There might be a generic list provided but have never seen any laser company provide any more than that. Doesn’t help you identify similar looking plastics. I have a quantity of generic unmarked very hard plastic like material that I love to use in my CNC and have no idea what it is. I know it’s not PVC but I wouldn’t put it in my laser without identification.
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Sure but most laser companies don’t focus on how to use a laser without needing to really understand a lot of its functionality (barring those cheap Chinese lasers that are attractive to end users purely by dint of low prices).
It wouldn’t be difficult to take a few hours to add a page discussing why some materials - chlorinated plastics are the obvious issue this forum focuses on, but there are a few more - are inappropriate.
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Nerve gas, cyanide…dear God I hope they’ve taken into account the idiot factor! Every time we have a hurricane down here we have a sprinkle who gas themselves into non-existence, when they bring their generators into their apartments for convenience. 
Big, BIG warning stickers on the inside of the lid where they can’t be ignored…
“Do not laser anything without a filter or venting!”
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Actually, think of the proof grade materials as having a second warranty in addition to the warranty on your Glowforge. No laser company warranties against damage caused by materials. That’s on you. Glowforge is simply adding an extra warranty to their proofgrde materials to give even more peace of mind to those that want to use them.
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Think we are saying two different things. GF will certainly provide a long “do not do this” list. And they might provide and explanation. But any lawyer worth minimum wage is not going to allow GF to say its OK to laser any material that might change formulation, or is difficult for a non expert to identify. And it’s pretty easy for the company to tell if you destroyed the machine by using the wrong material. So the warranty makes sense. I might add that most lasers don’t use the exhaust air to cool things. So in the case of the GF, lazing chlorinated plastic creating corrosive gasses could be really, really bad. Thus the warranty written as it is.
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Nowhere did I say they should provide a list of safe materials. I said they should explain why materials are unsafe, because then you teach the user how to decide for themselves, and given the relative low level of experience the vast majority of this forum (and probably the total customer base), I think it’s a really smart move.
Also, you’re laser cutting materials - no one is lasing anything except for the glowforge itself.
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Sorry. A colloquialism we use in our lab. Kind of like using punkin chunkin before the Discovery Channel made it common.
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You can’t. When I was on the local volunteer ambulance squad I’d get at least one person a year who gassed themselves by mixing bleach and amonia to make a “better” bathroom cleaner.
Always a handful who would blow their gas grill up and start a fire because they didn’t check the venturi tubes before starting it the first time every spring and didn’t notice a spider’s nest blocking the tube.
And the ones who would jump off the local mountain with a hang glider strapped to their back, drop 50 feet and slam back into the side of the mountain when a thermal hit them.
And yep, we got the folks who brought generators or kerosene heaters into the house and died in their sleep because they ignored the “do not operate in an enclosed environment” warning labels.
Just because someone can buy something and most users won’t hurt themselves, there’s someone who doesn’t read the warnings, doesn’t think they apply to them, or simply doesn’t think at all. You would hope that someone who spent 3 or 4 thousand dollars on a piece of equipment would educate themselves. Asking GF to be responsible for that is silly - I don’t see the auto manufacturers providing driving training or tool makers holding classes on how to pick projects & materials appropriately to keep you from hurting yourself.
But I’m afraid the reaction we’ve seen in this thread is going to get worse. 
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That’s like saying “You’re shooting - no one is firing anything except for the gun itself.” “Lasing” is a perfectly acceptable word. When using tools, the tool’s operation becomes an extension of a person. That’s kind of the whole point of using tools.
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Not really. Shooting is an accepted action verb. Lasing means something very very specific. I honestly don’t think I’m being nit picky here, it’s just incorrect.
Besides when I say the gf is lazing I mean the tube itself; I wasn’t referring to the cutting.
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All three of us know he is correct. It means very specific things in Physics and in the design of lasers. Yeah, it’s kind of nitpicking given my intent, but I didn’t take it personally. I get the grammar police on me all the time on Facebook. They are like dogs with a bone sometimes.
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Lasing… I like that way that sounds, I think Ill start using that as an action verb to generically refer to all of my “Laser cutting materials” and “Laser engraving materials”.
It just rolls off the tongue a little easier. 
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Gives a totally different meaning to "lazing around the house". Chuckle! 
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To appease the grammar, OK maybe physics, polize, maybe use lazoring
Have the perfect grammar police response pic, but can’t get my phone to get it to attach…
Then the correct word you want is “lasing” not lazing. (Lasing is the present participle of lase.)
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Maybe we should just stick to "zapping".
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Yeah, I actually edited all my answers before you posted that, haha. I wrote the wrong thing because I saw it on the page and generally have the attention span of a parrot/.
you are absolutely correct, however i would be willing to wager that the meaning will be changing rather rapidly due to what is sure to become a common usage. language changes, keeps everything interesting
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Sure, language changes, and I’m fine with it. I just hate reducing precision haha
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OK so this raises another good question: Since I’m guessing water and retardant are out of the question- how should one respond to material catching fire in the machine?