Thought I'd pass on a tip/technique regarding plywood. Thin plywood like the birch that a lot of people use is not the greatest material for cutting with a laser. It is often inconsistent with junk for inner plies and unknown glue quality. Much of the work I've seen from using this material has shabby looking edges.
I decided to make my own plywood like this....
I buy veneer in bulk from the clearance shelf. Usually it has some small defect that makes it unusable for typical veneer jobs. For me though, small defects don't matter since I am using only small areas at a time so it's easy to avoid defects. You can get this stuff (I bought maple qtrd) for under a dollar per sq. ft.
I glue this veneer (three ply) with the center sheet at cross grain with the two outer plies. I use a product called Heat Lock by Better Bond. It is a PVA glue that is heat activated. You simply brush it on the two surfaces you want to join, let dry for about 20 minutes then put them together and press with a medium heat household iron. It makes a great bond.
One trick that you need to watch out for is that the glue causes a large curl to the veneer when wet. When you iron the first two sheets together you will have a curled panel. I take this curled up panel and place glue on the concave side. When you glue the third panel it counters the initial cure and you end up with a flat three ply panel that is about 0.060 thick and very strong.
This stuff cuts great and leaves an edge that is not visibly plywood if you leave it alone. If you sand the edge you have a hard time seeing the inner ply as it is good wood and free of voids that you get in junk birch.