Ok…first time using anything other than proofgrade materials. I want to engrave my mother-in-law’s hand written recipe that she made for our wedding dinner onto a cutting board. #1 - not really sure what to set the speed & Precision Power for to achieve a good engrave. #2 - The cutting board is 3/4" thick, so, do I need to take the crumb tray out? Won’t let me enter anything over 1/2" thick for the focus. HELP PLEASE 
Yes, you have to remove the crumb tray. You will need to place something under the cutting board so it is below the laser head, but not more than a 1/2" below it. Then use the Set Focus feature (you’ll find it as an option when you click on the gear icon in the glowforge UI) so that you don’t have to manually enter a focus.
As for settings, it depends on what wood was used to make the cutting board. Search cutting board in Beyond the Manual and find some settings for one that is made of the same type of wood. Cutting boards are popular, so you should find plenty of examples.
The good news is that at 3/4" thick you will not have to worry about engraving all the way through it. If the engraving is too light, DON’T MOVE THE CUTTING BOARD. Adjust your settings, or leave them alone, and rerun the file.
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For ease of rising it off the floor you can cut something like this: X-Risers
and I’ll echo what @caribis2 said - start with the lowest setting you think might work, then look at it without moving it/opening the lid/touching anything - and if you want it darker just run the same settings again
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Thank you so much!
Settings have changed a bit since then. With cutting boards you need to make a decision. A light engrave allows it to used for some things without worrying too much about things getting stuck in the engraves, but it’s light.
Lots of folks engrave the one side and just don’t use it. Bamboo is tricky. A good hard maple takes some power.
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