Calibration settings and can knit fabrics be used on glowforge

Does anyone have experience laser cutting knit fabrics on glowforge? Any negative affects? How are calibrations for woods other than glowforge proofgrade done? Do you need a sticky mat to cut fabric?

Knit cotton and many polyesters are good to go. Sticky mats are good or some mat with repositional adhesive sprayed on. Watch closely as some fabrics can catch fire very quickly.

Here is a good post about testing procedures.

Easy enough to make a square and a circle vector and then start with lowest power and fastest speed. Then repeat going with higher power by 10% until you get the cut you want.

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Thank you. I’ll try it.

Welcome to the forum. You will find a wealth of valuable information in here - especially if you utilize the search function. As for settings for non Proofgrade materials, there is information in the Glowforge Support page: https://glowforge.com/support/topic/first-three-prints/working-with-manual-mode

Regarding a sticky mat: it’s not absolutely required if you can tape down the fabric in some way, but once the fabric is cut the air assist will blow it all over the place so you won’t be happy with the results. You can make your own sticky mat by spraying waste plywood with a low-tack adhesive spray. Don’t use a commercial sticky mat unless you have verified that it is not made of PVC, which can damage your Glowforge.

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Please note that if you are cutting material for breathing masks, you should avoid using a spray adhesive, as this will deposit potentially harmful chemicals onto the mask.

You can use small weights or even a piece of draftboard cut to shape to weigh the material down while you cut. You could use magnets, but then you have to worry about confusing the “door open” sensor on your Glowforge.

I cut fabric all the time. I have never had an issue.
Knits, in my experience, need a bump DOWN from woven fabric of the same weight. The only negative I found is the char. If its the edge on a finished piece then you may not want char showing. So I use a lower power & 2 or 3 passes to get it done. If its on the seam allowance then no biggie (in my opinion).
I don’t use an actual sticky mat. I mostly use weights or sometimes masking tape rolled in on itself & then stuck to the bottom of the fabric then stuck to the tray or a piece of leftover hardwood.

You asked about calibration for other woods. I run a small test piece on EACH and every piece of wood I buy. I have often bought the exact same wood from the exact same suppler & had it need different settings from sheet to sheet. Sometimes I’ve needed different setting in different areas of the same sheet.
Once I have the test settings for THAT sheet, I label the back of test sample & the sheet. I save the test samples to compare later when I buy that wood again. Personally, I keep track of what wood/settings were used on what finished items. And since I save my test samples, this gives me a jumping point later when I get new wood.

Thanks. You are so kind

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Thanks. I’ll experiment

Thanks. This was helpful