Laser settings for wood: speed, power, and passes for every type

Wood is the material most laser owners start with and never stop using. It's forgiving, it smells great when it engraves, and the results can look genuinely professional with the right settings. But 'wood settings' covers a huge range — 3mm basswood behaves completely differently from 10mm oak, and a 40W CO₂ laser needs very different numbers from a 10W diode.

This guide covers the most common wood types and thicknesses with real starting points. These are numbers that work. Treat them as the first test, not the final answer — every machine and every batch of material is slightly different.

Why wood settings vary so much

Density is the main driver. Softwoods like basswood and pine have loosely packed fibers that absorb laser energy quickly. Hardwoods like walnut, maple, and oak are denser and need more energy to vaporize. MDF is glue-saturated wood fiber — it cuts predictably but the fumes are worse than solid wood, so ventilation matters more.

Moisture content also matters. Fresh or damp wood requires more power than kiln-dried. Most craft-grade plywood from Amazon or your local supplier is dry enough, but cheap bulk sheets can vary. If your settings stop working after a new order of material, moisture is worth checking.

Diode laser settings for wood

Diode lasers measure speed in mm/min. A 20W optical output diode is the current sweet spot for most craft work — it cuts 3mm basswood cleanly in one pass and engraves fast enough to be practical for batch work.

These are for a 20W diode. A 10W machine needs roughly 40–50% more passes or a 30–40% speed reduction to achieve the same cut depth. A 33W+ diode can increase speeds by 20–30%.

CO₂ laser settings for wood

CO₂ lasers measure speed in mm/s. They cut thicker material faster and produce cleaner edges on most wood types because the 10.6μm wavelength is absorbed more efficiently by organic materials.

CO₂ settings assume a 40W tube. A 60W machine can increase speeds by roughly 30%. An 80W machine is roughly double a 40W for cutting throughput.

Engraving versus cutting: different priorities

Cutting requires enough energy to fully vaporize material through its full depth. You want high power and moderate speed. Air assist is essential — it clears smoke from the kerf and prevents re-ignition, which is what causes brown charred edges rather than clean cuts.

Engraving is about surface removal without going through. You want controlled, even burn depth with consistent contrast. Lower power and higher speed give shallower, lighter burns. More power or slower speed gives darker, deeper engraving. For photo engraving, you'll typically dial down to 30–40% power and let the DPI do the work.

Common problems and fixes

Brown edges on cuts usually mean too much heat dwelling in the kerf. Increase speed, enable air assist, or reduce passes. If the cut isn't going through cleanly, check focus first — a defocused beam spreads energy over a wider area and won't cut as deep. Then increase power or add a pass before dramatically slowing down.

Uneven engraving depth usually means inconsistent focus across the material. Check that your bed is level and your material is flat. Warped plywood is very common from cheap suppliers and no settings will fix material that isn't in the focal plane.

The settings database on this site has community-tested numbers for most common wood types across dozens of specific machines. If your machine is in there, look up your exact model — you'll get numbers from people running the same hardware.