LightBurn Material Test Grid Generation

What the Material Test Does

LightBurn's Material Test generates a grid of patches at varying speed and power combinations. Run it once on scrap and you have a permanent reference for your machine and material. Settings from the internet are starting points — your machine, lens condition, and material brand all affect results.

Setting Up

Open Laser Tools → Material Test. Place Speed on the X-axis and Power on the Y-axis. For an unfamiliar material start broad: Speed 100–1000mm/s, Power 10–100%.

Grid size: 8×8 for a quick overview, 10×10 for fine results
Cell size: 10×10mm for cutting, 15×15mm for engraving
Mode: Line for cuts, Fill for engraving

Reading Results

Cutting: Find the highest speed / lowest power cell that cuts completely through. Anything more power increases char without benefit.

Engraving: Look for maximum contrast without excessive material removal or burning at the edges.

Saving to Material Library

Go to Window → Material Library. Create a new entry naming the material, brand, thickness, and date. Dating entries tells you when to retest — settings drift as tubes age and lenses foul.

When to Retest

Rerun your material test every 3–6 months or whenever cut quality drops. A 5-minute test grid on scrap catches tube degradation before it wastes stock on real jobs.

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