2. Choose Materials

Step 2 in the Modelcraft Laser cutting process.

Now that you have your artwork ready to send, it's time to choose your materials for laser cutting. Choose from the suitable laser cutting materials we stock. You are welcome to bring your own materials to our Sydney studio, so long as they are safe to laser cut.

Note: you do not need to buy materials on our online store for your quote. We will include the materials cost for you.

For help & tips with material selection for laser cutting and engraving please continue reading.

If you would like us to laser cut or engrave something for you please read our Draw your File guide - so that your design is optimised for our laser. (And we can get your quote back to you much quicker! :)

We stock a wide selection of

Plastic

Clear Acrylic – is available in 0.5, 0.75, 1.5, 2, 3, 4.5, 6, 8 and 10mm. It has a neat, flame-polished edge. There is some taper on cut especially in thicker material.

White & Black Acrylic – is available in 2, 3, 4.5, 6 and 10mm. It has a neat, flame-polished edge. There is some taper on cut especially in thicker material.
Matt black is also available in 2, 3, 4.5 and 6mm, while matt white is only available in 3mm thickness. Both have one matt and one glossy side.

Coloured Acrylic – only available in 3mm thickness. See tab below for colours
Most colours are kept in stock but larger quantities may need to be ordered in (allow for an extra two days).

Modified Acrylic – only available in 0.8 & 1.6mm thickness. Cuts and scores well, and is flexible and strong. We stock white plus red, blue, green and yellow colours, but larger quantities may need to be ordered in (extra two days).

Polypropylene – 0.6mm and 0.8mm Polypropylene is available in translucent and solid colours. Cut edge is satisfactory, and heavy scoring works well, allowing for folding. Mechanical fixing only, as gluing this material is not effective.

View Our Acrylic Colours

we also stock a wide selection of

Timber & Plywood

Bamboo Plywood – is available in coffee or natural colour. It cuts nicely, but burnt edges are evident. We suggest requesting use of protective paper

Basswood – Most popular laser-cutting plywood. It cuts nicely with a dark edge. Note: Sheets are only 300mm x 900mm

Birch Plywood – is the highest quality plywood available. It is imported from Finland and sustainably grown and harvested.
It cuts nicely, but burnt edges are evident especially on the 2.5mm.

Hoop Plywood – is a high quality plywood. It is sustainably grown, harvested and produced in Australia. It cuts nicely with a dark edge.

Lauan Plywood – is a mid-quality cheap plywood with one medium quality face and one rough side. Only available in 3.5mm thickness. It cuts nicely, but burnt edges are evident.

Poplar Plywood – is available in 3mm and 6mm. This plywood is cheap and light weight with a good quality front and back face. It cuts very quickly with a dark edge.

Premium Plywoods – these plywoods consist of Jarrah, Sassafras, Walnut, Fijian Cedar and Beech species. They comes in various thicknesses - Please refer to our list of materials to find out which thicknesses are available.

Cork Sheet – is a natural material produced from granulated cork and binder available in 0.8, 2 and 3mm. It has a black edge when cut.

MDF Sheet – is available in 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9 and 12mm. It has a nice clean cut with a brown/black edge. This is highest Australian standard E0 grade

also suitable for laser cutting

Card

Green Fill – if you want the laser to engrave continuous fill (known as rastering) then you should use a green fill on your drawing.

White Fill – you can use objects with white fill on top of green filled areas to create negative fill e.g. to avoid filling in the centre of letters.

Objects – polylines will need to be continuous to form objects which can be filled. A separate black outline is not usually required.

Note – keep in mind that vector (line) cutting is generally quicker and therefore cheaper than raster (fill) engraving.

Bring Your Own

You are welcome to supply your own material, but we may need to do a test to ascertain suitability and laser settings. Please supply extra material to allow for re-cuts/cutting errors.
We can also cut (but do not stock) the following materials.

Cloth & Fabrics – of varying thickness. It will generally have good clean edge. Some polyesters may melt slightly. Note that extra labour is generally required prior to cutting to keep material flat, and use of a sacrificial mdf or card backing may also be required. We cannot cut PVC based fabrics.

Leather – with a thickness 0.5-4mm. It will generally have a nice cut with dark or burnt edge depending on thickness. Note that extra labour is generally required prior to cutting to keep material flat, and use of a sacrificial mdf or card backing may also be required. We recommend use of protective paper.

Solid Timber & Veneers – with a thickness less than 5mm. It will usually have a burnt, dark or black edge. Cut quality and cutting cost depends on the timber species and thickness. Engraving into solid timber block is also quite popular.

Note – we do not laser cut Styrene, PVC, Foamcore, Blue Foam, Glass, Carbon Fibre and Polycarbonates, due to noxious fumes produced when these materials are cut by the laser beam. Additionally our lasers are not able to cut any form of metal.

Next: Get Your FREE Quote