I understand multipass function and keeping the focal depth for engraving multipass makes perfect sense. But with cutting a 2 pass should make the second pass focal depth half way to zero. Similarly a 3 pass should make a cut and third increments of focal depth. Doing this manually with additional layers is tedious and there would be no case in which is would not make sense to have the software do the math.
Example: 3 pass cut on .25" oak
Cut 1 at .25" focus
Cut 2 at .16.666" focus
Cut 3 at .833 focus
Example: 2 pass cut on 1/8" acrylic
Cut 1 at .125" focus
Cut 2 at .0625" focus
For scoring and engraving the focus would of course remain the same, but it just makes sense and cleaner cuts for cutting to have the software do this adjustment toward the zero depth of the full cut as it makes additional passes.
In order to get a noticeable difference your focus needs to be off by a minimum of .25, and .5 is even better, so yes - if you’re trying to cut through (for example) 1" thick wood it makes sense to adjust the focal height for subsequent cuts, but for 1/8" and 1/4" wood it’s just not “out of focus” enough to matter.
Your post is interesting, but there are several reasons why you may elect to have multiple passes and I don’t really think your focus logic is totally accurate.
Thank you for reaching out to us with your suggestions. We are always trying to improve our customer experience and welcome feedback, so I will make sure to pass this along to our team for review.
Since it does not appear that any support assistance is needed here, I’m going to move this post over to the Everything Else section of our forum. That way the you can continue the discussion with the community.
If you find you need help with this issue or anything else please either start a new thread or email us at support@glowforge.com. We’re happy to help!