Hi all, my school is doing a felted wool project and I am curious if anyone has used this material in their Glowforge. If so any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the forum.
There have been several discussions of felt here in the forum over the years. My experience is that it cuts well, but the smell bothers me in the same way that burning leather bothers me. Here are some felt discussions: Search results for 'felt' - Glowforge Owners Forum
Oh yes, it cuts like butter! Have fun
it depends
type, thickness, color?
Cuts like butter, smells somewhere between leather and a trip to the dentist
YMMV, of course…
Yep!
This description is way so accurate that I can’t read it without getting that smell stuck in my head.
I did see those posts but none of them specifically mentioned “felted” wool.
Felt that is made of wool is felted wool.
Hence the name!
I just tested a piece of felt with my GF Plus and I used the 20lb paper setting. Cut perfect. When I do it again, I’ll put paper underneath so the residue from the tray doesn’t get on it. Hope this helps.
Felt(ed) wool is explicitly what I used for my tray. That’s why I chimed in.
Do you mean wool felt that comes in flat sheets or felted wool items made from roving?
and @sfortino That’s a good question. I’ve used both and there’s not much difference. I used to have a wool mill, and a wide felting machine. I’ve made felt by hand, by electric roller, by needle felter–it does not cut differently than commercial felt of similar thickness.
I would recommend against batch cutting of loose fiber (roving or top) though. The fan will blow fibers all over.
Our art department is hand felting wool for a community project, not sure if that makes sense.
Interesting this did not come up in my search. Thanks for sharing.
It very much makes sense As long as you don’t have fluffy loose fibers the regular wool felt posts elsewhere on this forum will make a good start. Depending on how irregular your hand felted wool is you may have some focus issues resulting in more char in uneven spots. As others have mentioned the smell is pretty intense, vent vent vent out if you can and be prepared to leave your cut pieces outside for a couple days to de-smell.
I learned a new word today.
Clearly you gotta hang around more sheep!