Laser cutting is a technique that enables us to cut shapes in sheets of wood, cardboard, paper, plastic, leather and textile, by means of a laser beam. The highly concentrated laser beam cuts perpendicular through all kinds of sheet material, in any kind of shape and with a high precision. Based on a digital drawing, created in a program like Illustrator, we are able to realise your design in 1-3 work days. Send us your drawing(s) and you’ll receive a very competitive estimate within 24 hours.
LASER CUTTING WOOD
Available types: | Birch plywood in 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 mm |
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Poplar plywood in 4, 6 and 9 mm | |
Considerations: | Poplar plywood is about 40% cheaper and about 20% cheaper to cut than birch. Though poplar is softer and less stiff than birch, so choice depends on application. |
The laser cutter creates a cutting line in wood by burning away the material, resulting in a brown coloured side of the material. | |
The thickness of plywood can vary about 0.2 mm relative to the nominal thickness. Thus the thickness of a sheet of 3 mm could be between 2.8 and 3.2 mm in reality. Keep this in mind when designing fits. | |
On the back side (and to a limited extent on the front side) the material could discolour around the cutting edge by means of the kickback of the laser. This discolouration can be just sanded away or we could add protection foil to avoid this. If you would like this please mention it in your application and we wil include this in the estimate. |
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Laser cutting plastic
Acrylate is very well suited for displays or consumer products like jewelry and lighting. Acrylate or perspex or plexiglas is sensitive to scratches, that’s why in general we leave the protection foil on the sheet before and after cutting. The material is relatively brittle and so thin and oblong parts could break easily. The differences in thickness between or within the sheets are small.
Available types: | Transparent and white PP (Polypropylene) foil in 0.5 and 0.8 mm |
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Matt white PS (Polystyrene) foil in 1 and 2 mm | |
Transparent acrylate (perspex) in 2, 3, 4 and 6 mm | |
Opal acrylate (perspex) in 2 and 3 mm | |
Black, white and colored acrylate (perspex) in 3 mm | |
Considerations: | The PP foils suit very well for making stencils. Furthermore they are applicable for making packaging and wrappers and folders, by cutting the material halfaway a film hinge can be created. |
The laser cutter creates a cutting line in plastics by melting away the material and will not discolour the sides. Cutting the PP foil could result in accumulation of material along the edges. | |
We have many colours of acrylate sheets standard in stock, other colours we could order for you of course. |
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LASER CUTTING CARDBOARD/PAPER
Laser cutting of cardboard is a fine option for example for model building, displays and packaging. Creating a film hinge, by cutting the material halfaway (like PP foil) is not possible though, the material rips after a few bendings.
Available types: | Grey cardboard in 1, 2 and 3 mm |
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Brown (craft) cardboard in 1 mm | |
Black and white cardboard in 1 and 2 mm | |
Brown corrugated cardboard in 1,5 and 2,5 mm | |
Considerations: | The laser cutter creates a cutting line in cardboard and paper by burning away the material resulting in a brown/black coloured side. This gives off, but could be wiped away with a cloth. |
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LASER CUTTING TEXTILE
We can cut any fabric, if it’s synthetic or natural, no problem! Only thick pieces of leather could be difficult to cut or result in ugly cutting edge, since too much material needs to be burned away.
Available types: | CRE8 doesn’t keep fabrics in stock. |
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Considerations: | The laser cutter creates a cutting line in the natural fabrics like cotton and leather by burning away material resulting in a brown/black side. This could give off, but can be wiped away with a cloth. With synthetic materials the material will melt away resulting in a non discoloured side. |