Start from the material
What do you want to work? For each material you'll find how it behaves under laser, mill or 3D printing — and what you need to know before you start.
Wood is the maker's entry-level material: cheap, forgiving and satisfying to finish. But “wood” isn't a single category…
- · Solid wood: European hardwoods
- · Solid wood: tropical and exotic hardwoods
- · Solid wood: softwoods (conifers)
- · Wood-based panels
With metals the right machine is everything: you don't cut steel with a hobby diode laser, and you don't mill titanium …
- · Steel
- · Aluminium and alloys
- · Copper and alloys
- · Light metals and special alloys
Thermoplastics are home turf for the laser and the 3D printer: they melt, soften and reshape with heat. But this family…
- · Polyolefins
- · Styrenics
- · Acrylics and methacrylics
- · Polycarbonates and engineering plastics
Unlike thermoplastics, resins and thermosets don't soften with heat: once cured, they stay that way. They're cast, prin…
- · Epoxy resins
- · Polyurethane resins
- · Photopolymer resins (3D printing)
- · Silicones
Ceramics, stones and minerals are hard, brittle and abrasive: the materials that “talk back” to the machine the most. T…
- · Technical ceramics
- · Craft ceramics
- · Natural stones
- · Plasters and cements
Textiles, leather and soft materials are the realm of the CO2 laser and the plotter blade: cut in thin sheets, engraved…
- · Natural fabrics
- · Synthetic fabrics
- · Leather
- · Rubbers and elastomers
Paper and cardboard are the cheapest prototyping material there is, and the laser and plotter love them: fast cuts, low…
- · Paper and cellulosics
This family doesn't gather materials to cut or print, but materials to use: abrasives, finishes, adhesives and consumab…
- · Abrasives
- · Wood finishes
- · Metal finishes
- · Adhesives