Hello friends - tonight I noticed a piece of foam rubber in the laser cutter bin that looks like it had been cut on the laser.
Just a reminder do not cut foam on the laser!
Foam can contain toxic chemicals, can be highly flammable - or both. Foam is explicitly mentioned on the MakeICT wiki Laser Cutter page as a prohibited material. If you see anyone cutting foam, please refer them to the wiki.
To my knowledge there has never been a blanket ban on foam in the laser cutters. Specific types of foam (Polypropylene and Polystyrene) are banned but others have been cut in the past. A search on the forum yields a number of results for people discussing the proper way to do it.
https://talk.makeict.org/search?q=foam%20laser
Foam does require care due to risk of flame/melting, but this isn’t unique to foam. Cardboard, paper and other materials are also a fire risk and require extra caution. I’ve personally cut foam on the laser a couple times. Polyethylene and EVA foam (which is likely what the pictured floor mat is made of) generally cut well and are considered safe.
