Desperate for PG

I find myself stalking the Glowforge shop waiting for basswood plywood to be in stock. And yes I’ve signed up for email alerts :joy: I use it to make earrings for 2 of my businesses and we sell about 50 pairs a week. I’m down to my last board and starting to get desperate! Does anyone know where else I can get it from? I have maple, walnut, and cherry, but I don’t want to paint over them.

I don’t see why you couldn’t use Maple. They are roughly the same, just Maple has some more lines in it.

As far as material, have you checked out other sources? Or even tried Baltic Birch, which can be found almost anywhere?

I recommend Ocoochhardwoods.com
And
PlanksAndBlanksLLC from Etsy

That should get you started. No reason your epic earrings have to be only basswood C:

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Have you called around to your local JoAnn’s fabric store as they will likely have real PG materials

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so they really followed through with supplies at JoAnn? I recall that being mentioned ages ago then nothing since.

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The amounts remain iffy but iffy is better than “forget it.”

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LOL,

well that certainly is true. Hmmm I will have to go by the local shop sometime.

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None of the stores in my area have any materials. :frowning:

If you’re willing to switch it up, I think the maple ply from the Columbia Forest Purebond line at Home Depot (and available in GF-friendly sizes online) looks nice. It’s unfinished, but the MDF core is also formaldehyde-free.

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A deal killer for me, but that is just me.

Proofgrade has an MDF core.

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Yes and why I don’t go there.

But the OP is replacing PG ply. The recommendation is for them. :slight_smile: I generally prefer a solid core like Baltic Birch, but if you’re already using PG ply, you’re likely fine with it.

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I have tried the Baltic birch which I purchased from an Etsy shop, but it’s just not the same as the basswood. It works great for my wall decor tiles though. For some reason the maple PG doesn’t always cut all the way through, so it gets frustrating when I try to cut a bulk set of earrings and it doesn’t work. I hate to waste product! Thank you for the suggestions!

I live in a small city and our one and only Joann’s store is about the size of a closet :joy: I’d have to drive an hour to check out the stores in TX. With the current health crisis, I’m staying out of Texas for a while. It would be amazing if my Joann’s carried it though!

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Call them? Others might ship or deliver given the situation,

Yep! I plan to in the morning!

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I would not try to cut a whole sheet unless I knew the settings were perfect first, If the material is held tightly so it will not move, and you use the set focus in the same place and make a second cut. I use a shop vac connected to a C-pap hose to clean or lift the pieces out when finished, if they are not cut through they will not have moved and not changing the position of the cut try the cut again and cut through.

If you have trouble cutting through you can lower the speed and get a stronger cut or…

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The Joann stores in Atlanta have never carried Glowforge materials. They’re each the size of a small WalMart.

If your machine isn’t cutting PG maple ply, there is an issue that needs to be addressed. Maple is my most used PG material after draftboard, and it cuts as perfectly on my almost-three-year-old machine as it did the day I received it.

If you’re trying to sell product, you need to find a source other than proofgrade. Even during “normal” times, stock levels are unreliable. There are dozens of suppliers you can choose from, it’s been discussed here many times, Most do not apply masking to the material, but that doesn’t matter if you are painting it, and easy to apply yourself if not.

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I had just cleaned my machine the evening before and I engraved and cut 2 small 5"x5" pieces just fine. I usually wipe the lenses off after each wood cut, but unfortunately I didn’t realize that it hadn’t cut all the way through until I pulled the board out. Thanks for the info about the settings! I didn’t know that.

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It’s funny that the maple pg was the last piece I had. I have maple plywood that I found from an Etsy shop and I applied transfer paper to it before I cut. I like to use the basswood plywood because it takes spray paint well or I can leave it as-is and it’s ready to go. I’ve only had my machine since Christmas, so I’m still learning. I really appreciate all of the great advice I have received here.

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