Laser Cut Printer Paper - Using Engrave

that’ll work! :grin:

12x24 fits nicely in the machine? Or do you trim it down?

When cutting paper on the Seklema mat or plywood, do you set it to engrave? I would guess that if you set it to cut it would go all the way through.

650 speed, 30 power, engrave?

Cut, engrave or score, all that matters is power, speed and number of passes. Less power equals less power and faster speed equals less power. While the Seklema mat and plywood sprayed with a repositionable glue can take some abuse, you should probably be as kind as possible to them while still getting the job done.

When in doubt start with something faster and lower power than you think you’ll need, preferably on a sacrificial test piece and see what happens. Then up the power, slow the speed until you just go through reliably.

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Is 650 speed, 30 power on engrave a good place to start for cutting paper stencil pattern? I am waiting for my seklema mat and have a piece of proof grade plywood with the repositionable adhesive on top. If I set it to cut wouldn’t it cut through the entire board?

There are some rather detailed settings in the forum for paper cutting and engraving. One post I am familiar with suggests about 500 speed and 15 power for cheap 20 lb copy paper. I think you would be wise to take a look at this post: Somewhat Comprehensive Testing of Settings for Cutting Paper and Cardstock

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It needs to be trimmed.

Is there any paper (brand or particular kind) that we know for sure we can’t / shouldn’t try to laser, due to any of the processes or chemicals or coatings involved?

I know some items can be marketed as “paper” due to appearance and function but are really not pulp of any kind.

Haven’t heard of any so far. I would avoid anything with plastic in it without testing.

Yeah, I haven’t either, but I feel like years back I encountered “paper” that definitely had a thin plastic coating as the finish. Just a thought that was in my head. I guess we’ll find out!

I have a PNG file uploaded to GF.
I have the settings as you have shown.

What I am choked about and do not understand is that the GF does not see a thickness for the paper.
It does not register a height and continues to give me an error. I manually put in a thickness of .001" and it gives me an error.

What other settings need to be completed to cut paper of any thickness?

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Is it dark paper? You need to have something light colored for the camera to be able to pick up a visual image, and you need to make sure the red laser pointer lands on the paper and not off to the side.

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Your screenshot show .01, not .001. At any rate, try the set focus tool and make sure the beam hits squarely on your pattern.

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Paper was straight out of the printer. White, 20lb bond

I figure that the calibration from the laser head to the paper is out.
I removed and replaced the crumb tray several times and found that that made no difference.

If the laser head determines a close distance from head to material, mine is not calibrated.

To solve the issue I actually placed the paper on a thicker material and voila, it picked up the depth.
The error saying it was thicker than .500" disappeared.

I have a sacrificial piece of wood I will use until this GF is calibrated better. Disappointed to say the least that I am not able to do the same as the factory can.

Are you using set focus? Or are you letting it scan at the beginning of the job?

Set focus each time and still no heaight confirmation when the paper is resting on the crumb tray.

Set the material height to .002 and the job focal height to .001”.

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What material did you select when you cut the bird?

Click on UNKNOWN and then click on use uncertified material.

Selecting a proofgrade material is about settings and material thickness. There is no near match material for paper.