The rules

The short version

Be useful, be honest about what you tested, and never post settings for materials that aren't laser-safe.

1. Safety is not negotiable

• Never post settings, files or encouragement for PVC, vinyl, PVC-backed "leatherette", polycarbonate, ABS on a diode, fibreglass, carbon fibre or chrome-tanned leather. Threads doing so get edited or removed.
• If you don't know what a material is, say so and ask. Guessing in public gets someone hurt.
• Eyewear advice must state the wavelength and OD rating. "Wear glasses" is not advice — diode glasses are transparent at 1064nm.
• Don't tell people to bypass an interlock or run a machine unattended.

2. Say what you actually tested

• Give the machine, module, material, thickness and settings. "Works great" helps nobody.
• If you're repeating something you read rather than something you ran, say so.
• Correct your own posts when you find out you were wrong. Nobody minds; people copy settings from old threads for years.

3. Selling and self-promotion

• List only work you made or hold the rights to sell.
• You may link your own shop in a thread when it's genuinely relevant. Dropping the same link in ten threads is spam.
• Reselling, re-uploading or bundling someone else's file — free or paid — gets your account closed. This is the other thing we're strict about.
• Affiliate links must be disclosed in the post.

4. How to treat people

• Beginners ask beginner questions. That's the point of the place.
• Critique the work, not the person. "The kerf is off" is fine; "you clearly don't know what you're doing" isn't.
• No harassment, no slurs, no personal information about anyone.
• Disagree in public, escalate in private: report it rather than starting a second thread about it.

5. Posting mechanics

• One topic per question. Bumping is fine after a couple of days with no reply.
• Finished work goes in the Showcase, work in progress and design questions in Projects & Ideas.
• Search before posting — the materials database probably already has your material.
• Mark an answer when your question is solved. It's the single most useful thing you can do for the next person.

Moderation

Moderators edit for safety, merge duplicates and remove spam. If we act on your post we'll say why. If you think we got it wrong, reply to the moderator or email hello@laserpeckerforum.com — we do change our minds.

Repeat safety violations and file piracy are the two things that get accounts closed without a long conversation.