Cutting 6mm

Hi GF team,
I got my GF a month ago, i have been trying to cut 6mm (1/4") plywood and multilaminated pine and i can´t get through in one pass.
I tried all the optiones speed and power and nothing seems to cut it.
I seen great work done in the community with thick material.
Can some one give me a hand with this?

The Glowforge team can’t/won’t comment on non proofgrade materials.

I’m going to move this topiccto “beyond the manual” for further discussion.

In the meantime, try searching for ‘1/4” plywood settings’, there has been a lot of discussion about it.

@evansd2, I’ve already moved it. :wink:

@pablopodesta085, you may not be able to. It’s difficult to know the layering they’ve used to make the plywood. What glues, how the glue was applied, etc. The difference between :proofgrade: and non-:proofgrade: woods is consistency. You always know what you’re getting… guaranteed. The plywood you’re using, however, you may get to work fine in 1 pass. But then if you but the same wood, from the same manufacturer, from the same store, it can be different.

Regardless, when you say you tried “all the options” are you saying 100 speed at Full Power didn’t make it through?! That’s some tough stuff! What about 2 passes then?

1 Like

I also went slower and some parts did get through with 2 passes it does fine,
I just wanted minimize the time but if i have to do it in 2 passes then I will.
thanks tom

2 Likes

You may be able to get away with faster speed at 2 passes. Every material requires a bit of testing to get it right.

4 Likes

Sometimes you have to use multiple passes - it’s all material dependent. 2 passes will also give you more options as to speed and power. You may find settings where the edges of the material are less burned. I’m cutting some 4.3mm plywood right now with one pass and settings that leave pretty charred edges, except for the 0.1% of the places it doesn’t cut through. That is also the tradeoff you make for not using proofgrade (although as you went with mm, I’m guessing proofgrade isn’t available to you yet.)

ya thats true to, i have to start trying many passes, I might get a better time as well

I don’t follow your logic… Like you just said,

So since you can’t go slower than 100, how are you coming up with

Easy – I was wrong.

5 Likes

LOL!

Perhaps. But you did it very well.

I’ve had good fortune with 135 speed and full power and THREE passes on Big Box “1/4 inch” generic birch. I could probably play around and cut that back a bit, but it works, so I’m not messing with it.

3 Likes

You can try all of these with engrave at twice the number noted and all at full power. If that does not get you your answer then try again attwo passes in each case it is a bit of a pain to set up the first time but you can use it over and over in the GFUI where it will keep the old settings.

evans%20tests

As noted the same piece will have harder and softer parts in the same piece of wood and the material they use to fill gaps will at least be different than the wood and perhaps laser proof. I have not used the pine plywood, but for the least expensive I have found the stuff called Revolution plywood is about the least expensive otherwise. It is only 0.195 (5mm) instead of 2.5 but is a good basic experimental wood and can look quite spectacular if used to full advantage.

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 32 days. New replies are no longer allowed.