If you have a Glowforge Pro and a 12 by 24" plywood board, here’s how you can quickly cut it to size. Create an .svg file with a single horizontal line. Color doesn’t matter. Save it in an easy-to-find place with an obvious name. I called mine " cutter.svg" using a leading space to pop it to the top of the file list and saved it in the directory where I keep all my GF workfiles.
Insert the board perpendicular to the front slot of the Glowforge and align it. Use hold down pins to keep it flat, or see the tip in the next paragraph. Load a project to cut, then click the “Add Artwork” button. Select your cutter.svg file, position it below your project cuts, widen it as necessary and set it to cut. Voila!
To speed the process, measure the height of the GF front slot and cut a length of PVC pipe or a 1x2 board to the height. Use this to prop the hanging-out-the-slot end of the 12x24, keeping it flat against the GF bed.
Before I figured this out, I used a circular saw to cut 4+ inches off the ends of the 12x24 sheet. Dumb. Not only was it overly complicated, but it also left me with an odd bit of wood which was often too narrow for my purposes. Now I can put most of the 12x24 sheet to use.
I really try not to cut them down before i need to now. Because sometimes it’s more efficient to have two 12x12 pieces, or an 18x12 and a 6x12.
that said, i don’t have a pro, so when it’s time for me to rip, i have to get out the circular saw, set up my folding work table in the back yard, cut the boards down, then put everything away again (i don’t have a shop, despite my name here).
or my other option, if i’m not in a hurry, is to bring the boards into work and cut them down on the universal that has a 32x18 bed.
As a tip, a 10" sliding mitre saw can cut a 12" wide board. For single boards cut to size it is the way to go and you can always be sure of a square cut. Better dust collection as well so it can be setup inside easily.
You are a lot smarter than my friend who lost a couple fingers in the Peninsula Paper company shear.
You may have never heard of this company, originally they made newsprint for the Chicago Tribune starting in 1867, then made all the colored paper you used as a kid in elementary school; those thick sheets of blue, yellow, red construction paper. All of it came out of their mill in Ypsilanti, Michigan. So, you are very familiar with this company, at least its product.
I used to shoot carp below their mill with a bow, the river would be orange one day, yellow the next, red for a week. You could always tell what color paper they were producing and dying by the color of the river!
4’ x 8’ cut into 4 long pieces --> then its off to the garage where I delicately balance the long 12" wide sheet between my recycle container and the work bench and then imprecisely cut into 12", 18", or 20" lengths. Tend to make mostly 12" x 12" pieces as that is what my brain seems to like.
Good point. I have a GF Pro. I used to cut the boards down, but now I nibble off the end using the passthrough and when I nibble off enough, then I cut the scrap off. That way I have flexibility regarding how big a piece I need.
Some kids used to shoot rats in the small dump just outside the area you can see in the photo!!! Carp and rats, vermin that provided cheap entertainment for kids growing up after WWII.
When I was growing up we used to shoot vermin from the back of a pickup on my uncle’s dairy farm. The groundhogs and other critters would dig holes the cows would trip in. So when I visited I was introduced to pest control farms style. My cousins & I would take the truck in the field - one driving, one in the bed standing up leaning on the cab and picking off the varmints. Depending on who came with us (I had a couple of younger girl cousins) the youngest would drive & the others would be in the truck bed. My cousin was 3 months older than me so he always got to be in the back
