Wooden trophy shaped like a sail

What Can You Make With a CO2 Laser Engraver?

A CO2 laser engraver can engrave and cut wood, acrylic, leather, card and cork, engrave slate and frost glass, and mark anodised aluminium. That covers signs, wedding pieces, awards, coasters, keyrings and gifts. It can't cut glass or mark bare metal without a coating, and some plastics, such as PVC, must never go in.

It's the question almost everyone asks when they first see one running. The rest of this post is the longer answer β€” a tour through what a CO2 laser actually produces in a working commercial workshop, and what that means if you're thinking about buying one.

Wood β€” where CO2 laser engraving looks its best

If there's one material that makes people stop and stare, it's engraved natural wood. The laser burns into the grain with a precision no hand tool can match, creating contrast that photographs well and feels genuinely premium in the hand.

In our workshop most of what we make is wood: FSC-certified oak veneered MDF, FSC-certified Moso bamboo (certificate BV-COC-190523) and reclaimed wood, because wood is where the results are most striking and where customers are willing to pay for quality. Here's what that looks like in practice:

  • Personalised signs β€” house signs, name plaques, door signs, room signs for hotels and holiday lets. One of our most consistent sellers.
  • Wedding and event pieces β€” place names, table numbers, order of service boards, welcome signs, cake toppers. Natural wood gives a warmth that printed card never quite matches.
  • Corporate gifts and awards β€” engraved plaques, branded coasters, recognition awards, retirement gifts. Businesses pay well for this and they repeat-order.
  • Home dΓ©cor β€” wall art, clocks, map engravings, coordinates signs, family name pieces. High perceived value from relatively simple designs.
  • Kitchen and table accessories β€” personalised chopping boards, serving boards, coasters, cheese boards. Popular as wedding and housewarming gifts.
  • Pet memorials and portraits β€” a popular gift category with strong emotional value.
  • Keyrings and small gifts β€” high volume, low material cost, ideal for markets and Etsy if that's your route.

Acrylic β€” clean, modern, commercial

Where wood is warm and organic, acrylic is crisp and contemporary. The type of acrylic matters. Cast acrylic engraves bright white, so it's the one to choose for engraved work. Extruded acrylic cuts with a flame-polished edge that needs no sanding or finishing, but engraves to a duller, matt finish. Two-tone acrylic, a thin coloured cap layer on a contrasting core, gives striking results when the laser engraves through the cap to reveal the colour beneath.

Acrylic is flammable while it's being cut, so watch every job and keep the extraction running. Commercial applications include retail signage, illuminated lettering bases, awards, point of sale displays and architectural models. For a business serving retail or hospitality clients, acrylic capability opens up a different and often higher-value market.

Glass β€” engraving, not cutting

A CO2 laser frosts the surface of glass, which suits engraved drinking glasses and glass awards. It can't cut glass, and tempered glass can't be engraved.

Slate β€” gifts that last

Natural slate engraves to a clean pale contrast against the dark stone, produces a result that genuinely looks permanent, and photographs extremely well. Personalised slate coasters, placemats, house signs and cheese boards are popular gifts. The material is cheap, robust and widely available.

Leather, fabric and other materials

CO2 lasers cut and engrave vegetable-tanned leather cleanly β€” wallets, keyrings, luggage tags, notebook covers. Avoid chrome-tanned leather, and avoid most faux leather, which is often PVC or polyurethane and can give off chlorine. Synthetic fabric can be cut to shape with a sealed edge that doesn't fray, while natural fabrics can char; never cut PVC-coated fabric. Cork and card work well, though card catches fire easily, so watch it. Rubber works only if it's sold as laser-safe β€” never neoprene.

The machine doesn't care about the material's complexity, only its composition. These must never go in a CO2 laser: PVC, vinyl and most faux leather; neoprene; PTFE (Teflon); ABS; polycarbonate; and anything you can't identify. PVC gives off chlorine and hydrogen chloride, which are toxic and corrosive. Whatever the material, never leave the laser running unattended, keep a CO2 or ABC extinguisher within reach, and run air assist on every job.

Metal β€” anodised yes, bare no

A CO2 laser marks anodised aluminium directly, so anodised tags, cards and business card holders can be personalised without a marking compound. Bare metal reflects the CO2 beam: to mark it you need a marking compound such as CerMark, which fuses onto the surface, or a fibre laser.

What the machine can't do β€” honestly

As well as glass and bare metal, it won't cut thick sheet materials that a saw would handle better. And it won't replace a skilled designer: the machine executes a file precisely, but the quality of the result still depends on the quality of what you put in. LightBurn makes the design and execution side straightforward, but good design still matters. For how the beam actually marks each material, see what laser engraving is and how it works.

What this looks like as a business

The range above isn't hypothetical. We've made signs for hotels and holiday lets, wedding pieces, corporate awards and personalised gifts on the same machines, and the overlap between those markets means a single machine can serve several types of customer. We built Cherry Grove Craft primarily in the corporate and B2B space because the order values are higher and customers repeat, but the Etsy and wedding market provided the foundation to get there; the full story is in how I turned an Etsy shop into a B2B business.

For the full picture on how to build a business around a laser, read our three-year plan from someone who did it.

See it for yourself

Reading about what a laser can make is one thing. Watching it cut through a piece of oak veneered MDF and produce a finished sign in under two minutes is another. We're an official OMTech showroom in Buckley, North Wales, where both our OMTech CO2 lasers (sold to us as 80W) run real production. Bring your own material and we'll run a test on it while you're there, as long as it isn't on the never-cut list. Visits are free, informal and by appointment; how to book is on our OMTech showroom page.

When you're ready to buy, our OMTech discount code takes 4% off at omtech.uk (checked October 2026).

Frequently asked questions

What materials can a CO2 laser engrave?
Wood, plywood and MDF, acrylic, vegetable-tanned leather, card, cork, slate, glass and anodised aluminium. It cuts most of the same sheet materials (wood, acrylic, leather, card and cork), but not glass, slate or metal.

Can a CO2 laser cut acrylic?
Yes. Both types cut cleanly: extruded acrylic gives a flame-polished edge, while cast acrylic gives clean edges and engraves bright white. Acrylic is flammable while it's being cut, so never leave the job unattended.

Can a CO2 laser engrave glass?
Yes. A CO2 laser frosts the surface of glass, but it can't cut glass, and tempered glass can't be engraved.

Can a CO2 laser engrave metal?
It marks anodised aluminium directly. Bare metal reflects the beam, so it needs a marking compound such as CerMark, or a fibre laser.

What materials should never go in a CO2 laser?
PVC, vinyl, neoprene, PTFE (Teflon), ABS, polycarbonate, and anything you can't identify. PVC gives off chlorine and hydrogen chloride, and ABS can give off hydrogen cyanide. Vegetable-tanned leather is fine; avoid chrome-tanned leather and most faux leather (often PVC).

Disclosure: as an official OMTech showroom, we earn a commission from OMTech on purchases made with our code or link. The 4% discount comes off your price either way.

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