The laser cutter is the most popular machine in the shop, and the one that brings the most first-time visitors through the door. It cuts and engraves by focusing an invisible infrared beam onto the material: through plywood and acrylic up to roughly a quarter inch in one pass, and engraving photos, text, and patterns into wood, leather, glass, stone, and anodized aluminum.

What people make: signs, boxes and enclosures, gears and mechanical parts, stencils, jewelry, engraved cutting boards and flasks, architectural models, cosplay armor, and one-off replacement parts for things that broke.

Materials

Yes: wood and plywood, MDF, acrylic, cardboard and paper, leather, most fabrics, natural rubber, glass and ceramic and stone (engrave only), anodized or coated metals (engrave only).

Never: PVC and vinyl (including most “pleather”, adhesive vinyl, and some laminates), anything containing chlorine, fluorine, bromine, or iodine, polycarbonate, PTFE/Teflon, carbon fiber, and fiberglass. These release gases that are dangerous to you and corrosive to the machine. If you don’t know what something is made of, don’t put it in the laser. Ask; we have test settings for common stock.

Training

Training is required and takes about an hour. It covers focusing, material settings in LightBurn, the exhaust and air-assist, and the fire rules: never leave the machine running unattended, keep the extinguisher within reach, and don’t open the lid while it’s firing. After sign-off you can book the laser any time the shop is open to you.

Design software

Bring a vector file (SVG, DXF, AI, PDF) or a bitmap for engraving. Members use Inkscape, FreeCAD, Fusion 360, Illustrator, or LightBurn itself. If you’ve never made a vector file, a Thursday-night demo is the fastest way to learn.