This is a space for laser cutter tips and tricks. Let me start by posting this image of various kerf thicknesses. Think of kerf as the ‘thickness’ of the laser cut. The below image is a pretty good starting point by your mileage may vary.
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Definitely a good starting point.
Obviously from a different laser cutter than ours, so I’ve got some addendums:
Don’t cut MDF on ours. It will clog our filter, take down our cutter, and piss off the neighbours.
I’ve cut a lot of fairly precise gearing mechanisms out of 2mm and 4mm acrylic and 4mm birch, and I typically find the kerf to be 0.14mm. The little sign beside the computer says 0.16mm, but I think that’s off. I might have those two measurements backwards. There’s a good guide for measuring kerf for yourself in the links section here: tool:laser_cutter:settings [Vancouver Hack Space]
You might find that we are all wrong, or it’s different with different materials, and that’s okay! Experiment, and do what works best for you!
Yup, it depends on the material, and the settings on the laser cutter. If you’re cooking through it, you’re going to burn more kerf. Also, not all material is equal. I’ve purchased a lot of 6mm ply that ranged anywhere from 5.5mm to almost 7mm.
What websites do you guys use/recommend for finding templates for things like boxes, bending patterns, etc?
That is a cool and useful link.
One thing I’m noticing with those patterns is that they’re not laser specific. It might be a good strategy to broaden your search terms. Something like “pattern generator” or terms involving tessellation might turn up some good tools.
I have been updating this post with some ways to reduce burn marks on paper that some people might find useful
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I really like this tabbed box maker extension for Inkscape:
http://www.keppel.demon.co.uk/111000/111000.html
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That’s really cool! I’ll definitely check it out, thanks.
For drawings gears, nothing matches this extension for Inkscape, either:
https://github.com/jnweiger/inkscape-gears-dev
(I use a different experimental dev version, but I think the one above is the one that I installed on the Solidworks computer)
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123D Make is a rad program that easily allows output for laser cutters or 3D printers. Also had a big library of random junk for your cutting/printing pleasure.
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Is this different than the Extension>Render>Gears menu option that is in Inkscape?
(questions with reference to Jarretts comment)
The extension I linked to is way better. More features, fine-grained accuracy, and different gear types.
I’ll have to take a look at that. Thanks 
A series of videos about using, repairing, adjusting and maintaining laser cutters (specially the cheap chinese imports): https://www.youtube.com/user/SarbarMultimedia/videos
RDWorks Lab A forum dedicated to users of RD works and chinese laser cutters. The owner of the forum rewrote the RD Works manual into English. His name is Keith Sherwin and lives in the Okanagan. The manual is here: RDWorks English manual. The forum has some odd rules about registering and participating…