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Paper is a very versatile material and has been in production in many forms since Roman times. While paper can be cut using scissors or scored with a knife, laser cut paper uses a laser beam to cut out designs by vaporising the paper faster than it can catch fire. This burning action results in a browning of cut edges as well as a slight burning odour that fades with time.

Paper is a very easy material to cut, and tools used to cut paper rarely experience mechanical wear and tear. However, using a laser cutter to cut paper has some major advantages, and can even be used for more unusual applications such as 3D paper sculptures made using glued layers. The first advantage to using a laser cutter with paper is that the thin nature of paper combined with a powerful laser beam results in a cutting action that is faster and more accurate than mechanical methods such as a scoring knife or scissors. The second advantage is that laser cutters use numerically controlled motors whose commands are sent via a computer. Not only does this create a process that is easily repeatable, but the precision and accuracy of a laser cutter completely outperform any manual process. The third advantage is that a laser cutter can cut the middle of a sheet without needing a training cut from an edge. Simply put, a circle can be cut out of a sheet of paper whereas scissors would need to cut the paper from an edge to the point where the shape needs to be cut out from. The fourth advantage is that laser cutters are good for both prototyping and mass production. This means that any product which requires specifically shaped pieces of paper can use a service like Ponoko from an initial prototype to the final product. The fifth advantage of a laser cutter is that the combination of the small beam width and the ability to cut inside a piece of material can create extremely complex patterns and cut-outs with ease. For example, a paper snowflake is traditionally made by folding a piece of paper several times to enable for cutting the inside pattern, but a laser cutter could cut these patterns out without any folding needed.

This question is quite subjective. While the base cost of the raw paper material is low, the majority of the cost is in hiring laser time and operators to run the machines. This means the cost for one part cut from paper will likely appear high compared to cutting by hand, but once you start needing duplicates of identical cuts you’ll soon find it’s more cost effective to use a laser to do the cutting.

Ponoko offers a wide range of various paper materials and is referred to as cardstock. The term “paper” typically refers to the thin sheets used in printers (i.e. printing paper), and this is something that Ponoko does not cut. Instead, Ponoko offers cardstock which is much thicker than printing paper, and as such has greater mechanical strength. Ponoko offers cardstock in a wide variety of colors including gold, navy blue, and silver, and all cardstock has the same thickness of 0.01 inches.

Cardboard is also made from paper, but the fundamental difference is the thickness and durability of cardboard. Cardboard is thicker and more rigid than paper and includes stock with both thick single layers (paperboards) or several layers (corrugated cardboards & mat boards). Corrugated cardboard uses internal waving structures of paper to create a more structurally sound material. The use of wavy walls helps to increase its strength vertically, while the separation of the two layers helps to reduce the weight of the cardboard. Corrugated cardboard is more resistant to shock and impacts than paper making it ideal for use in the packaging industry.

You can absolutely engrave paper with a laser cutter, but the challenge is ensuring that the power of the laser beam is kept on the low side. Paper is a very thin material and far easier to cut than other materials meaning that engraving can cut the paper if the operator is not careful. Engraved paper leaves a burnt profile that can have a burnt paper odour, but the contrast between an engraving and the material is often very high (depending on the color of the base material).

Laser-cut paper can be used in a wide range of applications including industrial, commercial, and even experimental research. For example, paper can be used for fashion and decorative purposes in papercrafts, packaging, and holiday/greeting cards. It can also be used as separation layers inside products such as speakers and microphones. Another use for laser cut paper would be to make stencils for graphic or solder paste applications.