Glowforge laser cutter settings I wish I knew about sooner

I was ruining about half my game box inserts with scorch marks for months on my Glowforge in Austin. Then a guy at the maker space told me to try a tiny test grid with 5 different power and speed combos before every new material. Found a sweet spot at 80% power and 500 speed for 3mm birch ply that gives clean cuts almost every time now. Has anyone else found a better shortcut for avoiding charred edges on small board game components?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelac6320d ago

82% power at 420 speed on mine actually, but I swear the machine knows when I'm cutting something special and just torches it anyway. I spent three hours dialing in settings for a custom Catan set only to have the wood catch fire on the last piece. Maybe I should just start setting my test grid on fire first to trick the laser into behaving.

-1

bettyk5320d ago

Catching fire on the last piece" - yep, that's the laser gods getting their final laugh. I've found that 82% power and 420 speed is just the starting point, the real trick is adding a sacrificial pass at like 5% power to clear any lingering smoke before the big cut. But sure, maybe setting a test grid ablaze first will fool the machine into thinking you're cutting something boring.