Hi all,
I haven’t been able to find any tutorials on how to cut materials that are .5" thick (I assume multi-pass cuts, with adjusting focus between cuts or something?) and also materials that are greater than that thickness that require flipping. Are there any tutorial videos, writeups, or threads anyone has links to?
Thanks a ton!
Aurash
There has been some activity in this area, you can find threads scattered all over the forums, but not many. I believe @Tom_A cut 3/4" acrylic, @rpegg cut through .4" oak with a pre-release unit that had a Pro tube in it and there has been some other activity. I believe Tom used multiple passes, lots of passes, and rpegg did it in one or two. It depends a lot on the material being cut. There are some caveats. Organic materials (basically wood) accumulate a lot of char, while plastics (basically acrylic) can get a lot of melting along the edge. The edge is not going to be very perpendicular; if you don’t want an oddly sloping edge there will be some sanding involved. So go ahead and lead the way on doing this successfully.
IIRC glowforge has dropped claims of automatic flipping and cutting. At any rate it is definitely not in the current release of software. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t make a jig. I believe there is a good jig making tutorial in the Tips and Tricks section of the forum.
Here is a good discussion. Settings are obsolete but it discusses the merits of slower one pass and faster multi pass. (Insert obligatory 5th Element joke)
https://community.glowforge.com/t/power-test-old-settings-to-cut-1-2-inch-red-oak/9698/14
I did. On my Basic. I forget the settings I ended up “liking.” (None were perfect, but I ended up with an acceptable result.) I could probably find the thread here where I listed my ultimate settings. I’m not sure I ever intend to do it again since it was a real pain and didn’t yield what I’d consider perfect results. I also got a 3/4" engrave (yes, an engrave) out of some wood. It was a little scary but the air-assist kept the flames at bay. I wouldn’t recommend it, really, but it’s definitely doable at slow speeds. I do intend to try a 3/4" cut at some point. I have a project that requires some cuts in 3/4" wood. Not sure yet if I want to use my 'forge for those cuts, or my table saw. I’d really want to use a band saw for these cuts, but I don’t own one. 
Bottom line? Experiment (at your own risk) and you very well may find a setting to cut through your thick material.
Thanks for all the responses! As a follow-up, does anyone know what the maximum “supported” material thickness is for cuts on the forge? Half inch? Thinner?
I’m not sure what you mean by “supported”. I suppose the maximum “supported” material thickness (where you’d actually get help from support?) would be for thick proofgrade materials with proofgrade settings.