Materials and suppliers

I got some walnut and maple ply in this week from laserbits.com and they look amazing! The price is pretty good too

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Super pretty and shiny! Got any big plans for those pieces yet?

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test pieces for wedding invites

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Yeah I do think laserbits is where itā€™s at.

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@Jamie @thomas.alessi.jr - looks like they have stock according to my accountā€¦ Havenā€™t tried any of it yet, though. Iā€™m waiting for the actual release of the GF before ordering.

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Fascinating. Whatā€™s your secret?

I did a search for Solid Wood Walnut and all I get is ā€œAdd to Wishlist.ā€ Nothing resembling a ā€œBuy now.ā€ button.

And if I click on a specific product I get ā€œCurrently it is not possible to order products.ā€
https://www.engraving-supplies.com/l002-206-black-walnut-white-1-6mm.html

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I see a lot of good recommendations for this site:

http://www.ocoochhardwoods.com

They have really large thins! I havenā€™t found anyone else that sells thins that large unless you get them custom cut. Iā€™ll hopefully be ordering something from them soon.

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Try checking https://www.engraving-supplies.ca/ (not .com) :slight_smile:

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Interesting. Now itā€™s saying I need to create an account. But it will only let me choose Canada as my country. So Iā€™m guessing they have no means to perform US sales at this time. Which sucks because they appear to have a ton of laserable materials. Hopefully theyā€™ll get US sales going sometime soon. I have no desire to pay 52% VAT or whatever it is these days. :wink:

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FWIW, I can sign in to the .com website with my account credentials, but I get the same ā€œstock not availableā€ stuff you did. It could very well be that selling across the border with duty, etc wasnā€™t worth it. I generally found that their CAD prices were similar to the Inventables USD price (not taking into account any currency exchange and duty costs).

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Oh well. Some really exciting materials there. I guess next time Iā€™m across the boarder Iā€™ll have to stock up.

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I finally nagged them and got my access. They do have some good stuff in there and the prices seem pretty reasonable compared to a few other Canadian sites Iā€™ve looked at. Iā€™m with you though, I will hold off ordering until my Glowforge is in hand.

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Love the map but canā€™t work out on an iPad how to get a glowforge logo postcode is bt248xt can u help?

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I think you have to be logged into google for starters.
Search for your destination, click the marker icon that looks like a balloon , then click on the map where you want the marker to show up (but maybe not the actual address, for security). Type in any info you want to share with the world, and Done.

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Have you tried the Discourse app on the iPad? It seems to have a better interaction with the forum versus either Safari or other browsers on the iOS devices.

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I would recommend your local lumber yard 1/8" Baltic Birch. They typically sell them in 5ā€™-0"x 5ā€™-0" sheets. You can then have them cut it down to 15 12" x 20" sheets or do it yourself if you have a table saw.

Buying wood online is always going to be more expensive due to the weight of the materials. However I would recommend these two suppliers that cut the 5ā€™x5ā€™ birch down to dimensions per your requests. Always try to get the closest to 70lbs without going over to get the best shipping rate. Closest to 140lbs if youā€™re over 70lbs and so on. At some point freight shipping becomes cheaper as well if you are buying in bulk.

Harbor Sales has the best price. $9.03 per 5ā€™x5ā€™ sheet $4.47 cut charge per sheet. ($13.50 total and is cheaper than your local lumber yard, mine charges $16 and doesnā€™t cut it for you.) You to select ā€œcut itā€ while its in the cart to give you the option of UPS ground vs. freight shipping. I got them to give a quote for 6 5ā€™x5ā€™ sheets (90 12"x 20" sheets) for $80.10+ $42.27 shipping = $122.37 or

Harbor Sales: $1.35 a 12"x 20" baltic birch sheet. Shipping weight = 66 lbs

https://www.harborsales.net/Home/ProductSearchResults.aspx?quickSearch=birch
(You will have to create an account to see the prices They also sell acrylic and you can cut up a 4ā€™x8ā€™ sheet)

Second best is Wood workers source, they actually have a functional online shipping calculator.

They charge $19.19 per sheet if you buy 10 including the cutting fee. Then $100 for shipping so a total of $291.00 or $1.94 per 12"x 20" sheet. You donā€™t need to talk to customer service either. They actually have the whole system set up online which is cool.

Wood Workers Source: $1.94 per 12"x 20" sheet

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/product/18balpack3.html

Cope plastics is the way to go for acrylic. They have a remnants section thatā€™s a real bargain. I believe itā€™s $2.50 for an 1/8" 12"x12" Sheet. They only problem here again is the shipping weight. They have fair shipping costs as well.

http://store.copeplastics.com/category/148/acrylic-sheet

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Thank you for sharing these links! Be careful on the acrylic however, as all of it seems to be extruded, which is probably why its so cheap. If you are looking for big sheets, Ive found piedmont plastics is well priced, and has quite a number of sources.

As for ply, I use regular plywood (including birch ply) for constructions, but have stopped using it completely for engraves since I found laser plys (proofgrade/laserbits). They produce engravings so many times better than birch ply does.

Hardboard is an amazing value too. It cuts cleanly, and is super cheap. Like $5-8 for a 4ā€™x8ā€™ sheet from lowes or home depot. Great for construction and jigs

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manā€¦I just bought two sheets from HD and they were $13 each. Where are you again that you are finding it for $5-8?

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well, price depends on thickness and can vary between home despot locations. here (keep in mind this is $CAD and thus will appear higher), itā€™s $8 for a 3mm 4ā€™x8ā€™ sheet, and $19 for a 5.5mm sheet of same.

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so I just checked the website for 1/8" x 4ā€™ x 8ā€™ hardboard. Home Depot has it for $13, Lowes has the same thing for $8. I should have done a little investigating before purchasingā€¦Now I know where to go for more hardboard. Itā€™s been fantastic to work prototyping with, easy to engrave and cuts cleanly.

I can get 10 pieces of 18x20 out of a 48x96 piece with surprisingly little waste. (1.30 per piece from Home Depot, and .80 per piece from Lowes)

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