Can't get a clean cut

More often than not, this is what I get when I try to cut:

I use the recommended settings on the spreadsheet, yet rarely does it go all the way through. If I reduce the speed or increase the power, I get too much burn and the pieces are charred. Tips?

Make sure your optics are all clean (7 places). That’s almost always the issue when it happens to me.

I’d suggest using masking on your materials. Mask both the front and back of the material, lower the speed a bit, and cut it in one pass the first time. The masking helps to deal with the inevitable charring.

Trying to cut a second pass is going to dramatically increase the charring, no matter how fast you make the second pass.

This is where you start. You will almost always have to tinker with the settings from there. The exception is the guarantee from GF for the :proofgrade:. And even then…

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i would also ask, is there any warp to that wood? since it’s not cutting through in a bit of a fade like that, i wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it wasn’t completely flat on the crumb tray.

I’m so sorry to hear that you’re running into trouble! It can be difficult to narrow down trouble with material that is not Proofgrade. Does the same cut through snag occur when utilizing Proofgrade material with Default settings?

Once we can review a print on Proofgrade material with Default Settings, and the same trouble occurs, we’ll send over the next best steps.

Let us know how it goes!

It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.

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