So i have been using the glow forge for over a year now. Make lots of different things. Love it.
BUT i am now having a problem. I use 1/4 inch 5.22mm lauan plywood from lowes for my cute money trees. Been using it for over a year. But recently some of the lowes are carrying sheets that do not cut. They just burn black lines and will not cut all the way thru. It is all labeled the same. But seems thanks to the pandemic it seems they have changed suppilers and i think the wood must have more glue or something. I could really use some help to find the right setting or clues to cut this wood so i can finish my holiday orders. I can send pictures if needed. Even have video of it burning- which i stopped so not to damage the forge. any suggestings. it was cutting perfectly using the same settings as medium proof grade maple plywood from GLOWFORGE. No issues till this week. It is not the laser or the machine. it is really the wood. If i throw in a scrap piece of the lauan plywood that i know works. it cut perfectly. But this new suppliers wood does not. Please please please help!
Lauan is quite possibly the worst material you can use. It is the very lowest grade of underlayment, designed to prove a smooth level surface over a subfloor before tiling.
Even their 1/8" is terrible, and 1/4" of any type is really pushing the limits of the machine. 1/4" Lauan would be a disaster.
I have been using 5.22mm lauan for well over a year with no issue for this particular item. I have made over 1000 of them. no issues at all. I also do all types of other projects using other woods.
No issues till this last batch of wood from lowes. Half would not cut at all. Half was fine.
just tryong to figure out how to get thru this holiday season. cant redesign something that i already sold and just need to make and ship. Any suggestions.
Nope. It’s incredibly inconsistent. Glad you had some success but it’s well known that it’s not suitable for use on the GF.
ok thank you for your time
It is great to see you have been having great results outside of the advertised PG!
That’s unfortunately a thing a GF simply can’t get through cleanly no matter the settings. If you shine a bright flashlight behind the luan in a dark room can you see the glue patches? (This works with Baltic birch ply, but that’s light colored wood) If you can then you can at least mark the bad areas and avoid them.
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