Cutting Corrugated Stock

[dsdiehl]

has anyone successfully cut corrugated cardboard? If so with what settings?

[deirdrebeth]

Yes, the problem being “cardboard” is not a monolith so you have to test the cardboard and watch it carefully because those channels are designed to catch fire. If you get all your cardboard from a single source once you find your settings you’ll be good to go! Do a search on the forum and you’ll find the answer to most of your questions

https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=cardboard%20settings

[caribis2]

Cutting corrugated cardboard is a trade off between cutting all the way through everywhere, but with sooty edges, or clean edges, but one or two small spots that are more perforated than cut.

And if you are reusing shipping boxes that packing tape takes a little more energy to get through. See the tradeoffs above.

That said, for 0.25" cardboard I use 190 speed and 90 power. It normally works.

[evansd2]

@caribis2

That said, for 0.25" cardboard

is that triple ply?

[dsdiehl]

2 plystock

[caribis2]

Usually its two corrugated layers joined together, so I guess that would be triple. But sometimes there is some pretty thick single layer cardboard, that may or may not be a full 0.25", but it cuts like it.

I seem to have worked through a lot of the thicker stuff and am hitting thinner stock, but I only have to adjust my speeds to 200-220.

[evansd2]

Yeah I use amazon boxes, they’re lighter weight than that, I cut around 300 speed.

[deirdrebeth]

@evansd2

amazon boxes … lighter weight

Amazon boxes are .15 - so yes! (that’s what I use)

[evansd2]

Oh speaking of corrugated: the next time you use it as a jig, turn the corrugation to 45-ish degrees. That way you’ll get solid edges on your rectangular jig edges. If you cut with the corrugation, you often get a “soft” edge. at 45, all edges are supported.

[GaryZ]

I’ve done my share.

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OK, so this may seem insane… A friend of mine runs a brewery, and its second anniversary is this weekend. He saw the stacked cardboard 3D hand I’d posted here and asked if I could do something similar with his logo. Some thought and 25 hours of work later, there’s this. It’s 3 feet wide and consists of 507 individual pieces cut from 4mm cardboard. The actual logo is included for reference. I used Tinkercad (http://www.tinkercad.com) to extrude the 2D image into a 3D object, and then used Slic…

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[marmak3261]

@dsdiehl

2 plystock

Double layers of corrugation are even more of a fire hazard than normal cardboard. Ok for engraving light on top, but take care of deep engraves. If scoring or cutting close lines, be extra careful. The double layers of corrugation make for an air supply to feed the flame through the cardboard that the air assist can’t reach.

I do cardboard all the time but it is one thing I am watching all the way, not just sitting in the room.

[caribis2]

@evansd2

Yeah I use amazon boxes

In the two year wait I managed to accumulate a lot of large, heavy duty boxes I turned into uncreased 12x20 sheets. I am more likely to prototype with cheap plywood so I haven’t burned through it all.