After 4 longs hours of research and trying I am lost. Please make this easy for me.
I purchase 1/4 plywood from HD. I am trying to cut and I am using the free crayon box file. It is not cutting. There is nothing wrong with the Glowforge when I cut 1/8 plywood.
What are the proper settings to cut 1/4 thick plywood?
Please explain it to me like I am 5. When I go to the app – How do I properly set up my Glowforge?
There are all kinds of different plywoods, with all kinds of different glues. You’ll have to do some testing to find the right settings, I suspect. I’d suggest searching the Beyond the Manual area for Baltic Birch 1/4" settings, then adjust speed/power/number of repeats from there until you get it the way you want it. 
Thank you so very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
Thing is, the center plys will probably have occasional voids in them and different manufacturers use different compounds to fill them. I have seen Bondo body filler in them, and that will not cut.
So before you move the work after an attempted cut try to lift the cut out with a piece of tape or a pick, and if the material hasn’t moved you can run the file again.
Just be aware that you will run into that filler problem at some point. That’s one of the attractive points of the proofgrade ply with an homogeneous MDF core.
I’m currently running a production job of 1000 tokens engraved on both sides, and because:proofgrade: is already sanded, and has a finish on it, it’s a no-brainer time and frustration saver.
I wish the company would offer the ply unmasked for a bit of savings. On a job like this one I pull the mask off before running the file, household ammonia wipes the smoke stain right off, saving me about a week of weeding both sides of 1000 pieces.
Also quarter inch isn’t quarter inch sometimes… Most stuff I’ve gotten at home depot aside from their MDF is 5mm thick.
The birch that I get there I use full power and ~140 speed. Might be a good starting point to try and go from there.
As others have said, too many variables to give you numbers, some 1/4 I’ve bought just won’t cut.
You can use settings for a similar Proofgrade material, such as the “thick” (1/4") Maple Ply, as a starting point. Make up a simple design - a small circle or square (or both) and cut out on the edge where it won’t waste much material. Examine it, adjust settings as needed.
Make sure the material is flat on the bed. When you tap on it, there should be no rattling or bowing.
Don’t forget to use the Set Focus tool to get the height of the material correct. The function can be found behind the gear icon on the top tool ribbon in the GFUI.
I bought a sheet of 1/4 inch Birch from Home Depot before I knew better and some of it worked and some of it didn’t this is when it didn’t…
Just realized - if this is the design you are attempting, it’s designed for 1/8", not 1/4", ply. The parts will not fit correctly if you try it on 1/4".
You might find Boxes.py a better way to get a design that you want based on 1/4 inch wood but as others have noted you need to measure everything to make everything fit.
Baltic birch (or as my local wood place calls it, “Russian” birch), has been pretty reliable for me. Every once in a while I hit a spot that won’t cut through, but for not being PG, I feel like it’s pretty good for the price.
Speaking of…
Here is some 1/8” BB I ran into tonight.
Yeah, it’s not PG. But it’s more reliable than other stuff I’ve tried.
I would rather have empty than Bondo!
Thank you for your help
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Thank you I forgot all about the set focus. I need measure the wood it was exactly 1/4 inch.
Thank you for your help. I measured the 1/4 wood in several places it was reading 1/4 inch.
Thank you so very much for your response and help,
