So I think I'm dumb lol

[ryan.niemer]

For the life of me, I have a hard time getting finger joints to fit properly. Never able to get that sweet spot of not too tight and not too loose. Well, it just dawned on me that when I put a piece of pg material in the forge, I’m not setting the focus height to the thickness of the material…I’m just letting the forge auto pick pg settings…heights aren’t all the same Ryan…
I’m sure this has just a little bit to do with it lol

[evansd2]

Maybe. Focus height can affect kerf thickness.

What kerf adjustment are you using?

[DaveL]

Here is a tool to help figure out the correct kerf adjustment…

Easy Kerf Gauges

Boring, but really useful. Cut them out of the material you want to check. Slot you material into the slots to find the right size and you already have your kerf allowance! The dimensions are correct in the drawing program, but the actual cut sizes will vary according to the kerf of the cut. So if you are looking for a tight fit, just try the slots until you find one that is tight. That is the dimensions you need to use in your drawing program.! [Kerf_Gauge_Thickness] [Kerf_Gauge_Circles]

[DaveL]

This was the other post I had bookmarked…

To adjust for kerf or not to

Kerf is basically how much material is vaporized by the laser beam. In the first example below, if you want a 3" circle, then you would adjust the size of your shape larger using the known kerf width to compensate. (.2" is NOT a normal kerf size but I used here to demonstrate so its easy to see) This would be an example where auto kerf adjustment in the Glowforge would work. [image] Example 2 is when you wish to cut a tight fitting puzzle or inlay. Using one piece of material, represented…

[jbmanning5]

This usually won’t matter. The majority, if not all of the Proofgrade settings, utilize autofocus, to the best of my knowledge. While an out-of-spec piece may have trouble cutting all of the way through, the focus should be set from the scan.

If the material height field and the focal height field are the same value, it will utilize auto focus. You can set .500” on .100” material, and as long as you don’t set a separate value for the focal height field, it will scan the material and the focus will be correct.