My only, “Oh sh*te” moment with the GF so far was a bamboo cutting board. Let’s just say it got a bit hot 
5 Likes
Interesting thing is that bamboo isn’t really a traditional wood…its a reed. And those pieces are layered together. The hardness seems to come from the long fibers…reminds me of celery…lol
7 Likes
I assumed as much. That’s why I figured going with the settings of 
Thick Maple Ply would be my best bet.
That’s interesting 'cause this sample piece I have is darn near impenetrable. Yes there was a small flame but still way less than with paper masking on non-PG acrylic. I thought I’d have problems but I had to give it full power and two passes to engrave. My first test using PG settings barely even tagged it.
My bet is since this was a piece of flooring, it’s probably made with a really tough binding resin and under high pressure to compact the strand fibers and make it solid as a rock.
7 Likes
For a comparison to other familiar woods, poplar is about 400 and balsa 100.
1 Like
I just did the cutting boards recommended from the materials supply thread, and while a speed of 1000 is great, a power of 100 is a bit much. I had my best results with a power of 80. Otherwise, my settings were those that were indicated in the first thread.
4 Likes
Thanks for the help with the settings! I just did my own bamboo cutting board project for a friend’s company using your settings and it worked great.
12 Likes
Those are OUTSTANDING results. 
1 Like
Thanks! I tried it on some larger boards and got even better results. This one turned out really nice!
16 Likes
Was that using the 1000/100/340 settings?
1 Like
Great looking results! Thanks for sharing. While on the topic of settings, I’m wondering where to find the pre-selected settings when using a product on the GFUI. For example, if I choose “Medium Maple Plywood” where can I see the settings used for this product?
Yep this was 1000/100/340. I’ve also wondered like Curt where I can see the preset settings. Sometimes when I choose to cut proofgrade material on a preset it doesn’t cut all the way through for whatever reason, so I want to increase the power if possible.
After you choose the Proofgrade material, it will do your operations with default settings. Then click on the manual option in the menu and it will display the default setting.
2 Likes
Thank you! Still learning…obviously!
I’m a newbie! Thank you for this, I just got my Glowforge 4 days ago. I printed the ruler and the puzzle as my test projects. This is my first print on Bamboo and I had no idea how to set it up. I used these recommended settings and it came out pretty good on this mini heart shaped cheese board. Thanks again
7 Likes
Looks good! You should post it over on the Made on a Glowforge category😉
Hi there! Newbie here…do I have to take the tray out for this? Also, mask or no mask?
Thanks!!
I got all excite a couple of months ago when I found that on their web site. I couldn’t make a dent in it either. It’s now waiting to start a fire in the fireplace when it gets cold this fall.
If your board is over .5" thick then yes tray out. Masking is up to you and your artwork.
Wow those look so good!! Which settings did you use?