My cork engraving and cutting settings

Beyond the Manual
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21

Are these settings for cork with adhesive backing?

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22

Anyone have any score settings for this material?

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Looks great!

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Testify brother!

25

A score is a cut that doesn’t go all the way through so cut their cutting power setting in half and you’ll have a score line (don’t cut their speed in half or you’ll likely continue to cut)

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26

Ok, thanks. Is that a general rule of thumb for most materials? Score power = 1/2 cut power @ same speed.

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Not at all, in fact what depth of a score is “good” is fairly hotly contested. I like scores that barely kiss - but I don’t sand a lot. If you intend to sand then you’ll want a deeper one. You won’t know what your perfect setting is until you run tests (if you run them off the edge of a piece of wood you can see how deeply it scores), but as a place to start - 50% won’t cut through :slight_smile:

There’s a fabulous test strip you can use on any material where you want to get down to the best setting for you.

For example for Basswood plywood the Draft score setting is 300/30, and the HD score is 125/10 - I have a manual setting of 300/21 (comparing/contrasting the PG settings is useful as a starting point as well - if there is one that matches your material)

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Not sure what I’m missing here (except some settings) but you gave Speed/Power but what about Convert to Dots vs Vary Power? LPI? Those kind of settings. I’m working with cork now and struggling with settings. Thanks.

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29

Cork is a variable material, so the cork you are using may be quite different than the cork the original poster used. As for lpi settings, you will probably have to do some testing with your artwork to get your desired outcome, as you do with all projects. You only get the options for graphics and photo engraves with specific types of artwork. The original poster was engraving text only, so the only option was lpi.

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30

Generally cork engraves very easily - but it does not engrave deeply - so even if you do vary power, don’t expect a depth to your engrave.
Vary - same amount of power to the entire design
CtoD/P - laser rapidly turns on and off giving you shading the same way newspapers print pictures
So if you’re doing a single colour blocks - go with Vary, if a photo or intricate design, go with Convert.

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31

Thank you for showing me the sheet!! I have owned my Pro for 2 days, it is such a resource! Thank you Glowforge Community! :smiley:

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32

I used it constantly for my first year or so. Nowadays I use PG settings most of the time, since I’m almost always able to find one that work for whatever material I’m using :slight_smile:

Have an absolute blast!

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33

I have not had luck scoring on cork. Engraving, with thicker details, yes, but not scoring. The cork I had - Ikea trivets and coasters - was too “busy” to show any kind of detail. So I reverted to engraving, and increasing line/detail thickness in my design app.

The material the OP posted appears a lot lighter and scoring might work on that.

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34

Thanks for the post. I’m trying to cut 1/4" cork and can’t get through it. I ran it at full power and speed of 175. For your 1/8" your power was only 100?

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Cork absorbs heat, so it can be a real challenge to cut. I have never cut 1/4" cork. The thinner cork that I had (placemats from Ikea) cut at 280/full. For your particular cork you will have to do some testing.

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Ditto to what @dklgood said. I’ve never succeeded 100% either, but lower power and less speed seems like it might do a bit better. If there’s a way you can flip your material to cut from the back, I’ve had no problem getting through halfway :slight_smile:

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Hi, just wondering, do you still have the Google sheet for settings? :slight_smile: I was wondering if I could get the link please!

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So yes, but there have been quite a few changes in speed/power relationships, so this is going to be solely a guideline and you’re still going to want to test.

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