Silicone Material for Glowforge

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A friend of mine was asking me about some prototypes she wants to make and figured that I may be able to help her out with my Glowforge once it arrives. Her ideas involved cutting food-grade silicone to make some kitchen accessories. I have looked around the forum and can’t seem to find a solid answer… so…

My questions for the honorable (and highly admired) current Glowforge owners/users or anyone on the Glowforge corporate staff:

  1. Can Glowforge cut/engrave food-grade silicone?

  2. If so, please give any tips/advice?

  3. If not, any ideas on an alternate substrate I could use?

Many thanks in advance!! I’m doing my best to catch up on all posts in the forum!

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Check with @smcgathyfay …she does silicone work and might have some suggestions. :relaxed:

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I will be testing a bunch of silicones this week, since I do a lot of organ making in silicones.

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OOOHH!!! I look forward to hearing about your progress and any advice you can give. I’m uber awesome at vector art so if you need anything vectorized… please don’t hesitate to ask!

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Is organ-grade silicone the same as food-grade silicone? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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They all look like chicken!

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the organ grade plays music. DUH :slight_smile:

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I’ve engraved it…but cant cut through more than 1/16"

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Hmmmm…how does that compare to vegan grade silicone? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Similar to these Silicone Bracelets? (I googled Laser/ Engraving silicone)

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Hey is your silicone colored or clear? I haven’t tried any yet, so don’t know if color changes absorption, but most of mine are flesh, blue or red, and I will need to try liver-brown. I’m using the SilPig colorants from Smooth-On.

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Here is some info from a cut test I did on silicone:

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Which silicone were you using? I have mostly been using DragonSkin 10 and Ecoflex 0050. I sometimes use MoldMax XLS II

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That was on Mold Star 15

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If anyone finds a source for food-grade silicone sheets about 1/8" thick, please post. Variable colors would be a big bonus! I have a gasket I’d like to try making when the time comes.

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McMaster-Carr is one source if you are in the States:

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I don’t need an organ but a piano would be great! :sunglasses:

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So while I couldn’t get to lasering due to some issues, I have whipped up 2 new silicones for those who like silicone stuff.

One I am trying to make inexpensive ultrasoundable silicone models. These are based currently on the Ecoflex 0020 (maybe will try 0010 if it’s too dense still) as the 0050 we normally use for flesh is too dense. So as you can see I am using batteries to make holes in the silicone pour to simulate blood vessels (I will pull them out in the morning) and then fill with water with some dragonskin 10VF to make good targets for the ultrasound (air doesn’t transmit). I’d like to say the battery that fell over was deliberate to make a sideways blood vessel, but one of my dev team members bumped the table… If this works we will cast a real artery in the real test mold (this was a failed print I had sitting around)

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Second (which I can’t reveal the chemistry yet, until it’s published) is my fantasy of making electrically conductive silicone. You can have it any color as long as it’s poop… One my my colleagues from colorectal surgery commented, it’s poop and not even healthy looking poop… Interestingly the additives I am using, seem to prevent the bubbles from escaping like normal. This is Dragon Skin 10VF

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I’m going to suggest not using batteries to make arteries in this kind. :slight_smile:

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