Finishing Pass

[clayshewey]

Is it possible to make a second pass that is faster than the first and serves as a finishing pass to clean up the cut? We use a lot of thick draftboard. The PG settings don’t always cut through on one cut so I’ve made it a habit to do everything on two cuts. It would save a lot of time if the second pass could be sped up but I don’t think that’s an option unless I’m just not aware.

[evansd2]

Typically, you simply drop the speed by 10ish points and just do it in one pass.

If you are having trouble cutting draftboard on draftboard PG settings, you might need to clean your optics and/or ask support if there’s a problem.

Follow the official cleaning guide, link coming right up…

[evansd2]

Oh even better:

HELP! Not cutting all the way through gifts!

Thanks for letting us know. I’m sorry that your prints didn’t come out beautifully! To cut successfully, there are three important things to check. First, your material must lie flat. This requires a clean, properly installed crumb tray and flat materials. Second, there must be no obstructions, dirt, or damage preventing the laser light from reaching your material. Third, your design must be set up properly - for example, with lines that are fully on the material and that are set to cut. It’s h…

Check out that troubleshooting guide.

[Jules]

Yes…but… (Always a butt involved…)

The best way to do that is not move the material after the cut is finished (first pass) then send a second pass at a higher speed. (It is necessary sometimes, especially with draftboard which can swell a bit in humid areas.)

The trick is to not move either the material on the bed, or the design on the screen. You can reset the speed in the settings. (There’s no way to set different speed settings on the passes if you set it up with 2 passes to start out with.)

We use these Honeycomb Pins to pin the material down before cutting so it doesn’t shift, in case you need to send a second pass later if part didn’t quite make it through. You can lift the cuts out with doubled up tape to check.

This is a good trick to use for thick acrylic, to keep from getting too large of a kerf. Or you can just slow the speed for the first cut by a few points to get a one-pass cut. It makes a slightly larger kerf.

[eflyguy]

@clayshewey

make a second pass that is faster than the first and serves as a finishing pass

You could do this in one “print” by duplicating the cut paths in your design, and making them different colors. Then when you load the design into the UI, it will show as two identical objects down the left side. Set the upper one to your first pass settings, and the lower one to the second pass settings.

Obviously you’ll want to test first to figure out what settings need to be used to get the desired result.

[clayshewey]

That’s a good idea! I’ll have to give that a try on my next cut. Thanks for the suggestion.