I know I could purchase materials direct from Glowforge.
I’d like to know if anyone purchases materials for cutting elsewhere?
We will have 70 students utilizing to tool and costs are a concern for materials.
Also, does anyone every cut chip board?
The Problems and Support forum is for opening tickets with Glowforge support when you have problems with the machine or software.
I’ll move this to the Beyond the Manual forum for you. If you search there, you will find dozens of existing discussions on material sources. You can source materials from many sources, both local and online. Also, many people use chipboard - myself included. Plenty of info on that as well.
thank you
Yes, chipboard works. Be sure to always keep an eye on the jobs when they run, cardboard is much more flammable than wood.
Yes for paper based chipboard (like cereal box material).
No for Home Depot type chipboard which is a mix of glues & wood chips and used for sheathing in the building trades.
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Amazon has some great stuff depending on what you’re looking for. Most big box home improvement stores have lots of good options as well, I use a lot of 1/4" birch plywood that I cut down from large sheets to fit the GF. Their fiber board is good as well, although the 1/4 stuff might take multiple passes to cut through. The 1/8" material is great and I use that a lot as well.
Do you have access to a table saw you could cut larger stock down? You said 70 students, so I’m assuming you might have a shop somewhere in your school.
If you’ll need plywoods I’d buy the shop teacher a coffee. S/he should be able to source true baltic birch and/or an mdf core plywood and then have it cut down on the table saw to glowforge dimensions. The art teacher should be able to source matboard.
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some people call chipboard that solid type of cardboard you find on the back of tablets of paper.
Yep same stuff as cereal boxes 
I use it more than BB for testing designs. It’s really cheap and available in a variety of weights and even colors.
I get it from Amazon and Dick Blicks. Blicks has it in nicely large sizes that end up very nicely priced on a per sqft basis.
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Correct in the USA. In some places outside the USA, what we call “OSB” is called chipboard as well, but that’s a rough-grade construction material.
Here’s one I’ve used a great deal. You can buy it locally at art supply stores as well.
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I got some from Blicks alas it is still in the box. 
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Assuming it’s a similar material, for students I think it’s ideal. Cheap, cuts cleanly and easily, virtually no flare up (much less than most plywood). It’s light, can be painted.
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thanks
the 1/4 or 1/8 will work well for us. We will be building architectural based models.
Has anyone used this stuff? Or something equal to it?
Yep. I always have a case of it on hand. I’ve never had any real issues but couple of people have complained about warping. But I’ve had PG shipped warped. It’s wood so I expect some unevenness and I deal with it with holdown pins or magnets.
You can also get Columbia Forest Products ply in Glowforge sized 12x20 sheets (10packs) delivered free to you or your local HD store.
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You might take a look at Laser Jump Start. The stuff they sell is not ply wood it is draft board with a thin layer printer to look like wood. I cuts and engraves well. I don’t find it nice enough to sell as crafts but it can be useful for projects. I think they still send small samples.
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Yup - like I said I’ve bought a lot off of Amazon. It does warp pretty easily, but store it flat with something heavy on the sheets and you’ll be fine.
And cool on the architectural models! I worked for an architecture firm back in the early 2000’s and they had a full model shop with a laser cutter - that’s what propelled me to get a GF, I ALWAYS wanted to add a laser cutter to my tools!
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Material like that is good, but that particular link is way overpriced.
For less than $9 a 4x8’ sheet, this stuff is a dream for prototyping… I love it.
Hardboard Tempered Panel (Common: 1/8 in. 4 ft. x 8 ft.;
(Home Depot)
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I love that stuff too. It cuts so well!
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