There is no quick simple answer and your question is something everyone asks eventually, so I wrote it up thoroughly ages ago and placed it here for all to see. You’re the first to say it was #19 on the list, I’m not sure how you got lost there, but it’s all there and has always seemed clear and as direct as possible.
Testing is necessary with new materials. Dig in, learn this method to test, and you’ll be in business. Whole thing should take you only a few minutes and you’d be cutting in no time.
Nah it’s not like that. Everyone approaches reading stuff like this a different way. Maybe there’s something unclear and @martin.cerame can tell us how it wasn’t easy to get the info?
Might be a way to make it more clear for the next person, if they have a minute to explain how it was hard to find?
This is where the link took me to. It’s perfectly all right, though. Basically it’s trial and error, and error, and error, and error… I was just hoping someone would’ve dealth with the same material and shared the experience.
Patience, Grasshopper. We are not here to serve you. We are here to help you, but you must also try to help yourself. Take a deep breath. Relax. Good. Now move on.
Now click on item #6 in the list. This will take you to a super easy and methodical test method that uses only 1/2" of material and will let you dial in your settings PERFECTLY for every material. You will never again have to beg for settings. You will never again have to deal with excess charring and flashback on your materials. You will level up to being an expert laser user.
All MDF is not the same. It is more about the glue holding the dust of the wood together than the actual wood bits. 100 speed at full power is as strong as it gets and never recommended as a first try but multiple tries may get you to that point. You can do up to 3 passes at a time but each extra pass will be less effective than the one before as much of the energy will be wasted on the sides of the previous pass.
I have had success by first engraving halfway through so there are no sides to eat up the power. but that was just determination to have anything and useless as a routine way of cutting.
However, as a way of avoiding the extra effort of sealing and painting, I think you can mark that as a fail. MDF generally falls back to its original sawdust state more quickly if not sealed and painted in any case. At least you are not worried about turning everything black with soot
LOL! That’s the best advice so far: take a deep breath.
I’ll check the link out again. But I get the feeling the app doesn’t help much. Here’s why: I managed to punch a set of parameters that worked, cutting a test piece cleanly and nicely. But when I tried it again… no dice. The beam didn’t even get the whole way through. It seems that when you tweak the settings you have to either reload the page for the settings to come in effect or just wish for luck, I guess (so the settings that worked were from a previous pass, which wouldn’t make complete sense, but anyways…).
Sometimes, upon loading an artwork and clicking on “PRINT”, I have moved an artwork (before pressing the blue button on the machine) and the GF has cut the artwork in the previous position, not recognizing the move, so… I guess the online interface is not without its (major) flaws.
As previously stated, 1/4" is really at the limit, and if it’s store-bought, the consistency is likely very poor. MDF is glue and sawdust, very unreliable. “Proofgrade” draftboard is expensive because they can somewhat guarantee consistency.
I’ve never heard of black MDF before this thread. I have used Black and White board from THD, but it’s just whiteboard on one side and paint on the other, and horribly inconsistent as well.
The interface does not have major flaws, but not understanding how the inteface works will result in failures. Once you click “Print” the interface will follow instructions. Should you choose to move your artwork, the interface has no way of knowing that you changed your mind.
You do need to keep in mind that large cuts and small cuts may cut differently. On a small cut, the head doesn’t have as much time to get up to speed, meaning it’s actually spending more time in one place, so it might successfully make a small cutout but not cut through on a cut going the full width of the board.
I’ve never had that happen in 4+ years of using the interface…my guess is more likely you haven’t entered a material thickness, and the artwork moves because when you’ve pressed “print” the autofocus step corrects the placement based on its measurement of the thickness. Using the Set Focus tool before placing each piece of artwork will fix that for you, since 1) you don’t need to measure the material and enter its thickness if you use Set Focus, and 2) the Set Focus tool moves the “center” of the fisheye correction algorithm to the spot you choose, making that the most accurate point on the screen for visual placement (until you set it again somewhere else).
I don’t know. I have experienced multiple glitches with the interface. Just right now I was doing the test cut with the file you guys provided the link to (which was another failed attempt) and all of a sudden the Glowforge decided to make multiple passes on some of the elements completely on its own (they were all set to one pass).
You know how you set your artwork (using proofgrade materials) and then click on “PRINT”, the Glowforge refocuses and then the artwork moves slightly (or the image below, rather)? Well… I have moved the artwork to compensate, yet the GF has cut it in the exact same spot where it was originally. As if it did not register the relocation.
Also, I have eliminated (by deletion or clicking “Ignore”) some elements at times, and the Glowforge has STILL cut or engraved them. So… the whole environment (machine + interface) is a very cool tool, but it is not without its (considerable) flaws.
Well… I shall have to live with sealing and painting proofgrade MDF (which I hate and don’t have the patience for). I thought I could avoid it by using previously colored MDF, but… life’s not perfect.
Well… how do you explain that it decided to do more than one pass on some elements yet not on others, when I did NOT change said setting and ALL elements were set to a single pass?
The fisheye lens of the camera also causes some aberration which results in inaccuracy, especially near the edges of the bed.
Don’t be offended. The inteface’s not perfect. Relying on an interchange of data via the web is not the best way to go, but I was aware of that before I purchased the GF (in fact, it’s my least favorite feature but that’s the price of making it ‘user friendly’).
I was just hoping someone would’ve dealth with the same material and shared the experience.
