Materials Bundle

[pamelawright724]

I’m brand new here - just opened my package on Wednesday night!

Wondering where you all buy your materials? I like the masked and finished materials GF has but would love to know if they are less expensive anywhere else?

Ideally, I’d love to buy from a place that offers different types of wood, different colors of acrylic, leather, etc. Also, accessories like key chain rings. And a bundle of materials so I can try before I buy a large quanity.

Any one-stop shops that you recommend?

[evansd2]

Hey, welcome! As for materials there are so many options. You’ll like this post, check out 1a:

Common problems/questions

Hello! You’ve been referred to this post because you have a common problem or question. Check out the list below to see what this post can do for you. Just click on a topic that interests you.

1: I'm new to Glowforge and really have no idea where to start

Hey, welcome to the forum! Glowforge has a getting started page, it’s definitely worth your time: <a href="https://support.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/sections/11792517736475-Design-and-Print-Tutorials">https://support.glowf…

One stop shops are hard to come by but a few specialized sources can be just as easy! Good hunting!

[shop]

welcome! i shop all over the place for wood. but the place i go back to the most is https://ocoochhardwoods.com. they have a great selection of different domestic and exotic wood in multiple thicknesses and widths. and (for me at least) their quality has been pretty consistent. but it’s not finished and masked. i’m ok with that, i’d rather add my own finish (98% of the time i use walnut oil or howard feed’n’wax, which is a beeswax and orange oil mixture). and i have my own roll of masking if i need that, but since i tend to sand after cutting, i don’t bother masking 98% of the time.

for acrylic, honestly, pretty much any place you can buy cast acrylic will be good. there’s a lot less variation and almost all cast acrylic comes with paper masking on it already.

[eflyguy]

Besides Glowforge Proofgrade, just about every material I have used came from either a local Rockler or The Home Depot. The only exceptions have been some small quantities of more specialized materials like thin acrylic (1mm) or smoked - which I bought from Amazon and only selected products with free Prime shipping.

For the past couple of years or more my used material has been Home Depot’s Purebond plywood, maple in 5/32". It has a nice sanded finish but nothing else. I can mask it if needed, apply a coating if needed, but for the most part when not left plain, I cut it then use alcohol ink pens to color the pieces.

[cynd11]

Congrats on your new machine! It would be helpful to know if yours is an Aura, or one of the Performance series machines, as the list of acceptable materials is different.

[eflyguy]

@cynd11

It would be helpful to know if yours is an Aura, or one of the Performance series machines

That’s always been a peeve of mine - they ask for it in your profile, but I don’t see where it shows up for others to see… Mine is set - can you find it?

[dan84]

https://www.jpplus.com is the closest thing to a one-stop shop for both materials and personalizable blanks that I can think of. Their catalog is quite deep and they have many warehouses on both coasts and in Texas for 1-2 day shipping to almost anywhere.

Depending on what Glowforge you bought, you will have to figure out what materials you can process and what sizes will fit inside your machine.

[cynd11]

Nope

[hansepe]

There are several acrylic sources in this thread:

Pastel Acrylic

I had someone ask me if I could make them a sign on pastel acrylic. They’d seen the material on an Etsy store. I’d like to find a better company to get some pastel acrylic from. Does anybody know a place? This is the link they found. I’m not sure I’m comfortable using Etsy for materials.

This is one of my favorite suppliers:

Pastel Acrylic

You’d be hard pressed to find better prices or quality than I buy most of my acrylics from them.

[TeamSM]

We get acrylic from three sources.

Cerulean Tides (in Florida)
Houston Acrylics, and
Custom Made Better (in North Carolina.)

Occasionally, use Canal Plastics in New York.

A much greater variety. The first three are small businesses, you can find them on instagram too. Wonderful variety of colors. Occasional sales also.

[ellencadwell]

Hi and welcome to the GF family! I buy most of my non-pg materials from GS2 Awards. They have a great range of woods and acrylics, fast shipping, and they are great to work with. They also have a lot of good sales and even what they call their “blemished” products, which are normally really good prices and usually only marked up on the edges, which you can always avoid cutting anyway.

Be sure to show us what you make, as we always love seeing each others’ work and getting inspired by them. And this is truly the best place to get any help you need. Be sure to use the search option to find solutions and new projects, and take advantage of the “free designs” that have been posted for personal use only for yourself or to give as gifts, (you may not sell the products or designs), as there are lots of fun and practical items there.

[pamelawright724]

@eflyguy ooh, alcohol ink pens - I must try!

@cynd11 It’s a Pro.

[deirdrebeth]

Also keep in mind that the price of the ProofGrade () material comes with a guarantee that if it doesn’t work while using the PG settings, they will replace it for you - so as a beginner it’s likely worth starting with the PG stuff!