Materials/Temperature/Files

I’m using Proofgreade wood and my own acrylic/plexiglass. The acrylics I have are 0.125in thick and whenever I cut, it doesn’t cut! I’m using the Proofgreade settings because it seems to be the same thickness, material, etc. Can anyone provide a screenshot of the right settings? Thanks.

Are the acrylics cast or extruded? Extruded materials are not recommended for lasering.

But each manufacturer is different, especially if there is color & the tranlucency or not. Opaque material is harder to cut than translucent–you can compare the settings between the “clear acrylic” and “white acrylic” and the other colors to get an idea of what was changed.

But it’s not uncommon to have to change the settings a bit–sometimes just slowing down the speed helps the cut, or running a second pass. Do some testing and find out what works with your materials. Some of my own it’s same as PG thin, but I find using the medium thickness PG setting works…

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I agree with @bansai8creations, the medium Proofgrade acrylic settings generally work best for me on similar thickness acrylic, but you need to specify that in the Unknown Materials slot before you start in order for it to populate the slots correctly. If you click on Manual settings it will default to 1% power as a safety measure.

If it’s coming close, but not quite cutting all the way through, you can either slow down the Proofgrade speed settings by from 5 to 10 points up front, or just do a second pass to finish the cut. And make sure it’s pinned flat. Acrylic warps too, and when it warps, you don’t get good cuts.

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Yes I’ve been using Proofgrade acrylics and applying their settings. it worked for me a while back, but now it doesn’t seem to cut. The engraving part is fine. It’s just the cut that I’m still trying to figure out. :frowning: I’ve also used other acrylics in the past that worked fine. Just weird how the cutting part doesn’t work all the time. Same happened with the Proofgrade wood.

Okay thanks. I will try that. Yeah still playing with the settings but wasting material at the same time. :frowning:

The acrylic especially can leave some residue on the lenses so be sure to clean the lenses often (there as a thread a while back that someone posted a photo of the little blobs). When I find my cutting for any material is not as good as before, it’s time to clean, regardless of # hours…

Since this problem is being seen on materials that were purchased from another company, we can’t offer support for prints that don’t come out as expected. I’m going to move it to Beyond the Manual so other folks here can help. Should this happen with a print on Proofgrade materials, please open a new ticket in Problems and Support and we’ll help you right away!

These are acrylics I bought through GF that are Proofgreade with the code. For some reason, the machine is not cutting through. The cuts are inconsistent but the engraving is fine. I apply the same settings, sometimes it cuts and other times it doesn’t. Same with the wood I bought through GF.

Looks like time to mention cleaning… Have you kept your lens and various windows along the laser path clean? If they get dirty, that can reduce your cutting ability. Just a thought.

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