Laser cutting and engraving machines give you a variety of options for creating custom items. While you may often see laser cutters for wood acrylic, it's not the only material you can work with. In fact, there are many laser cut materials.

On top of that, most laser cutters are designed for multiple types of materials. Just make sure that when choosing a laser cutter, choose one that will work with the materials you want to use most often.

一、What is Laser Cutting?

When you're new to laser cutting, you can feel a little overwhelmed. what can you do? What material should you use?

What laser cutter settings should you use for different materials? If you're just getting started, check out this list of great projects to make a laser cutter at home. This will give you a good idea of what's possible. Remember, these are only a small part of the project.

A laser cutter allows you to create a design and have it cut or engraved on a piece of material. While you might associate laser cutting with wood or plastic, you can use your laser cutter for fabric, paper, metal and more.

Laser cutters transfer pre-programmed designs onto whatever material you use. co2 Laser cutting machine While you'll need to vary the settings depending on the material, your options for cutting and engraving  seem as endless as your imagination.

二、Best Laser Cutter Materials

Ready to get your hands dirty with laser cutting? First, you need to gather the materials you want to use. To really experiment, try your laser cutter with a few different types of materials to see how it works.

While there are some materials that you should definitely not use, you will find that the list below gives you many job opportunities. The only thing to keep in mind is that different materials may give off different fumes, so make sure you're working in a well-ventilated area to stay safe.

1、Wood ,plywood,MDF

Wood is one of the most common materials for laser cutting. It is common for beginners and even professionals to use wood laser cutters to cut out pieces for assembly, engrave gifts, and carve intricate designs into a piece of wood.

Obviously, you can cut most types of wood with a laser. If you're cutting all the way through, thinner pieces of wood work better. Plywood and MDF (medium density fiberboard) are commonly used because they are less expensive. However, bamboo is also a great eco-friendly choice.

Ideally, practice with MDF or plywood before trying something more expensive.

Be very careful about cutting oily woods, or very resinous woods as they also may catch fire. 

2、Acrylic and Plastic

When you use an acrylic laser cutter, you can create some truly amazing works of art. Plastic and acrylic materials are ideal for signs, jewelry, decorations, wall art and more.

Believe it or not, there are actually more acrylic materials you can choose from than wood.

Plexiglass, especially colored plexiglass, is a popular type of acrylic. Create beautiful stained glass style artwork. As with wood, you have the material to choose from in various thicknesses.

3、Leather

Once you've gotten some practice with other laser-cut materials, you might want to try your hand at leather. It's an expensive material, but the effect looks amazing.

You can make purses, belts, purses, jewelry (especially bracelets) and art. When using leather, make sure the piece is firmly held in place to avoid any deformation.

4. Cardboard

Cardboard is one of the cheapest materials for a laser cutter. It is also one of the easiest materials to machine. Create everything from impressive business cards to model architectural pieces.

Typically, you can choose from corrugated, gray, and cellulose. Gray and cellulose are the best choices for crafting and modeling.

5、Fabric

Laser cutting fabric is a newer option. Fabric is cut using a laser cutter, which can be used as a form of digital embroidery. You can get similar results in less time. While leather is obviously a type of textile, cotton, nylon, polyester, and silk are also options.

6.Paper

In most cases, when you cut paper with a laser cutter, you are most likely cutting a type of cardboard. However, thicker cardstock also works well on a laser cutter. A creative project using paper is laser cutting custom cardstock for the center scene. These are beautiful and make great gifts.

7、 Rubber

Rubber is another material that can be cut or engraved with a laser machine, specifically a CO2 laser. While it's a material that's widely used for a variety of purposes, it's not very common in laser cutting.

But with a laser machine, you can use it to make stamps, keychains, mats, and other items that require rubber.

Laser is the right choice for rubber cutting as it provides fine and flawless cuts. Edges are smooth and perfect, which cannot be achieved any other way.

It can cut all types of rubber, including natural rubber, silicone rubber and synthetic rubber. However, you will need to ensure proper ventilation as fumes are produced during laser cutting.