Basics

How laser cutting actually works.

• CO2, diode, fibre and galvo: which laser does what

  The four laser types hobbyists meet, what each one can and cannot cut, and why wavelength — not wattage — decides whether a material works at all.

• How laser cutting actually works

  What happens where the beam meets the material: focus, kerf, the difference between cutting and burning, and why the same settings behave differently on every sheet.

• Cutting, engraving and scoring: the three operations

  The three things a laser does to a sheet, how each is set up, and why putting them on separate layers in the right order decides whether the job works.

• Your first project, start to finish

  One continuous walkthrough from a blank canvas to a finished part: what to make first, how to find settings, and the checks that stop a wasted sheet.