Settings for 1/4" thick draft board

[aman4slp]

Hey everyone,

I ordered some 12 x 12" square draftboard from Etsy that is 1/4" thick.

It was my first time cutting thicker draftboard. I used the
proofgrade settings for thick draftboard but it didn’t cut all the way through. Then I tried with two passes that didn’t work either (burned it pretty good on this try).

I tried to compensate by trying to cut a square out of the 1/8" thick 12 x 20 " pieces I had - only to realize that the a vertical line will only cut about 11" across.

I know I need to edit my letters or they are going to fall out all together - so please never mind that part.

Any suggestions for other settings I can try on this thick draftboard?

Thank you.

[evermorian]

Hello!

“Draftboard” refers specifically to the “Proofgrade” brand MDF sold by Glowforge. If I remember correctly, it comes in ~1/8" (“Medium”) and ~1/4" (“Thick”). The “Thick Draftboard” settings in the UI refer to the later.

What you bought on Etsy is likely something entirely different.

The best way to figure out the settings is to do some testing. Here is a write-up on how:

New material cut test method

Don’t know what settings to use on a material? The only way to be sure is to test. Good news! You can effectively test on a thin strip on the edge of your material, it’s fast and easy. I use this shape to do so (SVG attached): [Material_test] Click here to download/save Or click here for the ZIP: Material_test.zip (3.3 KB) To use: Set the first operation to score (the numbers). You’ll use these to identify your cut pieces later. Set each of the curve shapes to a power/speed combo t…

Since Glowforge support staff won’t be able to help with non-Proofgrade materials, this probably needs to get moved to Beyond the Manual to get additional community help.

[marmak3261]

1/4" MDF is a wild card. There are many instances documented on the forum where folks have trouble cutting non Proofgrade thick MDF.

Some don’t work very well. They all require some testing. Hope you can get some settings that work for you.

[kanati]

Moved this to beyond the manual…

Like everyone else said. It’s a crapshoot depending on the glues used to bind it. But I did cut some recently and think I did 140 speed / full power. Two passes and it was almost perfect for the stuff that I had. What you have may be completely different but probably a good setting to start with.

[JimmyWayneWestie]

Last week I helped someone with the same problem and these settings helped them. I have had great success cutting all types of quarter inch wood with these settings.

Choose uncertified material and add .20 — then go to manual settings.

The most important factor your material has to be completely 100% flat— absolutely no give if you place your hand on the material and it moves.

[aman4slp]

I will do some test runs with the files you shared. Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it!

[aman4slp]

Thank you for replying. I will try those settings