Prevent scorch marks on card stock

[kwalter33]

Thank you!

[PrintToLaser]

Like @evermorian said, dial in the settings until you just make it through. This was a little hot, but not bad. This is copy paper.

[dklgood]

This has helped lots of people: Somewhat Comprehensive Testing of Settings for Cutting Paper and Cardstock

[kwalter33]

Thank you! That’s exactly what I need.

[kwalter33]

Thank you.

[kwalter33]

Thanks for the info. Your paper cut is beautiful! The level of detail is amazing. I’ve seen a couple of posts where people said they use Engrave instead of Cut. Which do you use?

[celesteprobichaux]

This is stunning! It looks like lace.

[rvogt]

That cut paper (lace) is beautiful!!!

[PrintToLaser]

That is engraved through.

@celesteprobichaux

It looks like lace.

Thanks, that was the inspiration, but it’s the precision of a laser beam that rendered that. I had very little to dowith it - besides dialing in the settings. Looking for that sweet spot is a treasure hunt, enjoy the ride.

[cindyhodesigns]

Even though I managed to minimize scorching this is the one material that I tend to use my vinyl plotter instead for light colours. Light card stock can be tricky.

[evansd2]

In addition to this, there was promising research done with using pin beds to reduce smoke residue on the back side of a cut.

I made a pin bed (design file included)

So instead of getting into nailing a gazillion pins into bed or complicated metal cutting etc. I thought “hang on - I have a laser!” So this is a wooden pin bed. Yes, it will wear out. Yes, it gets burn marks all over it. But so what - I can just cut another one. The design is for 3mm draftboard/MDF. If anyone feels keen the whole thing could do with stretching to the full width of the bed. It also includes a wider pin pattern, not sure if that is more useful or not. [IMG_5233] …

[sqw]

Don’t know how well a pin-bed will work with paper - you need to stop it blowing around, which gets more complicated.

[evansd2]

@sqw

need to stop it blowing around

Just gonna leave this here…

How to manually control the air assist fan power

Disclaimer: If you are unsure of either of the following: “why would you want to do this?” “what problems could this cause?” … then turn around and walk away, this isn’t for you (I am only half kidding!) The bottom line is that this may elevate your fire risk, reduce your air assist fan life, or cause a change to the fumes generated by your cuts. It may not do these things too, there’s just not enough data to say for sure either way. I’ve been using them for some time wit…

[kwalter33]

Thank you for the info.

[kelley1]

Rabbit hole alert!

[Jules]

Late to the game here, but I just got through running a boatload of 1" circle cuts on posterboard and it was scorching badly…until I pressed down a couple of sheets of paper masking tape on the grid to block the underside air flow. (I could place subsequent sheets of posterboard on the tape without having to mask each piece. Worked extremely well, for about ten boards. Then just had to lay down fresh tape, because it does get cut up and will peel off eventually.)

No more scorch marks. And less burning paper smell.

[kwalter33]

Thanks for the tip! What kind of masking paper tape did you use?

[Jules]

It was a roll of whatever I had on hand…I think it was this one from Amazon. But the sticky was a little on the weak side and I had to press it down again a couple of times between jobs.

Amazon.com: GreenStar Application Transfer Tape for Vinyl 12" x 100yd - Signs...

If you get one of the better high-tack ones and squeegee it down with a credit card, you can probably avoid that, but it will be pricier.

[kwalter33]

Thanks.

[Xabbess]

@PrintToLaser

This is copy paper