Laser Cutter Job and Settings Log
Keep the machine's own day book, so a bad cut can be traced to a dirty lens or a changed setting, and a good one can be run again.
SD-19 2 pages
Studio crafts and making · SD-18
Laser and Router Material Test Record
A free printable material test card for laser and CNC router work — one material per card, a grid of test cuts and engraves with their settings and results.
Download Free · no sign-up
One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Test a new material once, properly, and keep the answer where the next job can find it — instead of guessing on the job and scrapping the sheet.
Who it is for
Makers, small fabricators, makerspaces and school workshops running a laser cutter or CNC router on more than one material.
How to use it
- Identify the material, its thickness and lot, the machine and the lens or bit.
- Run a series of tests, one line each, varying power and speed for the laser or RPM and feed for the router, with passes or depth.
- Describe the result of each — through or not, char, burr, kerf, tearout — and tick the ones you would use.
- Copy the chosen cut, engrave and score settings into the box at the foot.
- Keep the test piece, note where, and file the card with the machine's settings list.
What is on the sheet
One page, top to bottom:
Printed under the title: One material on one card — a run of test cuts and engraves, what each one looked like, and the settings you chose to keep.
Test it on this sheet of material, not on the job. No settings are printed here, because they belong to your machine, your lens or bit, and this sheet of material — not the next one. Run the test grid, look at the edges, then copy the settings you would use again into the box at the foot.
Write-on lines: Material · Thickness · Supplier / lot · Date · Machine · Lens / nozzle or bit · Focus / offset · Air / extraction
Test grid — one line per test; power and speed for laser, RPM and feed for router
Table, 8 rows: Test · Operation · Power / RPM · Speed / feed · Passes · Depth · Freq. / step · Result · Keep
Settings kept for this material — copy these to the machine's settings list
Write-on lines: Cut · Engrave / pocket · Score / profile · Sample kept where · Tested by · Notes
Questions
Why doesn't the sheet suggest starting settings for common materials?
Because the right settings depend on your machine's power, its lens or bit, its focus and the exact sheet you have, and a figure that is right for one machine scorches or fails to cut on another. Your machine's manual and your own tests are the source; this card records what they found.
One card per material or per job?
Per material and thickness. A job then just quotes the card, and the Laser Cutter Job and Settings Log records that it did.
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