Laser Beam Cut Width

When the 10W laser cuts through, say, 2~3mm of veneer, what is the width of the cut line, or kerf? In other words, the piece that’s cut out will be a little smaller than the hole in the piece that remains, but by how much?
I want to use it for inlay work and am wondering how to shrink, or fit, the relative size of each piece of wood cut-out so they snap into place just right, like a jigsaw puzzle.

Could you try Lightburn Kerf Test - O2 Creative and report back with what you find works?

Thanks for the link. Never used Lightburn – does it connect to Snapmaker 2 via wi-fi?

nope…only USB but that also means it can be connected simultaniously to your snapmaker ! (NOT used obviousely same time) I do init and autofocus with Luban, than switch to LB mostly.

You can’t connect lightburn directly to the snapmaker over WiFi (lightburn only does USB), but you can use this tool to easily send the .nc files over to your machine: File Transfer via WiFi - #13 by brent113


To answer my own question, the kerf is just a tad wider than the mm markings on the SM height-adjustment sheet.
Using a feeler gauge: 0.25mm, 0.01 inches.
It takes a lot of trial and error to find a compromise setting that works well enough. Luban’s accuracy is 0.1mm.

Hello there,

I came across this great information. I had to export this file from lightburn as DXF file to Luban to create the code, I tried but Snapmaker for the laser has extension file of .nc. It printed it well but it is very big and I don’t know how to test it with my pierce because my pierce is much smaller. I’m new to the whole 3D, laser, CNC. What the Kerf range should I put instead. I did not design the pierce that I have I just try to cut it. I’m going to test different range.
Thank you.