What Can you Cut, Score and Engrave with a Glowforge?

What materials can a Glowforge cut?

Your Glowforge can print objects using hundreds of beautiful materials like leather, acrylic, hardwood, fabric – even chocolate!

Laser-Safe Materials to use with a Glowforge

Materials for Cuts & Engraves:

Materials for Engraves only:

What are Proofgrade materials?

Proofgrade Materials Available:

Glowforge offers acrylics, hardwoods, plywoods, draftboard, veneers, full-grain leathers, and more – and the list is growing all the time. Learn more in our in-depth article on Glowforge’s Proofgrade Materials.

What materials are NOT safe to cut?

Some plywoods and hardwoods emit hazardous fumes when cut, either from the wood itself being burned or the glue that was used to hold together the layers of the plywood. Genuine leather is safe if it’s veg tanned, but not if it’s chrome tanned.

Items you NEVER want to cut with a laser:

• PVC including Vinyl and Pleather (emits chlorine gas)
• ABS (emits cyanide gas)
• HDPE/milk bottle plastic
• Fiberglass
• Coated carbon fiber
• Materials that reflect the laser (Chrome or Copper)
• PolyStyrene Foam or PolyPropylene Foam

Glowforge Limitations

What’s the max material size a Glowforge can cut?

The maximum cutting area size for the Glowforge Plus and Pro models is 19.5″ by 11″. The max cutting area size for the Spark and Aura is 12″ x 12″. If you are using an Aura or Glowforge Pro machine, you can feed an infinitely long piece of material through the passthrough slot, but you are still limited to the machine only cutting/engraving/scoring an 11″ section at a time and you’ll need to align your sections in the Glowforge Print App. (The passthrough slot is 3/8″ and designed to accommodate materials up to 1/4″ thick.)

How deep can a Glowforge cut?

Glowforge performs well with many materials 1/4″ and less on a single pass. It can accommodate material as thick as 1/2″, but may require multiple passes or flipping the material over.

How deep can a Glowforge engrave?

Glowforge Aura and Spark, you can engrave up to 3/4″ material. For Glowforge Plus and Pro models, you can remove the tray and insert objects as thick as 2” (50 mm). It can then engrave the surface up to 0.5”, depending on the material.

Can Glowforge cut metal?

Glowforge can etch some metals, like anodized aluminum, directly. Other metals, like stainless steel, work best if you spray them first with a product such as Cermark.  Glowforge is not equipped to cut or engrave copper, silver, brass, or gold.