materials

wood, etc. plywood and mdf up to what thickness. laser ply. regular wood planks.

other materials options

  • stainless
  • we may or may not want to do coloured acrylic, I do not think it’s a fantastic fit, too much effort.
  • aluminium, business cards from ae, that’s what I’m after.
  • cork, also ae
  • slate, idk the ae ones are also expensive
  • paua sheets from lumea
  • construction paper just for funsies
  • I hear you can do leather, but finding a reputable source, that’s hard.

materials notes

  • he doesn’t usually use masking. internet says 4075-RLA paper-based masking.
  • Acrylic paint (water based) before or after, he uses reno art brand. I checked, resene testpots are also water based acrylic.
  • got hold downs for 3mm and 6mm, that lets it cut without getting burnback from hitting the slats, if necessary
  • no white, no clear, blue may be difficult. unknown how much trouble off-white would be.
  • also ply sheets may cut inconsistently because of the glue, knots, voids. even 3mm laser ply does this. https://tyvok.com/blogs/news/laser-cutting-and-engraving-plywood-what-grade-is-best-for-projects-2026

sources of base material

plywood/mdf sourcing

  • standard 6mm ply I get free from work
  • laser ply, 3mm and maybe 6mm. Zawya in ham for the special ply. 460 is able to fit inside although extends out past the cutting area. about $3.2 per 300x300mm piece. or $4.2 per 460x460mm piece.
  • dude says mdf from m10 is fine. sometimes you can get sheets from fernlea? they’re mostly chipboard.
  • 4mm sheets from demo traders are almost the local cheapest thin ply. they also have 6mm mdf and ply, or 9mm ply.
  • get bendy ply from three brothers, they also have 3mm with paper overlays and 2.6mm with other wood veneers, avoid the pvc coated ones. they also supply the usual okoume 4mm/6mm. less mdfs though. some listings do specifically note laser cutting.
  • diy supply also has 4mm and 6mm, slightly more expensive. no mdfs in the right thickness.
  • plyman in henderson, $40 and down for 3mm full sheet, different materials. also has tga outlet, unsure if they’re the same people, v helpful in person.
  • OOH, plyguy has a taranaki shop now. bet they get occasional pine clears.
  • (pine clears $4/lm from demo traders, 60x10, or $5/lm for 90x10)   those little stainless ae tags will need a jig. which I can make. for larger surface to do feeds and speeds testing, you can get little KS metals 100x250 sheets from m10/bunnings for $15, or order in one from ae.

cost of material

3mm pine is $40/sheet and you can get 18 squares out of a sheet, plus cut effort, so $2.50/sq. $60/sheet makes for $4/sq roughly.

feeds and speeds

format: speed/power/(passes, 1 if not otherwise stated)

note laser max speed typically 6-10k range. haven’t tried out to see when mine falls apart.

3mm birch ply from plyman tauranga: 2000/20 engraves a decent dark line, 500/100 to cut. we can probably adjust the line one, idk.

3mm pine from 3 brothers hamilton: 650/100 to cut. haven’t tried lines.

6mm mystery plywood: catches fire at speeds below 200/100. makes a very good attempt at it up to 250/100, or with two passes at 400-600/100. it is possible that this one will require a more delicate touch.

take and upload pictures of test grids

https://www.reddit.com/r/Creality/comments/1aqug0w/falcon_2_22w_and_40w_material_guides/

the pencil marks on my table say: cut 6mm basswood with 450/0.175 (I really don’t know what this means). 3mm mahogany 600/100, 3mm mdf 800/100 - 500/80, s/s engrave 3000/50.