You may find there’s some trial and error for you with cardstock. I found the scores to be a little inconsistent from sheet to sheet. I’m not sure if that’s because of the natural variation in stock, or my own settings. Additionally, very small pieces and folding surfaces required double pass scores so the paper wouldn’t buckle/split as much. It’s a fine line between not enough and too much, getting a clean slice vs scorching the paper’s finish.
I found I had the best consistency placing the stock dead center on the bed, and pinning the corners down.
The stock I used is 105 lb cover Stardream Metallic - Copper
material thickness approximation: .009”
For score, I used
Speed: 375
Precision Power: 12
Number of passes: 2
For cuts, I used
Speed: 375
Precision Power: 70
Number of passes: 1
It was also trial and error with glues. I ended up preferring the consistency and hold of Elmer’s carpenter’s wood glue. Didn’t make the paper soggy and holds like iron.
I’m still tweaking these settings, so I appreciate any input you can offer once you start on your own project. It’s all so new to me. Any tips and ideas are very welcome.
By coincidence, I have made a lot of pop up cards with the 105lb Neenah Stardream metallic cover stock. I have been using the 111lb Mohawk Curious Metallics more frequently lately but, they are very similar.
Most recently, I was scoring with 500/22 in one pass.
Scorching is rarely noticeable with the colors I use. One solution, if you are having trouble with that, is to mask the stock with Frisket film. That’s a low-tack masking that will peel right back off of the paper without damaging the surface. I have used that to get a pristine “ice silver” version of this card. It’s not inexpensive but, might be worthwhile for some projects.
Another thing to consider is whether the Glowforge is the optimal tool. For some pieces, I score at least one side by hand with the back side of a craft knife. For complicated designs, I use very thin acrylic to make a scoring stencil (on the Glowforge). Here’s a link directly to the timecode in one of my videos where I score like that.
If you are not worried about a little discoloration, you could also use a very low power to lightly mark the score lines, then score them by hand.
I am using a Seklema mat most of the time to hold my stock down in the laser. If there aren’t going to be a lot of loose flying bits, I sometimes just hold the stock down with magnets. That’s generally not recommended because it can cause unexpected print failures by interfering with the air assist fan. A DIY vacuum table would likely be great, too. As long as the stock stays flat during cutting, it should be fine.
Great info. I took some pics of my daughter’s new house yesterday hoping to recreate it on a small scale. I love @PocoBoho’s one and the one @geek2nurse did for her daughter.
Any recommendations for how to go about creating the actual design?