Paulownia is the lightest wood available as standard boards: three times less dense than oak, very light in colour, with a straight grain. It cuts with very little power, which makes it an excellent choice for large parts and models, at the cost of a fragile surface.
Settings: what really matters
Reduce power compared with your plywood settings: 28% at 3,300 mm/min with a 20 W diode is enough for engraving. Paulownia marks immediately, and too heavy an engraving cuts through the first millimetre.
For cutting, one fast pass is enough up to 5 mm with a 20 W diode. Its low density keeps the line narrow and light, provided you do not slow down needlessly.
Common thicknesses and pitfalls
Common thicknesses: 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 mm, often as glued panels for large surfaces. The glue joints in those panels are harder than the wood and can stall a cut.
Pitfall: the surface is very soft and scratches at the slightest contact. Handle engraved parts by the edges and avoid stacking boards without interleaving.
Risks and finishing
Very light and porous, paulownia ignites fast: never leave it unattended, especially on a multi-pass cut that it does not need anyway.
For finishing, it absorbs a lot: a filling primer before painting, or hard oil to keep the natural look. A light 240-grit sanding is enough; more would open the pores.
Every figure on LaserSettings comes with the machine, the laser source, the material and the thickness it was tested on. A setting published for a 10 W diode says nothing about a 40 W CO2, and a setting for 3 mm says nothing about 6 mm: check those four things before you copy any number.
Settings are confirmed or disputed by the members who reproduce them, so reliability comes from cross-checking rather than popularity. Photos of the result — cut edges, engraving shades, scorching — tell you more than a single number found on a forum.
Whatever the material, treat a published setting as a starting point: run a small power/speed test grid on an offcut, clean the lens, redo the focus, work with fume extraction and air assist, wear glasses rated for your wavelength and never leave the machine unattended.