To Tree or not to Tree

Very nice tip! I use this technique all the time when cutting vinyl and I can see how it would crossover here. Well done Jules.

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nicely done. i’d suggest picking up something like one of these small woodworking hand saws to make such issues easier in the future…

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Fantastic @Jules nice to see non pg against pg also, you got the weeding cut idea from the vinyl cutter jobs you’ve done ?..oh and one more thing… in the first pic… is…is is that "The Button " we’ve all been hearing about ? :love:

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@Jules how did you arrive at the settings for the non-PG plywood? Was there any scope for increasing the power or cutting slower so that it would go all the way through in one pass?

Chuckle! That’s the one! (She’s a beauty isn’t she? She glows when she’s ready to be touched!) :wink:

Just ran a quick test cut using the Proofgrade settings, it cut all the way through, so I’ve been using that, and adjusting the focus depth.

I haven’t gotten anywhere near fine-tuning my technique on setting focal point and speed/power settings though…that will come later as I get a chance to work with it a bit. My cuts are anything but expert at this point…very amateurish in fact.

Really the machine is doing it all. :grinning:

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Yes she is ! :wink:

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I like the size – you can also use a #2 X-Acto knife to score parts out from the back. It’s a little slow but gives really clean edges. Just wear hand protection, in case the blade gets stuck and you have to yank it out…soooo many cuts in my hands :confounded:

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I’ve got a wife like that :grinning:

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For non-Proofgrade the user always enters a power and speed. Just cut this rectangle out of a .433" solid oak plank. Of course I had to set the speed relatively slow which increases charing and kerf but it cuts just fine. When Glowforge releases double sided cutting it should allow faster speed and less spread of the beam for the same material thickness. Not sure what the practical maximum thickness would be because there are so many variables.

BTW: The cut edges feel smooth to the touch. The visible irregularities are a wood grain illusion. And it looks like I accidentally flipped the rectangle when I dropped it back in the cut for the picture.

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Wow that looks great. It is nice to see the limits pushed a little because I will not want to use proof grade material all of the time. Thank you for showing how it cuts. :grinning:

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Oh by the way @markevans36301 and @bensostrom, hubs picked up some of the Home Depot plywood this morning…very big difference in the texture and flatness, so thanks very much for the tip! It’s going to make prototyping a lot easier. :relaxed::+1:

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thanks for showing us a single pass thick cut past orginal spec

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Sure thing! Looking forward to seeing more of your designs, I love the tree :smile:

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@Jules wow! I made a tree last Halloween out of chipboard and it was not hard enough, of course, for what I wanted so I had to cut it out several times using my Cameo machine and well it kinnda suck in those tiny little branches… wish I had known your trick then. So thank you so much, my future me with her brand new GF is forever grateful :slight_smile:

That’s the tree I made and I was painting it to make it look more like a tree instead of just plane gray cheap material

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That’s a great looking tree, especially from a bladed cutter! (They really do stick in the tight corners unless you pull all kinds of tricks, but you didn’t lose any branches!) :smiley:

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0.433 is a thick cut! Bravo! I thought I had seen that specs were only supposed to be to 0.25"? Did you just do it slow, or we’re multiple passes involved?

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I think 1/4" is fairly standard for a 40W laser but GF boasts a smaller and more tightly defined beam, so it probably cuts deeper than most 40W lasers. Can’t wait to see how deep the 45W pro with more efficient optics cuts.

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0.25" is the official spec, but it was always said that ultimate thickness would be dependent upon material and how well they could make the glowforge work. A while ago Dan said (and posted a pic as I recall) that they had cut a half-inch piece of wood. I don’t remember if they used a double pass or not.

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Just a single pass. Had to decrease speed to about 1/4th of what is standard for 1/8th inch Proofgrade plywood. Could have gone slower but that speed noticeably increases the charing. If you don’t care about keeping knat’s breath dimensions you could lightly sand the edge.

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Wow! This deserves its own post if it doesn’t have one already.

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