CHEAT SHEET

Description Engrave settings Cut settings

Laser (%) Computer (mm/s) Laser Computer (mm/s)

(%)

MDF 3mm yellow 30 - 50 400 35 7

MDF 6mm yellow 30 - 50 400 55 7

Forecolor 5mm 30 - 50 400 55 7

Perspex 2mm 30 400 25 7

Perspex 3mm 30 400 27 7

Glass 25 100

Vector engrave 12 25

Settings are based on a 60W laser and may vary slightly from machine to machine. Any
large deviations from these setting i.e. more than 5% on the control panel needs to be
investigated. Probable causes could be beam alignment or dirty optics.
MATERIAL SUPPLIERS

Company Location Materials

Woodcentre Pretoria MDF and other woods

H&S Timbers Benoni MDF and other woods

SA Argus Midrand MDF and Veneer and Various

Plexiglas

Davison Boards Pretoria MDF and other woods

Board and Timbers Edenvale MDF and other woods

Maizey’s Country wide Plexiglas, other plastics and

foams

Chamberlains Country wide MDF and other woods

 TYPES OF PERSPEX/PLEXIGLAS
TYPES OF MDF WOOD
Cast vs extruded

MDF Melamine

MDF Forescolor

Veneer MDF
OTHER SOURCES THAT CAN HELP

Site Description Cost

thingiverse.com Need to search for laser cut items free

grabcab.com Need to search for laser cut items free

yeggi.com This combines many other sites like free

thingiverse

en.makercase.com/#/ Create boxes free

Facebook: Billy’s ultimate laser Access to thousands of designs R50 per year
pack

laser-templates.com/ pre - designed items Sold per design

vecteezy.com Need to search for laser cut items Free and

Sold per design

ponoko.com Need to search for laser cut items Free and

Sold per design

When downloading the designs, ensure that the design is for material that you stock i.e.
material thickness. If the material thickness is not what you stock you can always try
selecting all and change the size while keeping the aspects ratio constant
INKSCAPE Shortcuts
Shift + Select Multiple selection
Ctrl + Shift + R Resize page
Ctrl + Shift + A Open Alignment window
Ctrl + Shift + F Open Fill/Stroke window
Shift + select Colour (bottom ribbon) Change stroke colour
Select Colour (bottom ribbon) Change Fill Colour
Crtl+X Cut
Ctrl+C Copy
Crtl+V Paste
Ctrl+A Select All
Ctrl+S Save
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo
Alt+Tab then Tab Tab Tab Jump between open programs
5 Fit image to full screen
Alt + F4 Close program
+ or - Zoom in or out
NODE Editing
Select node then scroll(Keep mouse one node) Select nodes in the closed loop
Select Node then Ctrl+A Selects all the nodes in closed loop