Any suggestions for materials?

Hi. I’m looking for advice of two different materials for two different projects.

Paper Organizer
AC_SY400
I want to make a bunch of shelves for my paper but realized that if I build it out of PG it will be very expensive. I might as well buy this one.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009YUXV7G/ref=asc_df_B009YUXV7G5370737/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B009YUXV7G&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167144863606&hvpos=1o8&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2196120667564845056&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002984&hvtargid=pla-274031858288

(I’m not sure why I would build those on my GF. It will be quicker to maker it in my wood shop… But I just want to!)

I also want to build a whole bunch of drawer organizers which use up a whole sheet of PG. So it’s roughly $4 for each open top box. I want to build about 30 of them.

What materials are you all using for projects such as these? I’ve only used PG this far, which I LOVE both their quality and the ease of use. Brilliant!

Layered Panels

I am also experimenting with some layered pieces like this masterpiece I found on the web.

paper-1-1

I need a material that is thin (im typing this on bed so no calipers I’m thinking like 10 pieces of paper stacked). I could stain each sheet. But it needs to be inexpensive and there will be a ton of waste. There will be a ton of prototyping so I am looking for something cheap.

Thanks for your input.

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I’ve been building drawer dividers out of 0.05” mat board. You might be able to get deals on scraps from an art store. It cuts like butter. I made the slot designs in Fusion 360 plus Slicer.

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Birch ply is a standby for a reason (or several). Readily available, inexpensive, fairly strong, cuts and engraves well.

Find a local supplier who will cut it down for you and you can get full sheets (12x20 1/8”) for about $1 apiece. [$15 or so for a 5’x5’ sheet, breaks down to 15 pieces]

Of course it’s not prefinished or masked so it’s not exactly apples to apples compared to PG, but it has lots of uses.

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Man, that layered thing looks really cool. The matboard suggested is a good idea. The other one I had was making some sort of micarta (sp?). Where you layer pieces of paper together with some sort of adhesive. I’m not sure if there is an epoxy you could use in the laser or if you have a setup that would help you make some micarta, but it might be an option.

I’d look at watercolor paper I’ve had moderate success with cutting designs into it with the glowforge. Look for the cardstock settings in beyond the manual, and turn up the power as Its seems to be a heavier weight paper, but I’m still playing with settings. I bought a 11x17 booklet of it for $12.00ish at the craft store, wasn’t the cheapest of that kind they had, but also wasn’t the most expensive. I tend to find I get the best mileage per value by aiming towards the middle but you may have a different experience.

Your mileage may vary.

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