Yes, “I get tired of looking at the same picture on a calendar in less than 30 days.”
This is why I don’t sport any tats.
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E,V.A Foam
Round river stones
…and will it etch on PLA – i.e. a sculpture 3D printed?
I couldn’t find a lot of info on laser cutting or engraving PLA, but this video suggests that it’s doable:
I believe that’s a 50 watt Chinese laser, so it should be within the range of what the Glowforge can do.
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Yeah, what they said 
I was excited to see it working at the Maker Faire in Seattle, and staff was very friendly. I was told no polyurethane products, so not sign or PVC type options can be cut. But I would really love to be able to cut some sort of foam, the dense Pink foam, Foam core, or other signage type materials that come in rolls. What does this mean for Vinyl?
-PVC type products, or rolls of thin signage stock up to .25"
-Vinyl decals
-Pink foam- the dense insulation type I use for props all the time, would love to cut this.
-Foam Core- again this is for lots of sign options
-Velvet
-Acrylic
-Two tone laminated type wood for signage
Again the no PVC or foam core is a big bummer for me so I am trying to decide if this product is going to be able to do what I need it to.
Are you posting a list somewhere with what it can’t cut? That would be helpful. Some of these things might be deal breakers for some users.
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Sorry, but vinyl of any sort is a big no-no due to chlorine. Bad for you and could damage your Glowforge.
EDITED: As pointed out by @takitus, not all vinyl has chlorine in it. Please be sure to check before attempting any new material.
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Pvc as you know is out. Anything that emits chlorine when cut is out.
I don’t know about the pink foam, I’m curious myself.
Vinyl is out but there are substitutes.
Acrylic works great.
There are several lists going here if you will hunt for them.
There are laser specific distributors on line. Most anything you want to do there is a good substitute.
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I currently have and Cricut Explore Air and it does amazingly for stickers and t-shirt decals, and thin vinyl decals. it allows you to whisper cut so you don’t cut the backing as well then you can easily peel up like a purchased sheet of stickers. It can create a bleed on .jpg images too so that can be handy in certain situations I have been really pleased it looks like I will be using this machine after I get my glow forge. I can create images in Illustrator or jpgs with pretty good edibility. My printer is not as good or the print then cut feature would be event better for me.
bed handles 24" x 12" check it out for your sticker needs.
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Foam core board and pink insulating foam work great with lasers. I use them in set design myself 
Foam core is likely to be okay on the GF but it’s a no-no for pink insulating foam sheets as the pass through isn’t deep enough to get any reasonably sized piece in there. (I use the foam in its usual 8ft lengths and usually a 2 inch thickness - I cut it or carve it but not generally into 12x20 segments).
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I thought pink polystyrene foam, e.g. Owens Corning Foamular, was on the verbotten list???
Foam-core board is OK, I know – I have a number of planes made out of lasercut DTFB.
@sherart77 - Im going to expand on this statement a bit for clarification. Vinyl itself is not bad or toxic. However vinyl is the commonly used slang for PVC, which contains Chlorine which is incredibly toxic when cut on a laser or burned.
There are many products which contain vinyl polymers like PVAc, and EVA, which are fine to put into a laser. As a matter of fact EVA is amazing to use in lasers and I do it quite often.
Ive also cut foam core, as long as its the paper coated foam core and not the plastic coated kind.
PInk foam is styrene, and should be ok as long as you have proper venting.
Can I ask what you are making with all of these?
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Thanks @takitus! I learn something every day here.
Taking another look at http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials , I see that they put polystyrene on the never-cut list for a different reason: “PolyStyrene Foam … catches fire, it melts, and only thin pieces cut. This is the #1 material that causes laser fires!!!”
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yeah, I dont think the outcome of cutting it will be so great, as it melts/contracts really quickly and will catch fire if you dont keep things moving. thicker sheets are more dangerous than thin. foam core has polystyrene inside it, which melts back pretty quickly when laser cut as well, but with air assist on my laser I never saw any major flare ups.
The crazy thing about polystyrene is that if vaporized at a high enough level it leaves nothing toxic.
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Yes, the trick to cutting DTFB for airplanes is to set speed and power just high enough to cut through, while minimizing melt/pocketing. A little bit of pocketing is great in this case – gives a nice strong join with hot glue.
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was the same deal with my bondo coverage on my helmet. it gave the bondo some extra grip against shearing
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Thanks for some good info guys. I am a designer for corporate events, weddings, etc. and I create 3D stage designs, displays and props, and lots of event signage. So this is all good info.
The melting of the pink foam makes sense as some times I use a hot wire knife to cut it and that does basically melt it, so I have found the jig saw and a sander the best tools, but very messy. I think this sounds more like a job for a cnc where there is a blade and not a laser. I ordered the pro, but still not convinced the filter unit is going to be ready soon, I don’t believe on the pro you have the option to vent out? So I definitely will be sure to do some checking before I start cutting random things- no toxic fumes needed here.
Still lots of projects I can do on the GlowForge, but it’s good to know what is not possible as well.
Next project: 30’ of dungeon walls out of pink foam, wouldn’t fit on the glow forge anyway…
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Absolutely can. My understanding is that the filter sits below the unit. Then the normal exhaust port on the Glowforge is used but it just feeds the exhaust into the filter. You can also choose to not use the filter and just vent externally if you wish.
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The laser is going to be great for you, allowing you to bang out quantities for corporate gatherings and weddings.
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The pro unit can vent straight out. That’s what I plan to do with mine.
Yup, I have the Pro ordered without the filter. I want the power, feedthrough, and better optics but plan to vent all the time.