Yes, CO2 lasers can and do cut metal, just not 40-45 Watt lasers.
I posted this before.
There are lots and lots of commercial lasers out there cutting metal everyday.
They just cost so much more than a Glowforge that it is not even a reasonable comparison.
Sorry, I meant to say not commercial CO2 lasersā¦
facepalm So, people are dropping $3k-$5k without doing 30 seconds of research on what this thing will cut? Dan better hire a slew of tier 1 support staffā¦
No faceplates needed, vhotho. I did the researchā¦but wasnāt 100% certain. At least I couldnāt find any cut and dry statements.
Thanks jkopel.
Thanks! Thatās a good resource!
SMC - Do you have any idea if the Rowmark can tolerate being outdoors in the sun and weather? Most plaques are indoors, but I am hoping you might also have made some signage. (-: Thank you for the info.
Michelle
Yes, there are several types that are UV stable and durable for outdoor application. Hereās one of many
http://www.rowmark.com/laser/LaserMAX/lasermax.asp
When buying material, always make sure you are getting the laser engravable and not the regular rotary engravable as that is made with a different plastic that is not ok for the laser
Wonderful! Thank you for the info. Iāve been wanting to make some neat metal stuff to put on vehicles, but I havenāt found a method to make cool etching into metal. Maybe this Rowmark will be a cheat for me. Thank you, hope you have a super day!
Michelle
I use it to make License plate framesā¦ This one has lasted for 2 years so far in snowy cold winters
and 100 degrees plus summers
License plate frames: yes. Another application for the Glowforge. and a good quote.
A lot of great info in this thread!
This one will, though not a laser, is billed as being an āaffordableā water jet machine, tinijet , but, I havenāt been able to find a price.
I was hoping water Jet cutting would be the next GlowForge team project. The camera would probably need to have a tiny windshield wiper on it. 
We saw a āpersonalā water jet at CES. I donāt think it was this one, though. $25,000.
Sounds like a great opportunity for āHydroforgeā.
Can you make hydro jet cutting not suck?
I wonder what makes it a $25k device? Sure there must be some waterproofing. Other than that itās a XY gantry with a $299 electric pressure washer pump and a special nozzle.
Industrial water jets run jets at much higher pressures than washers can generate. Like an order of magnitude more. Most high pressure washers run at less the 5,000 PSI, but an industrial gantry water jets runs at 30,000 to 90,000 PSI.
On Edit, I just looked at that tinyjet link. They claim to run at 1000 bar (i.e. 14503.8 PSI according to google calculator), and they are injecting abrasives into the stream.
4mm SS 12 min runā¦ LOL!
More time or more pressure baby!
Pick one!
Then you watch a beast like this rip through something like that 10x faster in 5-axesā¦ Of course to get the difference, how about this jet cutting through 10cm (depth not linear) of bulletproof glass and you get the sense of the difference between industrial level and a $25000 āprosumerā level cutterā¦
I think it movedā¦
Nice license plate cover! The colors still look vibrant. Is all of the plate frame made from Rowmark? Good stuff! Thanks for the sample. Photos of work product make everything real. What did you use to etch/engrave?