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This post is part of Plyco’s Guide to Laser Plywood
Laser Plywood has burst into the mainstream in a big way and our Laserply range has quickly become one of the most sought after that we stock at Plyco. The rapid growth in popularity has left some people asking, ‘What Is Laser Plywood?’ This question is straightforward but has a surprisingly complex answer, so to properly tackle it we’ve put together this post as an introduction to Laser Plywood. Even if you’re intimate with Laser Plywood, you’ll still find a wealth of knowledge to improve your understanding and familiarity with Plywood’s fastest rising star.
What is Laser Plywood?
Basically, Laser Plywood is a plywood product that has been specifically designed and crafted for use with consumer laser cutting machines. However, that short description is something you probably could have deduced yourself and it doesn’t exactly tell you the whole story.
Laser Plywood is an extremely adaptable and craft-friendly type of Plywood that can be used in so many unique ways. You only need to look at the range of Laser Plywood applications we see at Plyco to get an idea. On one end of the spectrum, we have members of our community making handy book covers out of our Bamboo Laserply, while at the other end we have customers making clutch purses (see below). Laser Plywood is so much more than a piece of ply that can work harmoniously with a laser cutter; it’s a whole new world of Plywood.
An incredible Laser Plywood clutch purse by Jack Taylor built with our QLD Walnut
Why are Laser Plywood Products Suitable for Laser Cutting?
Believe it or not, you can’t just use regular Plywood products with a laser cutter and expect to get amazing results. In fact, doing so can actually be hazardous. Those who have tried may occasionally get okay results, but more often than not they encounter serious issues like their wood cracking or toxic fumes circulating throughout the air. These unignorable factors mean that it’s crucial you use a specialty laser grade product if you're destined for laser cutting.
But why are Laser Plywood products suitable for laser cutting, you ask? Well, there are three main features that are required for a piece of Plywood to be able to join our Laserply range.
Feature #1: The Adhesive
Arguably the most important part of any piece of Laser Plywood is the glue. Without using the correct style of adhesive you’ll be going nowhere in a hurry, and might end up with a fireworks show you weren’t anticipating. You see, with a non-compatible glue your Plywood will either flat-out refuse to cut, create potentially toxic fumes, or while just end up burning. None of these are ideal, and the last two situations could potentially end up doing genuine damage. In our Laserply range, we only use products that have a suitable, formaldehyde free glue to ensure our customers will never have any of these issues while cutting.
Feature #2: The Construction
The next thing you need to find in every sheet of Laser Plywood is the absence of core gaps. When we say “absence” we really mean it, because even just a tiny hint can end up disastrous for you. Core gaps inevitably lead to air bubbles while laser cutting. The presence of these bubbles inevitably results in the wood cracking and making it completely useless. Every single sheet of Laserply at Plyco meets this standard to ensure your freshly purchased product doesn’t end up in the scrap bin!
Feature #3: The Density
Finally, density plays a large role in the making of a great Laser Plywood. If you take a Plywood product that is too dense and attempt to use it with a laser cutter you’ll get very poor, uneven, and all-around ugly cuts, and there’s even the chance that the wood won’t cut at all if it’s dense enough. While this doesn’t have the extreme side effects of using the wrong glue or the presence of air gaps, it’s still extremely frustrating to get home with your new Ply and find out that you can’t even cut it.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into creating a true Laser Grade Plywood. The depth of our knowledge of these important characteristics is what makes our Laserply range so special and so perfect for laser cutting.
Now that we’ve solved the question “What is Laser Plywood?”, why not head over to our online store to check out our entire range? Alternatively, if you want to learn more you can read through our other informational posts in our Laser Plywood Guide, like How Does a Laser Cutter Work and What Types of Laser Plywood Are There?
