Birch 1.5mm (1/16")

[amberlouise86]

Hi,
Wondering if anyone has attempted non-GF 1.5mm birch and if so what settings to use please - I am having lots of burnt edges and running about 3 passes which my gut feeling says it seems like heavy lifting for such a thin material. Would like to know if this is kind of normal?
All thoughts appreciated,
Thank You

[evansd2]

1.5 mm birch, solid or ply?

Either way, this is probably what you need:

New material cut test method

Don’t know what settings to use on a material? The only way to be sure is to test. Good news! You can effectively test on a thin strip on the edge of your material, it’s fast and easy. I use this shape to do so (SVG attached): [Material_test] Click here to download/save Or click here for the ZIP: Material_test.zip (3.3 KB) To use: Set the first operation to score (the numbers). You’ll use these to identify your cut pieces later. Set each of the curve shapes to a power/speed combo t…

If it’s 1.5mm, I’d say you should be able to do it easily in one pass, in the 250/full range on a pro. A little slower on a basic.

…but that’s just a guess for a starting point, that test strip will let you get it dialed in.

[amberlouise86]

Hi Evansd2,
That is brilliant, Thank You - Yes, I did suspect what I was doing was not quite right. It is ply but the glowforge seems to do thicker birch (3mm) in two passess at 350 on Full, so all seems a bit percuilar. Huge thank you for the information - I am away from the office at the moment but look forward to giving it a go ASAP.
Thank you, Kindest regards Amber

[CMadok]

I cut 3mm birch all the time in one pass. Is there a reason that you’ve needed two? I don’t use 350 speed, I run it at 200/Full for my Basic and I have no problems. Lately I’ve been using a different birch and I’ve been using PG Medium Draftboard settings for it since it’s a bit harder to cut, but again, single pass.

I don’t have a banana for scale, but here are some earrings I cut from 1/8inch birch with those settings, they are about 1" high and all those little stars I drew cut out without charring and still look like stars (I did mask the wood though, which is why it looks so clean).

@evansd2 link is very useful. Have you tried PG veneer settings? I usually start with PG settings for similiar materials if I couldn’t find it on the forum (which is hardly never, I always find great settings on here)

[kelley1]

Nice, nice earrings! Love the design. Good laserwork.