This page adapts Sculpteo's "Laser Cutting: The Ultimate Guide" into a maker-focused reference for Kalamazoo Makerspace members. Use it as a deep-dive companion to our practical How to Use a Laser Cutter page.
Jump straight to the section you need, or read from top to bottom:
For hands-on steps, safety rules, and how to get trained at our shop, don't miss the practical laser cutter how-to.
Laser cutting is a digital manufacturing process that uses a focused laser beam to cut or engrave material. Instead of shaping material with blades or drill bits, the laser removes material along a path defined by a design file.
A laser cutter concentrates a large amount of energy into a tiny spot. Where the beam meets the workpiece, the material either melts, burns, or vaporizes, and a stream of gas blows the debris away. The result is a narrow kerf and a clean edge. With the right machine and material, you can cut sheet stock up to roughly 20 mm thick.
Because the laser follows a design in a vector file, it is ideal for repeatable parts, intricate patterns, and quick iterations. That same precision makes laser cutting a great partner for 3D printing, CNC routing, and traditional shop tools.
Before we talk about settings and materials, it helps to understand where lasers came from and how a laser cutter actually works.
The word "laser" is short for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". The idea grew out of early work on microwaves and radar. Physicists realized that if you could coax atoms into releasing light in a coordinated way, you could create a very pure, intense beam.
During the mid‑20th century, researchers like Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow, Gordon Gould, and Theodore Maiman explored how to turn this theory into hardware. They first built masers, devices that amplified microwaves. Later, by moving to much shorter wavelengths and using special materials such as ruby crystals, they were able to create the first functioning lasers.
Early lasers were mostly scientific instruments. Colored laser beams made it possible to study how atoms and molecules absorb light with great precision, which transformed spectroscopy and other branches of physics.
Engineers quickly saw that a tightly focused laser could also act as a heat source. In the 1960s, labs began using lasers to drill tiny, accurate holes where traditional tools were slow or wore out quickly. Experiments with assist gases, especially oxygen, showed that combining a laser beam with a jet of gas could dramatically improve cutting speed and edge quality. This combination is the foundation of modern laser cutting.
By the late 1960s and 1970s, companies started putting lasers on the production line. Aerospace manufacturers used them to cut tough alloys and drill turbine blades. Automotive companies cut complex shapes in sheet metal. Over time, new types of lasers, better optics, and improved motion systems made the process faster, more reliable, and suitable for many more materials.
Today, laser cutting is a standard option in industrial fabrication, product design, and rapid prototyping. Thanks to desktop and mid‑size machines, it is also common in makerspaces, schools, and small businesses.
A laser cutter starts with a resonator that generates the laser beam. Depending on the machine, the active medium might be a gas mixture such as CO2, a solid crystal, or a fiber. Energy from light sources or electrical discharge excites the medium, and mirrors bounce the light back and forth until a beam emerges through a partially reflective mirror.
From there, mirrors and lenses guide and focus the beam down to a fine spot at the work surface. The machine keeps a small, controlled gap between the lens and the material so the beam stays in focus. Assist gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, or air blow through the nozzle to clear molten material from the kerf and influence how the cut behaves.
Most makerspace machines use a gantry system that moves the beam in X and Y above a flat bed, similar to a plotter. Some industrial systems use galvanometer mirrors for high‑speed engraving or multi‑axis motion to work on 3D shapes.
In practice, laser cutters perform three main operations:
Your vector file decides which operation the machine performs. Typically, different line colors and stroke settings are mapped to "cut", "score", or "raster" in the laser software. For example, many workflows use a thin red hairline for cuts, a thin blue line for scores, and solid black fills for raster engraving. Always follow the color legend and templates posted next to the laser you are using.
All of these operations are affected by kerf, the width of material that is actually removed by the beam. Thicker materials need slower speeds and higher power, which makes the kerf wider. If you are designing parts that fit together (press‑fits, tabs, or box joints), prototype a small section of your design and measure the fit so you can compensate for kerf and material tolerance.
Kerf can also be used creatively. By cutting repeating "kerf cut" patterns into rigid sheets such as plywood or acrylic, you can make them bend like a woven material. Different patterns produce different bending behavior, from smooth curves to living hinges.
Compared with traditional cutting tools, a laser has several advantages:
For makers, that combination means you can move quickly from idea to prototype, then refine or scale up without changing tools.
Laser cutters follow instructions from a digital design. Understanding files and materials is just as important as knowing which buttons to press on the machine.
Lasers can process many different materials, but not every material is safe or practical on a CO2 machine. In general, sheet thickness up to about 20 mm is possible on powerful industrial equipment; our makerspace machines typically handle much thinner stock.
Below is a simplified overview based on common makerspace and lab practice. Always follow the posted materials list and safety rules for the specific laser you are using.
MDF and similar fiberboards can cut well on a CO2 laser, but some labs have stopped using them due to smoke and binder fumes. If you plan to cut MDF or engineered boards, confirm that they are allowed at Kalamazoo Makerspace and follow all ventilation rules.
The following categories are based on the "cannot cut" lists used in many teaching labs:
Materials that contain chlorine compounds (for example, many PVC and vinyl products) release corrosive and toxic fumes that can severely damage the machine and harm people. If you are not 100 % certain what a plastic is, treat it as unsafe until a trainer has inspected and approved it.
These four materials show up again and again in hobby and professional projects. Each has its own personality:
Inexpensive and easy to cut, cardboard is great for mock‑ups, packaging trials, and kids' projects. It is light and stiff, can be folded, glued, taped, and painted, but it is not durable and reacts badly to moisture and open flame.
Acrylic is a rigid plastic available in many colors and thicknesses, including clear, translucent, opaque, fluorescent, mirrored, and two‑tone engravable sheets. Laser‑cut edges come out glossy and "polished". Acrylic can be brittle, so sharp corners and post‑drilled holes need extra care.
Plywood is made from thin veneers of wood laminated with alternating grain directions. It balances strength, stiffness, and weight, and it engraves nicely. Thickness can vary slightly between batches, and cut edges may leave a light char that can rub off.
MDF is a smooth, uniform panel made from wood fibers and resin. It cuts cleanly on the laser and takes paint or finish well. It is heavier than plywood, not happy in damp environments, and does not have high mechanical strength, but it is excellent for prototypes, fixtures, and decorative items.
Laser cutters expect a vector file that describes paths, shapes, and colors, not just pixels. The file tells the machine where to cut, score, or engrave. Common formats include SVG, PDF, AI, CDR, DXF, and DWG, depending on your software and workflow.
You can create these files in many programs:
Whichever tool you choose, make sure your document uses the correct units, your geometry is scaled accurately, and paths are clean (no tiny gaps or duplicates). Our how‑to guide and shop volunteers can help you confirm that your first files are ready.
Commercial laser services charge by machine time, and even in a makerspace you will get more done if your jobs are efficient. The Sculpteo guide and other lab handbooks agree on a few key strategies.
Overlapping geometry is one of the most common causes of slow jobs and burn marks. If two vectors sit on top of each other, the laser will trace the same line twice.
SelDup (Rhino), OVERKILL (AutoCAD), or "Purge coincident duplicates" (Vectorworks) can help detect extra geometry.Both scoring lines and rastering areas can add a lot of character to your design, but they have very different time costs:
In one lab example, a city map engraved as vectors took about 11 minutes, while the same map rastered as a filled image took around 65 minutes. Wherever you can, favor vector lines and use raster fills only where solid shading or photos are truly needed.
It is tempting to engrave every brick, shingle, or pixel, but extreme detail can dramatically increase job time without adding much clarity. Often, you can "imply" a texture with a lighter pattern of lines or dots and let the viewer's eye fill in the rest.
Type > Create Outlines (Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+O) and view in Outline mode (Ctrl/Cmd+Y) to see what the laser will follow.TextObject or explode text into curves.TXTEXP (where available).Text > Convert Text to Polylines.These habits keep your jobs affordable and make you a good citizen of the laser lab, reducing wear on the machine and helping everyone get through the queue faster.
In a makerspace, laser cutting shows up everywhere: signs and displays, storage and enclosures, custom jigs and fixtures, and the frames and panels that hold robots, drones, and electronics together.
One of the most visible uses of the laser in a makerspace is signage and decor. You can combine cut shapes, engraved lettering, and layered materials to create crisp, professional‑looking pieces without needing a print shop.
Because vector files are easy to tweak, you can quickly update designs for new events, members, or branding.
Tabbed boxes and flat‑pack enclosures are a natural fit for laser cutting. With a few parameters (material thickness, box size, finger joint style), you can generate patterns that interlock cleanly and assemble with glue or screws.
Tools like online box generators (for example, Makercase) and nesting utilities can speed up layout, but the core idea is the same: use precise kerf‑aware joints to turn flat sheets into sturdy 3D objects.
Laser‑cut jigs and fixtures make the rest of the shop more accurate and repeatable. Because they are quick and inexpensive to produce, you can iterate until a design is just right.
Once a jig proves useful, you can cut more copies for other members or tweak the file for different sizes and tools.
Many robotics, RC, and electronics builds combine 3D prints, off‑the‑shelf hardware, and laser‑cut sheets. The laser is ideal for flat structural parts, mounting plates, and clean front panels.
At Kalamazoo Makerspace, it is common to see laser‑cut panels paired with 3D‑printed brackets and metal hardware to create sturdy, serviceable prototypes and small production runs.
Next: Digital Manufacturing Beyond Laser Cutting Back to Index
Laser cutting is one member of a broader family of computer‑driven tools that turn digital designs into real‑world objects.
Because laser cutters work from 2D geometry, they pair well with 3D printing, CNC routers, water‑jet cutters, vinyl cutters, and more. You can laser‑cut flat parts, print complex 3D components, and combine them into assemblies that would be hard to make any other way.
For makers, the key ideas from this guide are:
If you want to go even deeper, there are excellent external tools and resources that build on the concepts in this guide: automatic nesting utilities such as Deepnest.io, box‑generator tools such as Makercase, and kerf pattern libraries from manufacturers like Trotec that showcase flexible‑cut templates and engraving ideas.
If you are ready to put this knowledge into practice, schedule a laser orientation, read our step‑by‑step How to Use a Laser Cutter guide, and then start designing your first project.