Your First Job: The Material Test Grid
A grid of small squares engraved at different speed and power combinations. It looks like nothing — and it is worth more than any settings chart on the internet, because it was made on your machine, your lens, and your material.
KitWhat you'll need
- A scrap of your material — the same batch as the real project; plywood varies sheet to sheet
- Masking tape for a clean surface (optional)
- LightBurn, LaserGRBL, or your machine's own software
SettingsStarting points
| Laser | Power range | Speed range |
|---|---|---|
| Diode | 10–80% in 10% steps | 1,000–6,000 mm/min |
| CO2 | 10–80% in 10% steps | 100–500 mm/s |
StepsHow to do it
- Fix the scrap flat. Tape the corners if it's warped — focus errors ruin test grids.
- Focus properly. Autofocus, focus block or ramp test — exactly as your manual describes.
- Set up the grid. LightBurn: Laser Tools → Material Test (LaserGRBL: Grid Generator plugin). Power 10–80% in 10% steps, speed band to suit your laser. 10 mm squares are plenty.
- Run it, watching. Air assist and extraction on. Stay with the machine for the whole job.
- Read the result. Find the square that gives what you want — dark but not charred for wood, frosted but not melted for acrylic.
- Label and keep it. Write the material, date and settings on the grid with a marker. This is the start of your physical settings library.
MistakesWhat everyone gets wrong
- Testing on a different batch or thickness than the real project.
- Forgetting to refocus after changing material thickness.
- Changing two variables at once when fine-tuning. One at a time, always.
⚠ SafetyEven “safe” materials produce fine smoke — extraction on for every job, including tests.
⤴ Level up
Run a second, tighter grid around your sweet spot (±10% power, ±20% speed in small steps). On fibre and UV lasers, run a third grid varying frequency at your best speed and power.