Magnets

Please:

Can you hold cartons with magnets to make cuts?

Thank You
Hernan

Most folks use magnets, especially if your material that you are working has any warp. I especially use them on non proof grade wood to hold it down to the crumb tray. This allows me to make sure that any cuts that I made went through the wood before I move the project. That way I can cut it again if I didn’t move it. Welcome to the group. :grinning:

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You can try magnets, but you might get an error message about the air assist, and the machine will stop if you place strong magnets too close to where the head is going to be moving.

I prefer not to use them. A better thing to use is the Honeycomb Pins here:

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Thank You Jules
Hernan

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Thank You David

Hernan

I really need to find a filter that will just show all your posts and spend a weekend reading up. Didn’t know this, however I guess I have lucked out so far since I generally have kept them to the sides. Prob would have panicked when it got the error not even thinking of the fan interfearance.

Chuckle! I think that’s the first time I’ve mentioned it, so you’re up to date. It’s been reported several times on Facebook recently, but only since the air assist warning function was implemented into the software. :smile:

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I use hard drive magnets like these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-12-Medium-Neodymium-Rare-Earth-Hard-Drive-Magnet/173482837230?hash=item28646204ee:g:xioAAOSwQzJb28Qn:sc:USPSFirstClass!32514!US!-1
They are thin, and have a plate on top of them that I use to overlap the edge of whatever I am trying to hold down. The metal plate on them keeps them from interfering with the air assist fan too. The honeycomb pins that @jules mentioned are also great. They are a free design that can be cut out of your wood scraps. :blush:

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Thank You David

Hernan

Do you have access to a 3D printer? If so these are what I use and the work great…

We don’t recommend putting anything in your Glowforge unless it’s laser-compatible. We recommend using small scraps of Proofgrade material if you need to weight down the edges of your material.

How exactly does that work? I have scraps but they weigh in the 1/4 of an ounce range. They certainly don’t “weight” the material down. Is there some trick to how big the scraps need to be or how they’re positioned?

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Pins are what you need at the edges of the material. Though pins are useless at holding down the center if it’s bowed. Can’t put a pin where the crumb tray can’t be reached. I have always used magnets but tonight I saw first hand that a thin neodymium magnet will stop the air assist fan. So care must be taken to ensure an operation won’t place the fan directly over a magnet. The unit will sense the fan has stopped and force the unit to stop engraving.

Though it occurs to me that you know that and are messing with Support.

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I use pins and magnets. But this is at least the second time I’ve seen an official Support response that says to use scrap pieces of PG to hold it down. Since that’s the official position of GF, I’d like to know what I’m missing that I can’t get a qtr oz piece of scrap to hold down a bowed or warped corner/side/center of other PG. They must have a trick we don’t know about.

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We do know that magnets can interfere with the blower fan and the more powerful the magnet the more it messes with the fans , If the magnetic field goes through un-magnetized steel the field is considerably reduced and thus the magnets power is directed down I have been using magnets sold with such shielding and some not and it was the un-shielded magnets that I saw that the fans were interfered with and lost the work when the machine stopped without being able to restart.

Now that the project is not halted the concern is not as great; however I have obtained some steel flashing that can be made to shield the magnetic field of the magnets I am using, The magnets have been a crucial part of locating the work and the idea that they should not be used would be a major problem as pins only work in some circumstances.

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Thank You rbtdanforth
Hernan

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Thank You Jamesdhatch

Thank You
Hernan

I’ve wondered that same wonder every time I’ve seen them say that. I have this image in my head of little PG scraps blowing all over the surface while the laser cuts…

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Are iPads considered PG since I thought they endorse that? :rofl:

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