Proofgrade and Power Settings

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#1

I basically have two questions concerning speed and power. First, proof grade material automatically sets the speed and power but does not show what those settings are. Anyway of finding out? And secondly this question concerns power differences in the basic and pro model. Since the Basic unit is 40 watts and the Pro unit 45 watts is a given power percentage setting (ie 30% power) the same on both units up and until the Full Power setting OR is it 30% in this example of 40 watts on the basic unit and 30% of 45 watts on the pro model?

I hope this second question makes sense. I think I may have even confused myself. :slight_smile:

#2

Select a proofgrade operation and then change that operation to Manual - it will carry over the proofgrade settings.

The precision power settings are just arbitrary units - they aren’t related to % of max power or anything else that we know of. They are just a 1-100 scale.

The precision power units will translate between the Basic and Pro… 50 on the basic is same as 50 on the pro, etc.

Full power IS different between the basic and the pro. So a setting on the basic like “Speed 150, Power Full,” will not work the same as “Speed 150, Power Full” on the Pro.

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#3

Yep. The power setting is not a percentage.

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#4

Perfect. Exactly what I wanted to know. I asked because when I see people post speed and power settings for a given material for the Pro I didn’t know whether I could use the same setting on the basic or would have to alter them . Thats assuming anything up to but excluding the full power setting.

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#5

Correct! :slightly_smiling_face:

#6

How does that work? You’re saying, for example, that 90 (out of 100) on the Basic is the same as 90 on the pro, but full power is not the same. But they both go from 0-100. That would leave part of the Pro power range inaccessible, wouldn’t it?

#7

Yep. That’s correct. There’s at least a 10% power jump from 100 to Full on the Pro And you can’t select anything in between.

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#8

I suspect it’s more than 10%. I was cutting something out last week at only 100% power, and it failed to cut through - had one of those “Whoops!” moments…ran it again at Full Power (Pro) and charred the next one into oblivion. (sigh!)

#9

That seems like a poor design choice. If the 0-100 isn’t representative of a percentage, the pro version should go to a higher number. I’m still using the makerspace GF (a basic), but I’d be pretty annoyed to pay more for the pro and not be able to properly access the full range of power.

#10

Eh. In the end, I don’t think it makes a ton of difference. It’s all about power delivered to the material. There is enough granularity in speed / power settings that you can tweak the speed to get the energy delivery correct.

The primary thing I see with arbitrary units is that it’s hard to translate general material advice (say, from inventables) to numbers that make sense on the Glowforge, even though it’s basically just another 40/45w laser.

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#11

Except that the use case the Jules mentions above is a good example. Sure, you can tweak all the settings to get the right match, but you shouldn’t have to. You should be able to slowly increase the power to the max. Just because something isn’t a deal breaker doesn’t mean it’s a good design choice.

It seems that, practically speaking, the 0-100 does represent a percentage for the basic, unless there’s also a leap from 100 to Full power.

#12

That’s what one has to do anyways using any laser - except for Proofgrade materials.

#13

There is, but it’s not as great as the leap to the Pro Full Power.

The Plus model that’s coming is going to have the full Pro power without some of the other whistles and bells.

#14

Right. But at this point, you’ve already tweaked the settings. If you’re just about there and need a bit more power, you should be able to get it without having to readjust unnecessarily. Anyway, I’m happy to agree to disagree. I still maintain that it’s a poor design choice that users aren’t able to access the full range of power having bought a higher level model in part to gain that extra power.

#15

Maybe they’ll fix the range so that it’s accessible to both of the upper end models…

I got an embargoed press release a few days early for the change in models. That was one of the hardest embargoes I’ve ever had to honor. :wink: I wanted to shout the info from the rooftops!

#16

Chuckle! Good job! :zipper_mouth_face:
(Probably the only time I’ll ever get to use the little zipped fellow.)

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#17