Cutwork Scroll

Yes, this is an engrave not a cut - though with custom settings, not the defaults.

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they’re generally in the ballpark. but the reality is that GSM is far more accurate way to consider paper weights than the # system that is more commonly used. GSM is more consistent with actual thickness than, say, 85#. and neither can touch a caliper, of course.

GSM means grams per square meter. the # weight is based off of the original parent sheet size, which can vary. not only that, you have two different ways to refer to lb weights because of those parent sheet sizes. when you talk about 20# copy paper, that’s more equivalent to a 50-60# text weight for actual printing paper (again, parent sheet size differences). and a 28# copy paper is more like 80# text. 32# copy more like 100# text. it’s all very convoluted.

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I typed up most of that and then deleted it lol. GSM or caliper/mils is the only way I can buy paper. Using lbs is horrible.

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certain basic stuff i don’t worry about. like copy paper. but once i get into specialty stuff, i need a sample to check before i buy.

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what were your custom settings?

I’m not sure what you’re looking for beyond:

That is it! I somehow missed that info at the top of the photo. Thank you- I tried it on a sheet of 90 lb paper and it did burn the paper a bit.

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The original poster was using Perg - which is a synthetic material and will require much stronger settings than 90lb paper. You can search for cardstock settings that will probably work better.

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Sulphite, not synthetic, but yes not wood pulp either :slight_smile:
Legion Paper - Pergamenata Parchment - it’s lovely stuff, the ink/paint floats on top and retains crisp lines and bright colours in a most gorgeous way. If you paint at all I recommend giving it a try!

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Thanks for sharing the settings. I struggled with an equally intricate design but I was insistent on cutting, not engraving. Did you happen to try cutting or just realize engrave was the only way to produce such fine detail?

I didn’t have any sort of sticky mat (Seklema or homemade) and cutting was definitely going to end up with little pieces blowing everywhere so I went straight to engrave. If you have a sticky mat, cutting is certainly possible - but with paper it can be the difference of 1 point of power so testing can take a long time :-/ I’ve also found that the same type of paper on a different day requires slightly tweaked settings so it’s literally tested every time I go to cut something. Engraving takes way longer but doesn’t have such tight tolerances!

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I have had pretty consistent results with the same settings and the same stock. I know some stock is less consistent from sheet to sheet, though.

I definitely agree that dialing the settings in can be fiddly.

I have noticed that settings that just cut through on long, straight cuts may not quite cut through on short or curved cuts. So, I often have different groups of cuts with different settings (different operations), all to cut through the same stock on the same job.

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