Laser Cutter Material Settings

aftermath of a plywood testing session

Unfortunately you can't just calculate the perfect settings based on the power ("Watts") of a laser cutter because the actually delivered energy is always based on a combination of power and speed, which is different for each brand or model of laser cutter. To make things more complicated, 100 % power in a cutting profile is not the same as 100 % power in an engraving profile...

As there is always some trial and error involved, please share your experience with the others! You can often use experience from other machines as a rough starting point.

In general, cutting is usually done at 100 % power and the highest speed that will still result in a reliable cut. If 100 % speed still gets you through (e.g. paper or cardboard), you should reduce the power until you find the sweet spot. Besides the power setting, you can influence the invested energy by altering the pulse frequency - you may want to go lower on flammable materials like wood, where edges might otherwise become black, and higher on plastics like acrylic glass where you are aiming for a "flame-polished" edge. ^{page 46}

The width of the kerf (Schnittfuge) also depends on the laser settings and the material you're using and could be important for certain designs. Sebastian recommends to use the "DXF for Laser" Fusion 360 export plugin ^[1] and testing different settings for each material so you get tight fitting joints.

Laserscript LS6090 (80 W)

Check Forbidden and Possible Materials.

• Power range: 1-100 %
• Speed range: 200-400 mm/s recommended for engraving; higher speeds are achievable according to the data sheet ^{[what is the actual limit??]}
• Why look at the date? CO₂ lasers loose power over time! New tubes installed: 2020-01 / ...

Here's what we've tried so far - please add your own experiences!

Material	Date (YYYY-MM)	Thickness	Operation	Speed (mm/s)	Power (%)	Corner power	Scan gap ("resolution")	Focus	Comments
Poplar Plywood		2 mm	cut	30	100
Poplar Plywood	2024-10	irrelevant	engrave	500	100		0.1mm
Poplar Plywood	2022-02	4 mm	cut	16	100			center (-2 mm)	kerf: approx. 0.15 mm for a bit of wiggle room (for gluing)
Poplar Plywood	2021-06	4 mm	cut	20	80			center (-2 mm)	Cut looks good; e.g. "Bastel-Sperrholz Pappel 4mm" from Bauhaus
Poplar Plywood	2022-06	4 mm	cut	40	100	30		surface	cut just about goes through - much better edge quality than center focus with s20/p80
Poplar Plywood	2024-07	4 mm	cut	22	100	50		surface	cut *just* goes through, very nice edges
Poplar Plywood	2022-06	4 mm	mark (vector engrave, weak cut)	400	40			surface	nice fine line; small test shapes don't work well as everything is overriden by "corner power" settings
Poplar Plywood	2022-04	4 mm	engrave/extrude	260	90		0.1mm		Gives you ~2mm extrusion
Poplar Plywood	2022-04	4 mm	engrave/extrude	520	90		0.1mm		Gives you ~1mm extrusion
Poplar Plywood	2022-02	6 mm	cut	12	100			center (-3 mm)	kerf: approx. 0.15 mm for a bit of wiggle room (for gluing)
Poplar Plywood	2024-07	6 mm	cut	08	100	50		sub-center (-1 step)	cut through easyly, also fine with tape
Poplar Plywood	2022-02	8 mm	cut	7	100			center (-4 mm)	kerf: approx. 0.15 mm for a bit of wiggle room (for gluing)
Beech Plywood (Buche)	2024-11	4 mm	cut	12-15	100	30		surface	Kerf: approx 0.1 mm 3 layer of wood, purchased from Hornbach as "Sperrholz Buche"
Spruce (Fichte)	2021-12	4mm	cut	10	100			center	Kleinteile > 3mm
Bamboo cutting board	2020-08		engrave	200	20			Surface	quite good results. Not very deep, but good visibility.
Black anodized aluminium (bead blasted surface finish)	2020-08		engrave	200	60			Surface	Very clean and bright lines. No change of surface texture to-touch. Increase resolution for finer details.
MDF	2020-08	3 mm	cut	19	100			Center (1.5mm)	For larger objects, increase the power/decrease speed to adjust for unevenness of the object on the table.
Acrylic Glass (PMMA)		3mm	cut	25	100	80		Center (-1.5mm)
Acrylic Glass (PMMA)		3mm	cut	20	100	80		Top Surface
Acrylic Glass (PMMA)	2021-10	10mm	cut	3.5	100	100		Center
Protective Foil on Acrylic Glass		0.05mm	cut	100	50	15		Center (-1.5mm)
Acrylic Glass (PMMA) - GS	2021-03	5 mm	engrave	400	50			Surface	Good visibility
Acrylic Glass (PMMA) - GS		5 mm	cut	2	100			Surface	Cut looks good
Glass	2021-04		Engrave	300	40			Surface
Glass Black Paint	2021-10		Engrave	300	100			Surface	scan gap 0.1, Bi-dir, Blow, Jo
Glass Black Paint	2022-10		Engrave	300	60			Surface	scan gap 0.05, Bi-dir, 3bar, Jo
Softshell (100% Polyester)	2021-04		Engrave	450	15			Surface	Using more power will burn through the material!
Fleece (fabric)	2021-04		Engrave	450	20			Surface	Engraving results in general are good. The visibility of the engraving depends heavily on the color of the used fabric.
Fleece (fabric, Polyester)	2024-10	4 mm	cut	90	85	75		center (-2 mm)	Cut though, borders melted
Birch Plywood	2024-11	5 mm	cut	8	100	50		Surface	kerf ~0.5mm on both sides
Birch Plywood	2021-08	8mm	cut	10	100			Surface	Cut looks good
Birch Plywood	2023-05		engrave	1000	80		0.075 mm	Surface	strong contrast (dark engraving); gap 0.1 or even 0.8 left visible remains
Birch Plywood	2023-05		engrave	400	30		0.15 mm	Surface	slight contrast (light engraving); subtle steps at the outlines (scan gap should be smaller)
Linol	2021-08		Engrave	250	100			Center	According to Keno
Laser Stamp Rubber	2024-10	2.3mm	engrave	200	100		0.1 mm	surface	Product Link
Laser Stamp Rubber	2024-10	2.3mm	cut	12	100			surface	visible flames - try higher speed?! Product Link
Slate (Schiefer)	2021-12		engrave	150-250	100			Surface	Engraving on smooth black slate pieces create a light grey engraving with a rough texture
Yardstick (Zollstock) - Hornbach, "Maurerlob", yellow	2022-05		engrave	400	40			Surface	light grey engraving - could even use a bit more power
Laserply 3160 (coated acrylic; black/brushed gold)	2022-05	1.5 mm	cut	80	100	40		Surface
Laserply 3160 (coated acrylic; black/brushed gold)	2022-05		engrave	400	40			Surface
EVA Foam	2022-08	10mm	cut	40	100			Center
Colored Card	2022-10		engrave	700	20			Surface	Brown card - got nice results (documentation to follow)
Colored Card	2022-10		Cut	350	100			Surface	Brown card - got nice results (documentation to follow)
Paper	2024-06	0.4mm	cut	50	100				Worked with speed 400, power 50 for small squares. But somehow didn't work for larger rounded shapes. Given values then worked for cutting shapes from (thick) colored paper.
Paper	2024-06	0.4mm	engrave	700	40				Worked for engraving text into (thick) colored paper. Not very dark, though.
PET	2023-07	0.75 mm	cut	60	100			Surface	Hard to focus due to bend from the roll, lots of smoke! Leftover material from "Maker vs Virus"
Masking Tape (e.g. on wood)	2024-02	0.1 mm	cut	50	25	10		Surface	Speed 100/power 50 also cut through with ease, but seemed to "wiggle" more
Oak wood	2024-10		mark (vector engrave, weak cut)	200	20			surface	gives clean lines to follow with a saw
Plywood 3mm Bubinga (ROBOTIME)	2024-10	3 mm	cut	26	100			surface	kerf 0.1 mm
Plywood 3mm yellow Lime (ROBOTIME)	2024-10	3 mm	cut	26	100			surface
Plywood 3mm yellow Lime (ROBOTIME)	2024-10	3 mm	bleech	500	20			surface	do NOT use masking tape
Plywood 3mm yellow Lime (ROBOTIME)	2024-10	3 mm	engraving	200	40			surface	DO use masking tape; 2 passes
PMMA (acrylic glass) extruded	2024-11	1.5 mm	cut	35	100			surface	kerf:0.1 mm
PMMA (acrylic glass) extruded	2024-11	1.5 mm	cut	45	100			surface	kerf: 0.06 mm
PMMA (acrylic glass) extruded	2024-11	6 mm	cut	6	100			surface	visible difference between top and bottom edge; at speed 4 and 8 cutting edges looked less clean

If we haven't tried a material yet, these Spaces with similar machines might have:

• looong list of MakeIt Labs' "Laser Settings 80W" (for this machine)
• smaller but probably equivalent "HPC"/"Laserscript" model at Fablab Zurich (also has a less detailed blog post)
• still pretty similar model at MadFabLab

Epilog Zing (30 W)

Outdated - we don't have this machine anymore, but perhaps other Spaces can use our information :-)

Click "Expand" on the right to see the full table!

Material	Thickness	Operation	Power	Speed	Resolution (dpi)	Frequency	Focus	Comments
Poplar Plywood	4 mm	cut	80	100	500		center (-2 mm)
Poplar Plywood	4 mm - any	3D engrave	100	75	250		surface	simple black & white design - works for QR Codes!
Poplar Plywood	4 mm	engrave	100	100	250		surface	simple black & white design - nice brown color as result
Poplar Plywood	9 mm	cut	100	27	250	5000	3mm
Beech Plywood	4 mm	cut	100	60	500		center (-2 mm)
Beech Plywood	4 mm - any	mark	10	100	500		surface
Beech Plywood	4 mm - any	engrave 3D	100	100	500		surface
MDF	3 mm	cut	100	60	200	2500	center (-1.5 mm)
Corrugated Fiberboard	2 mm	cut	25	100			surface
Silver anodised aluminium		engrave	50	100	500		surface	black & white design
XPS (extruded polystyrene)	20 mm	cut	45	100			center (-10 mm)	very wide kerf (~ 2 mm)!
Acrylic Glass	3 mm	cut	100	30	500	5000 (default)	center (-1.5 mm)
Acrylic Glass	3 mm - any	mark	20	100	500	5000 (default)	surface	about 0.5 mm deep
masking tape on metal	0.1 mm	engrave (let disappear)	100	100	500		surface	experiment to prepare an abrasive blasting mask - not successful, was blasted away...should work well for painting though
thin cardbord (frozen pizza box)	0.55 mm	cut	20	100	500	2500 (default)	surface
thin cardbord (frozen pizza box)	0.55 mm	mark	8	100	500	2500 (default)	surface
cellulose acetate (overhead slides)	<1 mm	cut	6-7	100	500	5000 (default)	surface	Power 7 cuts completely, Power 6 makes cutout adhere to template, but is easy to remove manually. Keep the printer clean ;)
blockboard (surface = birch veneer?)	18 mm - any	engrave 3D	20	100	500	2500 (default)	surface	visible, but still letting the grain show through - more powerful settings (e.g. 100/100) go noticeably deeper but only a bit darker
vulcanized fiber	0.8 mm	cut	100	100	200	5000 (default)	center (-0.4 mm)	lower power not tested yet
vulcanized fiber	1.5 mm	cut	100	80	200	5000 (default)	center (-0.75 mm)	higher speed not tested yet