Safety

Fumes, eyewear and fire. The parts that actually hurt you.

• Materials you must never laser cut

  PVC, polycarbonate, ABS and vinyl should never go in a laser cutter. Here is what each one does, why it matters, and how to identify unlabelled plastic.

• Laser safety: eyes, fire and fumes

  The three things that actually hurt you, and what to do about each: eye protection rated for your wavelength, fire you have to watch for, and fumes you cannot smell.

• Fire: the risk people underestimate

  A laser cutter works by burning things. What turns a normal flare into a fire, why the honeycomb bed matters, and what to keep within reach.

• Laser classes 1 to 4, and which one you own

  What Class 1, 2, 3R, 3B and 4 mean, why every laser cutter holds a Class 4 source, and how an enclosure changes the class of the product but not the beam.

• Enclosing an open-frame laser

  If you own an open-frame machine, an enclosure is the one upgrade that matters. What it has to do, what the window must be made of, and what not to bother with.