I have some PVC material I’ve been using on my CNC machine and want to know if its safe to use on my new GF. Browsing through the forum I see topics talking about it but couldn’t figure out if it actually applies to the material I have. Mostly because I’m not sure what MSDS is, or how I check it. The amazon site does not mention it.
thx
The “C” (chlorine) in PVC automatically excludes it as appropriate for the Glowforge. Do a search on the forum for “PVC” and you will get all kinds of discussions.
It is not appropriate from a health perspective nor from a materials perspective since the resulting fumes can be damaging to the components of the Glowforge.
No. Not even a little bit. Use it in your CNC. 
Search for any material you wonder about, like “pvc safe” or “bone safe” then an MSDS search like “pvs msds” and you’ll probably find out pretty quickly.
Follow up with a settings search for the things that don’t immediately come back as dangerous.
That PVC foam board is great stuff. I’ve used it in place of more traditional foam board for projects, but absolutely keep it as far away from the laser (or any burning/heating process) as you can.
thanks folks
MSDS is short for Material Safety Data Sheet. Almost everything in the world has an MSDS. The MSDS tells you if and how a material can become hazardous.
In the case of PVC the MSDS will probably list PVC as completely safe in solid format, but the MSDS will list toxic gas as a hazard created by burning PVC.
You should also look up burn test. It’s a procedure you can use to quickly test if a material contains chlorine and will create toxic fumes.
Remember there are all sorts of things that are fine as solids, but become awful when burned. When considering trying a new material looking at a MSDS is a good place to start.
thx, that’s super useful
I was about to slide in here hollering “DON’T DO IT, CHLORINE GAS IS CORROSIVE!” But it looks like this was already covered. phew
Who’s awesome? Y’all are awesome.