I wanted to see what it took to cut through 1/2 inch pine plywood, uncertified material. I would have posted this in the other plywood post, but it has been locked. Here are the results with speed and power notes in the pictures:
The 6 pass demo probably would have gotten through if I tried again with either 2 or 3 more passes.
Iām too lazy to go through all that. Iād just use my jigsaw for 1/2". Of course, that wouldnāt help with smaller details. Thanks for posting your results though. 
As noted elsewhere, if you first engrave half the way down, cutting the second half is easier. By direct cutting, there is a point that cutting will not cut beyond no matter how many times you try as the energy is wiped out on the way down.
Iām all about experimentation, but a 40/45W CO2 laser is optimal for cutting 1/8" material, give or take a little. Even 1/4" can be a challenge unless itās āmanufacturedā with a high degree of consistency.
Iāve actually cut >1/2" pine picket fence material in a single pass, lots of flame, but would never share settings - I did share a video. Itās just way beyond what the machine was designed for.
Thank you for posting your settings. Iām surprised someone hasnāt come up with a pamphlet that list settings for cutting different types & thickness of wood, or if they have Iāve never come across it.
There is, itās a spreadsheet linked from āthe matrixā over in Tips and Tricks.
Itās unlikely to contain 1/2 pine because, again, thatās way beyond the scope of a 40/45W CO2 laser.
From what Iām starting to learn from other laser avenues, I think 40-45W could cut 1/2" pine reasonably well. We just donāt have a long focal length lens on the glowforge to do it. Iāve seen a diode laser cut very close to half inch wood. Granted itās ridiculously slow to do so, but they do it. On my new machine I got a 2.5" focal length lens with it which is supposed to be better for cutting thicker materials because the cones making up the focal point are at much steeper angles. Granted, acrylic isnāt wood, but Troy TM even cuts some 1/2" thick acrylic on the GF with 100 speed / full power / 2 passes. He didnāt seem happy at the end of the video but he did it. 
To be honest, I cut what I think is 5/8" (not a typo) pine picket fencing in a single pass but I would NEVER share how I did it as it was VERY flamey and the cut was quite charred. I did post a video or pic at the time.
The burned look was desired in my case.
I keep a damp rag alongside the fire extinguisher when trying things with āunusualā materials.
iāve cut 1/2" acrylic (pretty sure it was 3 passes, but it was a few years ago). but the edges get slumpy and if youāre not careful, itāll melt back together again since youāre going so slow. plus itās a more angled edge from the slumpiness. i used it as a base, so it didnāt matter much. but trying to cut a workable slot for the piece that slotted in was a challenge.
