Manual? Non proof grade material questions

[kolleenk]

so this might be a stupid question but here it goes…is there an actual user manual? not the set up manual. instructions on how to work the machine/basically how to figure out how to cut engrave non-proof grade material? i want to try some materials but i don’t want to hurt the laser or do something wrong/dangerous.

[cynd11]

Lots of info here. Also, do a search in Beyond the Manual category with the keyword “settings.”

[Tom_A]

Start by examining Proofgrade settings for similar materials. Or make a test image to try multiple variables in one job. Something you don’t want start with is super-slow, super-power. In fact, I’d recommend the opposite. Maybe start your testing with 1000/Full. Or 1000/50. Depending on the material.

[Jules]

There are several tutorials and discussions on Material Safety in the Matrix - it’s a good place to start your research.

Read THIS first.

A word of caution about the chlorine flame test

I’ve seen a number of people refer to this test when determining if products are laser-compatible. I want to share a strong note of caution: there are many potential toxic byproducts of combustion. I believe this video only attempts to test for one. I would not rely on it to determine if a product of unknown composition is laser compatible or not.

Check this list:
http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials

Only then should you watch this video:

Laser Cutter Burn Test

For safe and tested materials, do a search in the Beyond the Manual category for whatever material you are thinking about using, plus the word “settings”. It will pull up other people’s results and some good starter settings.

[caribis2]

When I received my email with the tracking numbers back in August, the email had a link to what Glowforge called “the manual”. The manual described the machine at the highest level and contained generic safety information as I recall. It appears the contents, more or less, of that manual have been broken up and placed in the support section of their website. If by user manual, you mean an instruction manual that provides the information necessary to truly understand and use your machine, I’ve never seen, nor heard of, such a thing. While glowforge has created an amazing device with the ability to do all sorts of custom things, they have a strict policy of not commenting on the use of non-proofgrade materials or manual settings for proofgrade or otherwise. They did create this section of the customer forums for us to help each other to explore these things.

[rpegg]

The link to a PDF manual is on the Glowforge website. As stated on the page it may or may not be current. https://glowforge.com/manual

A web based tutorial is on the Support site. https://glowforge.com/support Similar information as in the manual.