Plywood. The first pair I cut from (non-PG) hardwood immediately broke when I started to add the hardware. The PG might hold up better, but I figure the extra strength of the plywood is probably better anyway.
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They’re 1/8" / 3 mm thick. I’d like to get some thinner stuff so I can try some layered designs, but haven’t gotten that far yet. 
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I made a series in PG maple and goof grade cherry and while they are fragile I did a couple things to make them less so.
The most important was to reduce sharp corners as first off the sharp corners get extra burn through as well as concentrating forces giving a break a place to start. The second thing was to design in spirals so that when pressure was applied it gave over a large area reducing the force at the point of pressure.
https://community.glowforge.com/uploads/short-url/5hZgMAyofcUGCXmGBYD9qJqsO3.jpg
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I don’t think you could reliably get spray paint into all those holes. I could use my belt sander to thin it down from the back, I guess, but it’s really not TOO thick, just thicker than is totally ideal.
Did you paint on the colors? Or did you use precolored wood
If you follow the link in her OP you can find the supplier of the colored plywood. There are a couple of examples on the forums of it in use. Including here where you can see the issue with how easily the Bordeaux flakes as compared to another color.
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I had seen her post, but not yours. I have some as well, and not had any issues with it. I wonder if they are different batches. Did you write them?
I have not contacted them.
Just to be clear, you have had no issues with your Bordeaux plywood?
That is correct
Well that’s good to hear.
April 20
caribis2:
Just to be clear, you have had no issues with your Bordeaux plywood?
That is correct
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Do you mind sharing the setting you use for cutting the Wood Gallery color plywood? I’m using 220/full and getting flashback on the back. Anyway to avoid that?
If you can’t mask (e.g. with blue painter’s tape), try laying some cardstock underneath.
I masked with transfer tape and the wood underneath still has some burnt marks. Playing with speed right now.
I use PG Cherry settings for it. 
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Ah I will try that. Thanks! 
I was using the default maple ply settings (168/Full), but would get flashback on tight cuts and close cuts. I changed to 190/Full (Pro) and haven’t had any since although I could up the speed and still cut through. I see you are cutting even faster and are still experiencing flashback. Hmmm. I did order my pieces with the masking pre-applied. Also, most of my tight cuts since I changed the settings I use have been on Rust Green. It is possible the color is a factor.
I guess all you can do is up the speed.
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How do you figure out what the default settings for Maple Ply are? The software seems to try to hide that…
Set it to the proofgrade settings, then select one of the steps and set to manual, and the settings will show there.
Ah, thanks for that. I would always set the material to unknown and the settings would be cleared. Keeping the proofgrade material but tweaking the values by converting to manual will be very helpful!
Has anyone assembled a list of what settings works for them for different materials? Thick card stock paper? Thin A4 paper? 3mm non proof grade plywood, stuff like that…
Search the Beyond the Manual section of this forum. That is where we are supposed to discuss settings. Posting settings here, or anywhere else, risks having the entire topic moved there.