I’ve been trying to get samples etched/cut for a client and my GF stopped CUTTING when I sized the circle keytag down. It’s being done on the PG Hardwood Maple and I’ve tried several times now to cut the smaller version of the keytag and it only cuts all the way through when I have it 2 1/2". Any smaller and it doesn’t cut it all the way through. What is going on???
Short answer: You can probably reduce the speed for the Cut in the Manual settings by about 5-10 points and it will burn all the way through.
We’re not actually cutting through anything, we’re burning through it. The burning happens when the beam is in contact with the wood, and for smaller circles, the beam is in contact with the wood for less time at the same higher speeds. It might not be enough time to burn all the way through if you made them small enough.
The Glowforge group has these settings pretty well optimized for speed, trying to get the job done in the least amount of time possible, and to produce the smallest kerf. But you can lower the speed a little. It keeps the beam in contact with the wood long enough to burn all the way through it.
1 Like
Since I had chosen PG Hardwood Maple it had set its own settings. I’v never had this problem before. I guess I will have to set it to manual and chose the settings then for this particular item. Weird…
Thanks for the info!
Mary
No prob! 
(Chuckle! With the best of intentions, the pre-set settings don’t work for everything 100% of the time. No way to program for that - they’re good 99% of the time. But the slightest warp or tiny tight curves and we have to tweak them a little…it’s just a reality of working with things like wood, which aren’t particularly homogeneous.)
Just a thought…could it be this piece of PG Maple? I’ve now done over 10 of these and only the 2 that were 2 1/2" cut! Hmmm
It might very well be the particular piece of material - sometimes they’ll get a slightly thicker finish coat on them, making it a little tougher to cut through. (I had several like that with the early beta sheets.)
Thanks for letting us know. I’m sorry that your print 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 hard to know which issue might be affecting your print, so please thoroughly inspect your unit and design according to the suggestions in our troubleshooter.
Once you’ve inspected and cleaned, please try another print. We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Please print the Gift of Good Measure on Proofgrade Draftboard and let us know the result. If it doesn’t print well, please let us know the date and time of your print and send photos of the front and back of the print.
1 Like
Don’t tight curves cut slower as there isn’t room to accelerate to the nominated speed, hence tend to overcut rather than undercut?
1 Like
That’s what I would expect. I would also expect them to compensate by reducing the laser power, but that will be difficult to do correctly and may not always work as desired
Try another design or the same at the normal size. If it cuts then is a software issue assuming everything is flat and placed correctly. If not maybe a cleaning is in order.
I haven’t attempted it again…yet. Guess I’ll try tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your great input!
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.