Laser Cutters

Our laser cutters use C0₂ laser technology. The lasers are light produced by applying a high voltage to a gas filled tube, a set of mirrors intensifies the light until it is powerful enough to pass through a partially reflective mirror. The laser is then focused on your material using a lens. The software allows you to set a path of motion for vector cutting or raster engraving. Modifying the settings for speed, power and frequency allows you to cut or engrave a variety of materials.

• Acrylic
• Animal Hide Leather
• Corian
• Cork
• Cotton Fabric
• Delrin
• Fleece & Polyester Fabric
• Foam Board made of EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate), polyethylene, or polystyrene
• Mat Board & Paper
• Melamine
• Mylar [polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film]
• Pressboard
• PVC-Free Vinyl alternatives: PEVA (polyethylene vinyl acetate), PVB (polyvinyl butyral), PVA (polyvinyl acetate), PP (polypropylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), and Polyester
• Rubber
• Twill Fabric
• Wood & MDF

Engrave Only:

• AlumaMark
• Anodized Metal
• Ceramic & Glass
• Marble & Slate
• Painted Brass
• Powder Coated Metals
• Stainless Steel with Cermark

Prohibited materials

• Materials containing Hydrogen Chloride
• Kydex
• PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), common artificial leather
• PVB (Polyvinyl butyrale)
• PTFE/Teflon (Polytetrafluoroethylenes)
• ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
• Carbon Fiber
• Epoxy
• Resin & Ecoresin
• Fiberglass
• Polycarbonate & Lexan
• HDPE (High density polyethylene)
• Polypropylene Foam
• Polystyrene Foam (Styrofoam)
• Polyurethane Foam

• 24″ x 24″ x 0.25″

The type of material in combination with the lens focal length and laser wattage determines how thick of a sheet you will be able to cut through. Consult with EPIC staff before purchasing material over 0.25″ thick as it may not be possible to cut through but still can be engraved.

Vendors we have had success purchasing (be aware some Amazon vendors will say the product is Acrylic/Plexiglas but it is not, make sure it is for C02 lasers):

• Acrylic sheets: McMaster-Car
• 1/8″ acrylic sheets: Amazon Enoin store
• 1/8″ acrylic sheets: Amazon BESARME product
• Rubber Stamps: Premium No Odor Laser Rubber, Project Guide
• Leather-Like Sheet: Johnson Plastics Plus Saddle Collection Sheet
• Heat-Transfer Vinyl: Siser Easyweed on JPP or on Amazon, Laser Flex on JPP
• Natural Leather: District Leather Supply, Project Guide
• Mylar for Stencils: Mylar on Amazon
• Mylar tape: Engravable Laser Foil
• Epilog Laser has provided a Supplier List

• Cuts are always at a slight angle.
• Kerf is lost, may be large dependent on settings

• ± 0.005″ | 0.13mm

Our preferred file types for laser cutting are PDF and DXF. Please make sure to export your ready-to-cut part drawing without any text, labels, or extraneous features. Other files, such as images, may be used for rasterizing art or logos.

We use Corel Draw Graphics Suite 2021 to print to the laser cutters. Each laser cutter has its own PC associated with it that you can use in the lab. Corel Draw can open other common graphics files like those created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. We recommend exporting in a couple file types in case Corel doesn’t render your images properly, DXF and PDF are the most commonly used file types.

Compatible file types:

DXF, DWG, EPS, PS, PRN, PDF, SVG/Z, CPT, PNG, JPG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, RAW, ARW, CR2, CRW, DCR, DNG, KDC, MOS, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF, RAF, SR2, RW2, SRF, SRW, THM, CDR Legacy, AI, CMX, CDT, PAT, CLK, CGM, CGZ, CPX, CSL, DES, DSF, DRW, DST, MGX, EMF (Enhanced Windows Metafile), FH (Free hand), FMV (Frame Vector Metafile), GEM, HTM, MET, NAP, PIC, PCT, PLT, PPT, PUB, SHW, VSD, WMF, WPG, RTF, CAL, CUR, DOCX, EXE, ICO, IMG, JP2, MAC, PCX, PP4, PSD, RIFF, SCT, TGA, TXT, WB, WQ, WK, WP4 (4.2), WP5 (5.0), WP5 (5.1), WPD (6-11), WSD (2000), (WSD (7.0), XCF, XPM, XLS, PFB, DOC, SWF, TTF

Inkscape is also available.