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Sculpfun S30 Pro settings — cut & engrave cheat sheet
Looking for Sculpfun S30 Pro material settings, S30 Pro LightBurn settings or S30 Pro 10W engraving settings? Quick answer: on this 10 W, ~455 nm open-frame diode, plywood and MDF engrave at 35% power and 3000 mm/min, black acrylic at 45% and 2000 mm/min and leather at 15% and 1800 mm/min. Those numbers come from the parameter sheet Sculpfun links from its own download center, not from our own shop — confirm them on scrap with a test grid. Speeds are in mm/min, the unit Sculpfun's sheet uses.
Sculpfun S30 Pro settings (power % / speed mm/min / passes)
These are starting points, not results from our own test cuts — Grafline has not run an S30 Pro through its shop. Every row below is copied whole from the “parameters settings for your reference” sheet that Sculpfun links from its own download center, from the S30 Pro 10 W column, under the sheet's “Engraving” heading. The sheet carries a second S30 Pro column for 20 W; that is the stronger machine, so it is not mixed in here (see our S30 Pro Max page). Confirm every setting with a material test grid on your own stock.
| Material | Job | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| Plywood | Engrave | 35% / 3000 |
| MDF | Engrave | 35% / 3000 |
| Black acrylic | Engrave | 45% / 2000 |
| Kraft paper | Engrave | 25% / 1800 |
| Leather | Engrave | 15% / 1800 |
Engraving rows: Sculpfun's sheet gives power and speed for engraving but no pass count and no line interval, so none are shown. Start with one pass and a line interval around 0.1 mm, then adjust on scrap.
Cutting rows left out: Sculpfun's sheet also lists 10 W cuts (for example 3 mm plywood in one pass at 480 mm/min, and 10 mm Paulownia in two passes). They are up to nine times faster (single-pass equivalent) than our own 5–10 W figures on the power & speed chart and than the Atomstack A10 Pro page, which uses a 10 W module as well, and the sheet marks them “air off” although the S30 Pro ships with air assist. We would rather publish none than numbers we cannot reconcile. For cuts, start from the chart's 10 W row, use air assist, and build your own test grid.
Clear vs opaque acrylic: the S30 Pro is a diode laser and cannot cut clear or transparent acrylic — the ~455 nm beam passes straight through it. Sculpfun's acrylic rows are for black acrylic only. Clear acrylic needs a CO2 laser.
Get an exact price for the Sculpfun S30 Pro
Settings give you the speed; the cutting time calculator turns your file's path length into an actual job time on this machine. At 5 passes and 180 mm/min, a 6 mm acrylic outline costs far more machine time than the same outline on a 20 W laser, so run the numbers before you quote. For a full quote with materials and machine rate included, use the calculator on the homepage.
What an S30 Pro needs next to it
An open-frame diode: nothing stands between the beam and your eyes, and the smoke goes into the room.
Safety glasses, 455 nm OD6+: Check price on Amazon ↗
Laser enclosure: Check price on Amazon ↗
Honeycomb bed: Check price on Amazon ↗
Basswood sheets 3 mm: Check price on Amazon ↗
Disclosure: some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices are approximate list prices at the time of writing; always check the current offer.
Bed size: what actually fits
Sculpfun's product page gives the S30 Pro a standard engraving area of 380 × 385 mm, expandable to 920 × 380 mm or 900 × 920 mm with its extension kit. Check the kit listing against your own unit before buying stock sized to the extended bed.
| Common stock | Size | On this machine |
|---|---|---|
| A4 sheet | 297 × 210 mm | Fits |
| 300 × 300 mm craft ply | 300 × 300 mm | Fits |
| Full bed sheet | 380 × 385 mm | Fits — edge to edge |
| 400 × 400 mm sheet | 400 × 400 mm | Does not fit — cut it down first |
| 600 × 400 mm sheet | 600 × 400 mm | Does not fit on the standard bed — needs the extension kit |
Fitting parts onto the sheet efficiently is where material cost is actually won or lost. Our nesting tool takes your file and this bed size and tells you parts per sheet; the sheet yield calculator does the same from plain dimensions.
What the Sculpfun S30 Pro cannot do
Knowing the hard limits saves more material than any settings tweak:
- No clear or transparent acrylic. Like every ~455 nm diode, the beam passes straight through clear acrylic. Dark, opaque acrylic cuts slowly; clear needs a CO2 laser.
- No cutting bare metal. Sculpfun's sheet lists a black metal nameplate under engraving with no values filled in, and no metal under cutting. Metal needs a marking coating first.
- Thick stock is a multi-pass slog. Even 6 mm black acrylic takes 5 passes at 180 mm/min on Sculpfun's own sheet.
- Open frame means no enclosure. The beam and fumes are exposed while a job runs, so rated eye protection and fume extraction are part of using this machine.
Still sold? Sculpfun's own store still lists the S30 Pro 10 W, currently marked as a clearance sale with pre-order and “notify me” options, plus a refurbished S30 Pro listing. The 20 W and larger machines are sold as the S30 Pro Max and the S30 Ultra (11, 22 and 33 W) — separate models, not S30 Pro variants.
Troubleshooting: symptom, cause, fix
| Symptom | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Engraving looks faint even at high power | LightBurn's S-Value Max or controller type set wrong | Check Edit > Device Settings: controller GRBL (not GRBL-M3) and S-Value Max 1000, as for other Sculpfun GRBL machines. |
| Cut does not go all the way through, top looks fine | Focus set for the wrong thickness, or speed too high for the pass count | Refocus on the actual stock, then slow the speed before adding passes. Check the back face, not the top. |
| Edges heavily charred or flaming | No air assist, or too many slow passes stacking heat | Turn air assist on. Prefer fewer, faster passes. |
| Clear acrylic does nothing at all | Physics, not settings | A diode cannot cut clear acrylic. Switch to opaque stock or a CO2 machine. |
| Lines wavy or doubled | Loose belts or a vibrating frame | Check belt tension and that the gantry is square, then lower the engraving speed to confirm it is mechanical. |
If none of that helps, work through why won't my laser cut all the way through? or how to stop burn marks on wood.
Material cost per sheet
Settings tell you the time; material tells you the rest of the price, and Sculpfun doesn't publish that part — it depends on your supplier and moves with the market. Our where to buy laser materials guide lists suppliers worth comparing before you buy a full sheet. Once you know the price per sheet, the cutting time calculator turns your file and this machine's speeds into a full per-job cost.
FAQ
What are the Sculpfun S30 Pro material settings?
From Sculpfun's own parameter sheet, 10 W column: plywood and MDF engrave at 35% power and 3000 mm/min, black acrylic at 45% and 2000 mm/min, kraft paper at 25% and 1800 mm/min, leather at 15% and 1800 mm/min. Cutting rows are left out because they do not reconcile with our own chart. Treat everything as a starting point and run a test grid.
What are good Sculpfun S30 Pro LightBurn settings?
Use the GRBL controller type (not GRBL-M3) with S-Value Max 1000, then enter Sculpfun's power percentages and mm/min speeds from the table above. Sculpfun's download center also lists a user manual and firmware for the S30 series. Run a material test before committing good stock.
What are the Sculpfun S30 Pro cutting settings?
We do not publish cut figures for the S30 Pro. Sculpfun's sheet has them, but they run up to nine times faster than our own 10 W chart row and are marked air off, so they are left out. Start from the 10 W row on our power and speed chart (3 mm plywood takes several passes), use air assist, and build a test grid.
What are the Sculpfun S30 Pro engraving settings?
From Sculpfun's sheet for the 10 W: plywood and MDF 35% at 3000 mm/min, black acrylic 45% at 2000 mm/min, kraft paper 25% at 1800 mm/min, leather 15% at 1800 mm/min. The sheet gives no pass count or line interval for engraving.
Is the Sculpfun S30 Pro 10W or 20W?
The S30 Pro is the 10 W model. Sculpfun's parameter sheet shows a second 20 W column beside it, but 20 W machines are sold as the S30 Pro Max, and the S30 Ultra comes in 11, 22 and 33 W. Do not apply one model's settings to another.
Can the Sculpfun S30 Pro cut clear acrylic?
No. It is a ~455 nm diode laser, and clear acrylic is transparent at that wavelength, so the beam passes straight through. Black or dark opaque acrylic cuts slowly in several passes. Clear acrylic needs a CO2 laser.
What is the Sculpfun S30 Pro working area?
Sculpfun lists a standard engraving area of 380 x 385 mm, expandable to 920 x 380 mm or 900 x 920 mm with its extension kit. Measure your own unit before cutting stock to size.
Is the Sculpfun S30 Pro still sold?
Sculpfun's store still lists the S30 Pro 10 W, marked as a clearance sale with pre-order and notify-me options, and a refurbished S30 Pro. Its larger siblings are the S30 Pro Max and the S30 Ultra.