. 

Extruded Acrylic
  The other type of acrylic is known as extruded acrylic, which is a very popular cutting material. Extruded acrylic is formed through a higher-volume manufacturing technique, so it is typically less expensive than cast, and it reacts very differently with the laser beam. Extruded acrylic will cut cleanly and smoothly and will have a flame-polished edge when laser cut. But when it is engraved, instead of a frosted look you will have a clear engraving. Mirrored Acrylic is typically Extruded Acrylic.




Laser cut animal rings using Cast Acrylic

Rubber
                                                                                                 Stamp Designs for La Quinta Children's 2020 Reading Program
  If you are a card maker, or just looking to have a personalized stamp, most laser cutters have to option to make custom stamps. Once you create a design, you will want to inverse the image so that the areas you do not want stamped are shaded for rastering.  This will cause the laser to carve those areas out to create negative space.  You will also need to mirror the image so that when stamped the image is correct and not flipped reverse.

Laser Safe Rubber
Johnson Plastic Plus: Premium No Odor Laser Rubber
JMP Rubber Stamp Materials: Any Laser Rubber


Metal
  The CO2 laser at the Creation Station is able to cut through several low and medium dense objects, like wood, acrylic, fabric, and rubber, but it is not able to cut through metals.  That would require the use of a fiber laser.  However, you can raster images on painted, anodized or powder coated metals.Through rastering, the laser removes the layers of paint and leave behind your design or image.

 Rastered Business Card and Dog Tag at the Creation Station

Anodized Metal
B.F. Plastics, Inc.: Large Metal Sheets
Chewbarka Tags: Dog Tags, License Plates, Luggage Tags, Business Cards, Novelty Tags and more
Inland Products: Misc. Tags
Johnson Plastics Plus: Large Metal Sheets
NapTags: Metal and Acrylic Tags

Comment with questions regarding other types of material or laser cutting questions.

Prohibited Items for Laser Cutting at the Creation Station
Below is a list of materials that can be dangerous to your health, the machine 
or the material if cut on a laser cutting machine 
  • PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride), Vinyl (Records/Sheets), Pleather, Artificial Leather
    •  Chlorine gas when cut 
    • ruins optics, corrodes metal, ruins motion control 
  • Thick (> 1 mm) Poly-carbonate, Lexan 
    • cuts poorly, discolors, catches fire 
  • Thick ABS 
    • Creates Hydrogen Cyanide 
    • Melts 
  • HDPE (Milk Bottle Plastic) 
    • Melts and catches fire 
  • Polystyrene Foam 
    • Catches fire quickly, and fast 
    • #1 material that causes laser fires 
  • Polypropylene Foam 
    • Melts and catches fire 
    • Melted drippings continue to burn and turn into rock hard pebbles 
  • Epoxy (aliphatic resin) 
    • Burns and creates a lot a smoke 
    • Toxic fumes like Cyanide 
  • Fiberglass 
    • Combines glass with epoxy 
      • glass can only be etched, not cut 
    • Emits toxic fumes 
  • Coated Carbon Fiber 
    • Emits noxious fumes 
  • Food 
    • Laser is not designed for cutting food items because of different materials used can contaminate for consumption and be poisonous

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