Laser cut cardboard: corrugated, flat board and safety

Corrugated board has holes between its layers. xTool says smoke can become trapped inside the vacant space of the board (opens in a new tab), which makes it harder to cut. A guide from the CCI fab lab at the University of the Arts London notes that the flutes can hold hot gases (opens in a new tab). Penn Design’s fab lab lists corrugated cardboard as banned (opens in a new tab).

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago recommends thin corrugated stock and says thicker cardboard tends to burn more (opens in a new tab).

The same guide describes solid cardboard such as grey board apart from corrugated. Flat chipboard and museum board are accepted at some labs: Harvard GSD’s fab lab lists chipboard and museum board as approved (opens in a new tab). Paper still burns, though.

Yes. xTool’s D1 guide says cardboard cuts well but may catch fire (opens in a new tab). Glowforge says cardboard and paper are extremely prone to catching fire (opens in a new tab). MIT’s environmental health office says air assist can help prevent flare-ups and charring (opens in a new tab), and also says never to leave a running laser cutter unattended.

Never leave the laser unattended while it cuts. Do not stack materials, especially paper, around the machine. Keep the room ventilated so the smoke leaves. These are xTool’s rules, on its D1 page (opens in a new tab).

If you smell something chemical, stop the machine and tell staff, as Georgetown’s MakerHub (opens in a new tab) says. After the cut, check that nothing is smoldering.

Glowforge warns that inks, protective chemicals and coatings can be laser-incompatible (opens in a new tab), that they can release harmful fumes, and that metal staples can redirect the beam. Cut plain, uncoated board, and take every staple out.

One. Read your lab’s or maker’s material list. Two. Choose flat, plain board and remove staples. Three. Lay one sheet on the bed, never a stack. Four. Find your settings with the circle test. Five. Stay at the machine for the whole cut. Six. Check for smoldering before you open the lid and handle the parts.

Taskboard cuts faster on a laser, with a light brown edge that sands clean. Every rule above applies to it too. Watch the machine.

Every laser is different. Cut a row of small circles, each with its setting etched beside it, and use the first circle that cuts fully through.

See the circle test for how to run it.

Compare the flat sheets in laser cutting materials, or see chipboard compared.