Somewhat Comprehensive Testing of Settings for Cutting Paper and Cardstock

Beyond the Manual
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34

Thank you so much for sharing this information : so HELPFUL!

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I found out that the best setting for cutting out card stock with minimum burn edges is 180 speed / 10 power / 0.01 inch.

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Hi, thank you so much for your topic, I’m new to Glowforge so still learning things… just have one question, (lb) - what is it? Thanks

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“lb” is “pounds” - it’s really a terrible way to judge paper, but it’s what we use with our lovely (sarcasm) imperial system :stuck_out_tongue:

If it’s helpful, there’s a calculator here: https://okpaper.com/toolbox/calculators/calc-lbs-gsm

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Thanks!!!

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39

It’s even worse than most people realize.

Basis weight is the weight, in pounds, of a ream of sheets at their original manufactured or “basic” size. While that sounds straightforward, different grades of paper have different basic sizes and, the number of sheets in a ream can also vary in some cases. So, 80lb writing stock and 80lb cover stock will be quite different.

It also doesn’t really provide any information on thickness (“caliper”) or rigidity/stiffness.

Grams per square meter (g/m^2) standardizes sheet sizes making the measurement comparable across grades of paper and, more intuitive.

I guess the key Glowforge take-away is that, as with most materials, testing is required with your specific stock to determine optimal settings.

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40

Thank you so much!!

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41

No worse than “medium” or “thick” PG materials… :smiley:

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I’m happy that medium and thick don’t claim to be exact - because they know they’re not - something like Xlb paper makes it sounds like someone did some actual measuring :-/

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Except, they provide “exact” settings.

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I have tried so many different tests and by far your results are the best.! Thank you. That is so helpful to all of us here on GF.

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45

Thank you so much for creating this. Saved me a lot of brain cells. :rofl:

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46

Wow! This is incredible. I came here looking for settings to score my logo onto heavy card stock. I got so much more from this. Much appreciated!

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47

Welcome to the forum.

48

This is great!!

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Thanks so much! Here’s my first attempt on 110lb cardstock.

A07585C3-CE65-4E81-9293-9F33C23FDD32_1_105_c
A07585C3-CE65-4E81-9293-9F33C23FDD32_1_105_c816×612 237 KB

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50

That is clean. Is that cut or engraved?

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Wow, that looks great!

52

THANK YOU!!! This is exactly what I was looking for. Made my night a whole lot easier!

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53

Thanks so much! Very helpful :grinning: