I’d love teak. My daily thoughts beginning with, “I could do this on the GF,” are starting to include a lot of custom items for the boat. I’m sure there are plenty of other Puget Sound area boaters/future GF’ers who have similar thoughts.
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I would like to see some multi-layer acrylic or Delrin.
It would have a white face layer, a colour layer and then a black layer. Depending on the depth of the engrave, it would show a different colour. I am not sure how feasible this is, but given that two colour works (per the into video), it should be possible.
There could be an additional white layer between the colour and the black layer, yielding the possibility of a colour gradient depending on the thickness of the colour layer.
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So for me, 1/8" plywood with various wood types for the veneer surface - maple, walnut, mahogany, cherry, padauk, purple/yellow heart, plus some of the exotics if possible.
Also, sheets/rolls of blank paper used on the front/back of the proof grade materials.
I don’t think I ever replied to this, so…
Acrylics: All colors. Including glow-in-the-dark, silver, and gold. 1, 2, and 3 layers of colors.
Glowthinnies™: Many materials available in very thin slices. 1/16, 1/32, 1/64…
Thanks!
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I’m not sure myself if I did, it has evolved.
Acrylics of all colors and thickness out to max that can be cut reliably.
Peel and stick felt. Several colors.
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Translucent acrylics, esp in fluorescent colors – blue, yellow, green, red, orange.
image courtesy USP
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i’d love to see a rainbow or graduated colour range plastic. though that would depend on how fine the depth control could be.
that or very thin sheets of that type of plastic in a wide array of colours so we can cut and fix to create the effect we want.
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hmm. well i an international customer, so i don’t know how much Proofgrade i’ll be able to get, but here’s what i’ve already considered.
just about any flat construction material, but aside from the standard woods, fabrics, plastics and leathers, i’d like to see just a really wide range. glass, ceramic, tile, antistatic materials, foamcore, pinboard, fluted plastic board, laminates, blackboard, whiteboard, melamine?, translucent plastics, light diffuser panel or sheet, various reflectives, magnifying or focusing options, a wide variety of card and cardboard, gasket materials, diaphragm rubber, etc.
and that list doesn’t include some of the crazier things i’d love to play with.
i know that leather has been suggested, but that comes in varieties, and i’d like to see more than just the one type. hush, firm, different finishes and tanning types. hard leathers and various types of stiffener card. the problem with the leather is you’d do better to attach the QR code as a pinned card than as a sticker, which would ruin many leather finishes, and you can use both sides so putting it on the back isn’t optimal.
i know that lasers do well cutting insulators, but i wonder about materials like Viton or other high temp plastics or rubbers.
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From attendees at Maker Faire interested in the Glowforge, the clear laserable polymer stamp material would be good.
Mylar sheets for stencils
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I was cutting a stencil earlier today on my Silhouette Curio and thinking how much more detail I could get with a laser.
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️ 1/8 inch ply
️ 1/4 inch ply
️ Leather
️ Canvas
️ Any acrylic
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PCB etching via laser is very interesting. So far it seems a bit experimental (e.g. http://makezine.com/2007/01/22/how-to-use-a-laser-to-etc/) but if a PCB prepared for laser etching and cutting could be sold as “proofgrade” that would be awesome for DIY and small volume electronics makers, prototypes, etc.
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Hmm, A proofgrade PCB where it is already coated with a material. Laser off an inverted image and etch away the excess copper. That would be pretty cool.
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I know lots of other places sell masking, but it would be a nice thing to have without ordering from somewhere else.
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If glowforge wants to sell masking material, I’m pretty certain it would be dead simple for them to become distributors of the masking material from the company that they source the proofgrade masking from. It would probably not take too much more effort on top of that to have it re-branded as Proofgrade Masking.
But would they stock 12" rolls, 20" rolls, or both?
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Would make sense to stock 12" because that’s the max width of material. It can be rolled on a 20" long piece…or a 12" or any length.
A 20" roll is fine for a Max length piece of material but anything smaller and it’ll be a PITA. More stuff available in 12"x something than 20"x something. Anything smaller than 12" width is probably a good candidate for blue tape.
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I was thinking the 20" width for pass-through items…
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I need two-toned acrylic where you can engrave to get a second color
Also, 1/4 MDF wood (or any wood).
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I like both of these but the good news is that both of these are quite consistent so until there is a 
you can have some good luck with other sources.
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Dried Kelp? Probably will need some kind of treatment, at least where I live that stuff reeks after sitting in the sun and on the sand for a few days.
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