| MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR CUTTING |
WARNINGS |
| Many woods |
Avoid oily/resinous woods as they are prone to catching fire |
| Plywood/Composite woods |
|
| Paper, card stock |
|
| Cardboard, carton |
Watch for fire |
| Cork |
|
| Acrylic/Lucite/Plexiglas/PMMA |
|
| Thin Polycarbonate Sheeting (<1mm) |
Watch for smoking/burning |
| Coroplast (‘corrugated plastic’) |
|
| HDPE |
Low melting point, watch for melting and fire |
| Delrin (POM) (thin) |
|
| Kapton tape (Polyimide) |
|
| Mylar |
Gold coated mylar will not work |
| Solid Styrene |
Keep it thin |
| Depron foam |
Must be constantly monitored |
| Gator foam |
Inbetween foam is eaten away, but it can be cut |
| Cloth/felt/hemp/cotton |
Not plastic coated or impregnated cloth! |
| Leather/Suede |
Real leather only! |
| Magnetic Sheet |
|
| NON-CHLORINE-containing rubber |
|
| Teflon (PTFE) |
|
| Carbon fiber mats/weave that has not had epoxy applied |
You must not cut carbon fiber that has been coated!! |
| MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR ENGRAVING |
WARNINGS |
| All the materials that are cuttable are suitable for engraving as well |
|
| HDPE |
Low melting point, engraving can be the cause of localized melting and a non-uniform surface |
| Ceramic tile |
|
| Anodized aluminum |
|
| Painted/coated metals |
|
| Stone, Marble, Granite, Soapstone, Onyx |
|
| Glass |
|
| NEVER CUT THESE MATERIALS! |
DANGER |
| PVC, vinyl, pleather, artificial leather |
Emits pure chlorine gas when cut |
| Thick ( >1mm ) Polycarbonate/Lexan |
Cut very poorly, discolor, catch fire |
| ABS |
Emits cyanide gas and tends to melt |
| Milk bottle plastic |
Catches fire and melts |
| PolyStyrene Foam |
Catches fire |
| PolyPropylene Foam |
Catches fire |
| Fiberglass |
Emits fumes |
| Coated Carbon Fiber |
Emits noxious fumes |
| MDF/Engineered woods |
We do not have proper ventilation |
Lists are adapted from this link