I think the problem @changemakers is having here is a similar one @takitus had brought up? You want to make a jig for exact placement, but the material itself is too thick for a standard type jig, where you just cut a hole and put your item in, without something totally elaborate.
Here’s how we worked around it… Takitus was working with a bit skinnier material, but it should still work.
First, you’ll need something at least .20” to prop it up and get it into focal range. Without the crumb tray, the material needs to be about 1.37-1.38” above the floor of the machine. The links above can help you figure out the math.
You can make an outline of the material shape in your design software and then align the engrave to the material outline. You’ll want to score the outline of the material onto a piece of material that will show you where to place your item.
Normally, the Glowforge will complain about this because the material surface you want to score the outline on is below the focal range of the beam.
To get around this, you’ll need to specify the material height, and then set a manual focal height that is different than the material height - say .001”. This should bypass the material height error and run the score. The beam will be out of focus when it hits the jig/outline material, so it will need more power to mark.
After that, place your item inside of the scored outline, make sure the focal height is correct for the engrave, and run the job.
Basically, I would arrange it like this if it were me:
Put a .25” spacer on the bottom (I have some standoffs that I use)
Put a piece of .08” chipboard on the standoffs.
Run my score outline for box placement.
Put my box on top of the chipboard and set the focal height for the engrave to 0.16” (total stack height of 1.53” minus crumbtray height of 1.37”)
Engrave