I was working on some designs for when I get my glowforge and as a laser newbie I was wondering what problems would occur if I upped the power for cutting on a project. For instance if I had cut 1/4" cherry at 50% power and a random speed setting, and on this project I had just purchased a new batch of 1/4" cherry, what, if any, issues would arise if I just cut it at 80% power at the same speed as before just to gurantee a cut?
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I imagine maybe a wider kerf then expected, and tube life
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More smoke staining (if it wasn’t covered to prevent that). Wider kerf. And if you have a lot of intricate details, possibly some scorching. If going slow enough, and lots of fine detail, possibly fire.
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Thanks
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Also “backsplash”, where you get a reflection from the grate that etches a shadow of the crumb tray grate into the back of your material.
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Oooooh! I always blamed that on my honeycomb being really dirty, and the air assist causing particles to blow up and embed themselves in the bottom of the wood.
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Those may be contributing factors, but correct power settings can definitely cause or eliminate it.
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