Cutting from catalog on non-proof-grade

Beyond the Manual
1

Trying to cut a design from the catalog on non-proof-grade material. I find that the resulting tabs will not fit into the slots. Any advice?

2

Depends on what you mean by “not fitting”. Got a pic of your issue?

3

I can send a pic later but the issue is that the are too wide for the resulting slots or in the case of the Palm Tree Jewelry Display, the center grooves on two main vertical pieces are too narrow to allow the pieces to slide together. Similar problem with the Vintage Globe Treasure Chest. I have tried playing with the Material Thickness setting but it does not seem to help the issue.

4

Sounds to me like your material is thicker than PG that it was intended for. Try taking calipers to the material and see how thick it is. It’s a little early for me to tell without the pics, but if it’s close your best option may be to sand down the cut pieces a bit so they fit.

5

This only affects focus - it won’t change the design to accommodate different thickness of materials.

The catalog design will say what it’s designed for. “Medium” materials are 1/8” thick, “Thick” materials are 1/4” thick.

2 Likes
6

There is a simple calculation for this if you have calipers to measure the non PG material.

Example: Design specifies 1/8" material, my baltic birch is 0.11" according to my caliper measurement and I’m using a design size of 10" W x 8" H in this example

Using the example above:

  1. Determine the design specifics in decimal: 1/8= 1 divided by 8 = 0.125"
  2. Divide your material by the design material from step 1: 0.11" divided by 0.125" = 0.88
    (this means my material is 88% of the size of the intended size)
  3. In the Glowforge app, import the design, VERY IMPORTANT to select all elements (Ctrl+A) and click on the ruler and note the Scale (bottom) WxH (you will only need to change one of these if Aspect Ratio is locked (chain icon in the middle).
  4. Multiply W times the decimal result in step 2: W times 0.88 = my example above 10" times 0.88 = 8.8"
  5. Change the width in your design to the result from step 4. (height will automatically adjust (to 7.04" in my example) if aspect ratio is locked)

In short, the percentage of difference between the expected thickness and actual thickness is also the percentage of difference in design scale. The same principal applies for both thinner and thicker materials.

7 Likes
7

Huh! Learn something new everyday.

1 Like
8

Sorry, wasn’t trying to be rude, I just was (rude). Should have said thanks long ago but I’ve dropped off due to to lack of creative spark. Tried your calculation today and it worked a treat. Thanks!