Wood Veneers
If you'll indulge me for a quick moment I'd like to follow up from the last materials post with a quick message about the joy of wood veneers. They're cheap, versatile, effective and with a bit of imagination you can put them to great effect. I've used them on some of my best projects. You can buy small single sheets of veneer for marquetry style pieces, they're typically 0.7mm thick.
What makes them great is that they'll fit in any size laser cutter, and even the cheap 40W Chinese imports can cut through them at a sensible speed. This makes the whole technique accessible to anyone with any laser cutter. I just restocked this week and picked up these 60 sheets of wood for 30 sheets (30 Great Britain Pounds for anyone not in the know).
So go buy some, you won't regret it. Also don't forget to pick up some magnets because the veneers often take on a slight warp and you'll need them to hold the work flat