New Glowforger

New Glowforger here. On my first test cut the glow forge wouldn’t cut completely through. it was on .25 inch material and cut most of the way but not completely through. do I need to show the thickness as slightly thicker than .25? On another note I placed the material and overlayed the design on the material. When we hit print it moved the the cut so it was just outside the edge of the material.

What type of material are you attempting to cut? Is it Proofgrade or another material? This will be crucial to determining the next steps. Please be as specific as possible.

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First things first go to support.glowforge.com and go through the First Three Prints using the PG material that they sent you. It will answer questions like how to work with manual settings, and how focusing works.

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@bravehaven I’m so sorry to hear your Glowforge is having issues cutting through material. Is the material you are printing on proofgrade?

There are several things that need to be checked if the laser doesn’t cleanly cut through the material. We’ve discovered that photos don’t always come through well in emails, so I’ve included several links that will take you to reference instructions and photos. Please turn off your Glowforge and check the following:

Once all these things have been checked, please perform the following test print.

  • Print the Gift of Good Measure on Proofgrade material, using Proofgrade settings.

  • When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture updates.

Check the completed print:

  • If the Gift of Good Measure fails to cut through, take a photo of the front and back of the print and attach these photos to your reply.
  • If the Gift of Good Measure cuts successfully, please try another print of the design you experienced the issue with, and let us know the results.

The movement of the camera has been happening to me as well. Good thing I’m still learning or else I’d be really upset. These are what was recommended to me.

I hope this helps.

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It was not proofgrade. It was oak that measured .25 with my caliper

was it plywood? or solid hardwood?

if it was plywood, you likely had troubles with the fillers.

if it was solid. it might not have been completely flat. That is probably the biggest issue I have found for the “not quite cutting through” situation.

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As this is not Proofgrade material we can’t discuss settings in Problems and Support. I have moved the topic to the appropriate location.

There are several ways to find the proper settings for a material and the search function in this forum will let you find them, or maybe someone else has them readily accessible.

If the issue repeats when you use Proofgrade material you should open a new topic under Problems and Support or email support directly, but not both. As noted by the support agent in this topic, you will need to complete the gift of good measure on Proofgrade material and submit photos to troubleshoot any cutting issues with Proofgrade material.

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Thank you very helpful

It was hardwood and very flat… I think I need to increase power and slow it down. I won’t be able to get back the the mad scientist mode until tonight to try agai. Any other thoughts. Thank you for your input

typically cutting is done at max power for things like wood. at least that is my limited experience.

I have done .250 plywood. but it had no voids.

there is a “test” svg around here some place somebody made that helps with optimizing speed/power

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See #5 and #6

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Hello! @bravehaven , Have you tried to perform the test print that my colleague @David.W suggested? This would be a good way to establish a baseline for the issue you brought up. Let me know and I will be happy to help!

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It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.