Which Colors Acrylic can a Diode Laser Cut (& Engrave)
If you’re looking into a diode laser, you may be wondering which colors acrylic can a diode laser cut or engrave? I hope this review helps you – and if it does, check out these cool laser engraved and cut acrylic DIY mom necklaces too! Disclosure: xTool helped facilitate this post by providing test material. All materials were chosen by me, all test results are my own honest feedback. This post contains affiliate links.
If you’re looking into laser engravers, or already own one and want to know its limitations, I’ve got you.
As a jewelry crafter who works with multiple materials, xTool’s F1 Ultra is a win for me. It can really do a lot with metal, as you can see from my xTool F1 Ultra review, and can work with many other jewelry materials as well: leather, black acrylic, wood, and more.
But what about colored acrylics? xTool’s Diode lasers are advertised as cutting and engraving black acrylic and they do a fabulous job. I decided to put it fully to the test.
How I ran the colored acrylics Diode cut tests
Testing parameters
I decided which colors to test based on those listed as Diode friendly. I wanted to see just how far I can push its limits and in fact, it went much further than I thought surprising me in some situations.
All of these were tested on the xTool F1 Ultra dual 20 Watt fiber and 20 Watt diode laser. They should work with the F1 as well – although the Ultra will work faster (you can read my comparison of the xTool F1 vs. the F1 Ultra here)
For each color, I ran two side-by-side tests. One just cuts in a bit of a more interesting shape, and the other has an engraved design, a scored design, and is cut as well.
I started with xTool’s default setting for each of these and share my adjustments below. It’s important to note, when engraving and cutting ANY material on any machine that provided settings are just a starting point. You’ll want to take your own notes and run your own tests.
The right machine for the job
Before I even begin running you through my tests, I feel the need to issue a disclosure: a diode laser is NOT the laser you should get if your primary focus is acrylics.
Having the right tool for the job is important. The problem is, there isn’t really a single laser that does everything – the science just doesn’t work that way.
xTool got jewelry crafters pretty close with the F1Ultra, because it’s really two lasers. But for acrylics, a CO2 laser – such as the P2 – is really the correct tool to dedicate to acrylics.
However, if you’re a jewelry crafter who needs to invest in one machine for now, or doesn’t have the space for a large Co2 laser, knowing exactly what you can do with a diode laser can be incredibly helpful – which is why I ran these tests! I needed this info for myself!
In fact, if you’re not a jewelry crafter and are crafting larger projects, you’ll want something like the P2 that can craft on a larger scale than us jewelry crafters need as your primary machine.
Getting the right acrylic
Believe it or not, I’ve run tests in the past, with very poor results but today’s tests were far more impressive for one reason: I got the right acrylics this time.
Cast acrylic
The acrylic you buy must be cast acrylic. This might seem like a minor issue (just buy one that says “cast” however, I’ve found that many poor quality manufacturers inject inaccurate keywords into their listings.
All of the acrylics I’m testing today are from xTool’s cast acrylic lineup. I’ve found xTool to have consistently high quality results, making for much less wasted material, less trial and error, and more polished final pieces.
Whether you choose to get yours from xTool or not, make sure getting from high quality source. And I don’t mean Amazon. That’s where I got my bad acrylics from – multiple vendors means poor oversight.
Either way, I highly recommend xTool’s acrylics, and all the tests below were done on xTool’s acrylics.
Black Acrylic
Because I’ve tested 3mm black acrylics thoroughly before – including while making these lasered acrylic earrings and while reviewing the xTool F1 – I did not include it here in today’s tests.
Black acrylic is the most straightforward. It can be scored and engraved using the Diode or Infrared laser, and can be cut beautifully using the Diode laser.
Testing Acrylic Limitations by Color
The point here was really to see how far we can go with each color, so I’ll be running through them one by one to show you my results.
Again, all of these were run on xTool’s default settings. Some needed to be cut on fewer passes. Again, I recommend running test grids for both cut AND engrave to see if you need fewer passes.
Chrome Yellow
Chrome yellow cut and engraved beautifully. I did need to change the cut settings to three passes.
The score was not so nice but the engrave was beautiful. I’d imagine I just need to play with score settings (it seems to have burnt it a bit). Since I usually engrave and rarely score, I’m not concerned – if it engraved nicely, there’s no reason it wouldn’t score nicely with the correct settings.
I do love the darker yellow – it’s bright and cheerful without being tacky, and I’m excited to work with this one.
Dark Red
Red is an incredibly diode-friendly color – in fact, I think it should be listed alongside black as a default color for diode lasers!
I needed to change the settings to two passes but otherwise the settings were accurate. It cut, scored, and engraved beautifully and quickly. The results are gorgeous.
I chose dark red because it’s classier than bright red, but my understanding is that bright red would do exactly the same thing.
Brown
Brown is another color that is incredibly underrated when it came to cutting and I got lovely results. It’s a classy color that has so many uses, and looks gorgeous with gold in jewelry making.
The default settings were the correct ones. It cut, scored, and engraved quickly and smoothly, making it an optimal choice for jewelry crafts!
Grass Green
Stepping away from the warm tones, grass green also cut nicely, although with a few more passes. I did have to reduce it to 5 passes from the default settings.
With the success of this one, I am definitely wanting to try more greens – such as emerald green, and even venturing into teal – and seeing how close we can get to blue and still cut.
On that note: I did not try any blues. That’s because the Diode laser is a blue light that can not cut blue acrylic. I have heard of it cutting blue-adjacent colors in the past, but did not test those on this round.
More Specialty Acrylics
I was told and have head from many people that a diode laser can not cut or engrave translucent materials. But I’m a rebel at hear and tried it anyway – and I’m glad I did!
Here are my results.
Translucent Glitter (Red)
On both this one and the next, I had to frame a bit differently as the light did not show up on it. I had it already focused from a previous acrylic of the same thickness. And for framing, I just saw where the rectangle was on my cutting panel and placed the acrylic there.
The engraving on the translucent red glitter acrylic looks lovely. I’m not gonna lie – it could be a bit pebbly, maybe some people expect it to be smooth, but I love the look.
And the cut surprised me! It’s not the absolute cleanest, but I’d definitely consider it a success as it is totally TOTALLY workable. In fact, really all it has is slight ridges on the sides, which if you ask me, looks intentional. The top is totally smooth.
This is a big deal for those of you who like to create holiday jewelry or ornaments. I do NOT know if you’d get the same results on green or gold glitter, though.
The default settings were the correct ones.
Translucent Red
The translucent red one surprised me as well. First of all, it engraves nicely – it’s a bit raised/texured but looks good to me. It scores beautifully. That means that blanks in this color can definitely work. Note: I tested it both with the backing on the reverse and without – results were the same.
The surprise? It cuts through – but not neatly. It basically melted through it enough, bubbling up, and cutting through. So you have a complete cut but with rough, and uneven edges.
This is a solution to help you trim down larger pieces – but not for precision work. There were no settings in place for this at all, so I used regular red settings.
Now here’s the real kicker – I gave myself TWO MINUTES to sand the edges and see what we can do – and it came out fabulous! Using a rotary tool, I started with a slightly coarser disc, and then a slightly finer one.
I even rounded off the edges a bit for a more polished look. I would need a much smaller sanding option to do the inside of the pomegranate, but for more basic outline/shapes that is definitely a solution, as long as you’re willing to give it an extra couple of minutes for assembly time.
Since it DOES engrave nicely, that means that I can cut my blanks, sand them, and engrave beautiful pendants from translucent red acrylic.
Translucent Yellow
Here is where the biggest surprise happened. Translucent yellow is the most translucent color I tried by far. And it worked like a charm.
The laser actually created a neon reflective light on it and it cut, scored, and engraved beautifully! I’m so happy I tried it!
I used the default settings, but needed one less pass.
Thick (1/5 inch) Acrylic
While not actually a different color, I wanted to play with something beyond 3mm acrylics, so the next stage was 1/5 inch. It worked beautifully, allowing me to create better, stronger projects. I still haven’t tested the acrylic thickness to the max.
Frosted Black Acrylic
Here’s where I had a bit of a negative surprise – frosted (matte) black acrylic did not quite work nearly as smoothly as its glossy counterpart.
It cut beautifully using the default settings (although I’d see if one pass less works too).
However, I found the score and engrave didn’t works so well. The score hardly showed up (something that can be played with in settings but…) and the engrave wasn’t even – it had ridges in the middle.
It also sweated a bit, so the finish is no longer as nice.
It’s gorgeous, though, and a fabulous option for cut-only pieces.
Which colors acrylic can a diode laser cut? Final analysis.
Ultimately, the xTool F1 Ultra outperformed what I was told it can do with acrylics, and I do hope to work with them more using this machine! However, as expected, it did not do everything.
If you’re debating getting the xTool F1 Ultra you want a fiber (or the F1 for the infrared), but want to do acrylic, you can do A LOT – definitely more than its reputation allows.
However, if your dedication is to intricate, large, or multi-colored acrylics, you probably want the P2 CO2 laser.
You want to get the right tool for what you need. And keep in mind, if you’re setting up a business, you can start your line with some colors, and as you grow, expand your toolset, and expand your color lines as well.
And of course, whatever you choose, make sure to get good quality cast acrylic!
I hope this helped! Comment with any questions!
