I went to cut ornaments on proofgrade draftboard. Have had no problems doing this, even with bad camera. But today, the first cut did not work. Cut again with proofgrade draftboard setting. Did not cut. Third time, decided to use thick plywood setting. Ornaments starting to char, but still did NOT cut through. Please, please help
clean optical path
check that lens and mirrors are in place and clean
make sure materials are flat
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Is there any chance your lens is in upside down?
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Okay, that’s pretty close to cutting through, but it looks much more charred than it should. Did you recently clean the lens? If so, did you put the lens back in the correct direction? (Bowl side goes up into the head, flat side points towards the bed.)
(Check it before doing anything else. That can mess up the head.)
Don’t use settings for thick materials on thin materials. The laser needs to be precisely focused, and choosing thick settings are gonna cause excess charring and maybe a fire situation. If it’s not quite cutting through on the thin settings, just slow the speed down 5-10 points from the Proofgrade settings and try again on one ornament.
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It was my lens. I guess I better not talk and clean at the same time anymore!!
Thanks everyone.
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Glad you figured it out!
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Because of variables like atmospheric moisture, it is possible to not get a complete cut-through. If that’s happening consistently you can slow down the speed a few points to deliver more energy.
It’s also a good practice to hold the material still so it doesn’t move, and try to lift the cut with a piece of tape. If the cut didn’t make it through and the material didn’t move, you can run the cut again.
Have fun laserin’ up your Christmas! 
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I’m so sorry to hear that you hit this snag, but I’m glad to hear that the advice from @Jules and everyone else helped.
I’ll close this topic for now, but please don’t hesitate to reach out to us in the future at support@plugable.com if you run into any more trouble.
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