Laser cutter swatches

Laser cutters can engrave or cut through a variety of material so it's important to keep a log of the settings for each. Often times the settings are the same and you'll only see a slight variation, and other times you'll see differences on the same piece of material. Plywood, for example, can offer slight variations depending on the amount of glue used. Corrugated cardboard is often not completely flat or has different-sized air holes inside.

I spent the better part of a day creating swatches for the different kinds of raw material we have in the Makerspace. Hopefully I can mount them to posterboard and leave it next to the laser cutter so other users can benefit.

The swatches have information and test patches of depth percentage and speed, the two settings that have the most impact on engraving. If I planned a bit better I could have included space for score and cut settings -- although this probably would only be beneficial to see if the laser cut through the material, which would mean the last setting is the only important one.