My 1/4" Thick Cherry Plywood won’t cut, despite decreasing speed and adding passes (at full power; it just chars horribly). I ordered the proofgrade directly from Glowforge last November. The material’s QR / font are boring fonts rather than the original fun ones, if that helps to identify the batch.
I extensively cleaned my Glowforge Plus: Fan, optics, and no joy. Crumb tray is fine; material is flat on the tray. I clean regularly so I know the drill; all of my optics look great (no scratches, etc.).
So I tried acrylic, and an older piece of 1/4" thick Cherry plywood. No problems with either! I do have the speed set a wee bit slower, but not significantly.
Perhaps Glowforge sent a bad batch of material last November? Possible? It took them an unusually long time to ship the order. Any feedback is welcome. Thanks!
3 Likes
At the risk of telling you things you already know, check out #5 in the faq, it’s all about cut troubleshooting.
Check your lens orientation too.
3 Likes
Thanks for the reply. I tried to find #5, but it was a short mention of 3rd party plywood being inconsistent. Was that the right location? Obviously it could still happen with proof-grade purchased directly from Glowforge, and that’s my best theory so far. My acrylic cuts and older Thick cherry seem to be fine, so I assume that means I’m okay with my lens orientation (?).
3 Likes
Yeah that does seem to support lens orientation being correct. In number five I linked to Glowforge’s troubleshooting guide. That’s where I would start if I were in your shoes.
But you’re right the fact that you can cut other materials OK seems to indicate that there’s something wrong with that particular batch. It’s definitely possible.
If you’re using proof grade settings on a proof grade material success is guaranteed. If you reach out to Support you could probably get credit for the proofgrade that you have lost as part of this.
You might be able to salvage these sheets by changing your settings, but it seems like you’ve already tried that. Glowforge thick plywood have a MDF core. Not all formulations of mdf are the same, maybe there was a mixup here.
4 Likes
Does it cut everything else normally? Could be you got a bad batch of Proofgrade wood.
2 Likes
I cut an older piece of thick cherry and medium acrylic with no problem.. So it seems like everything else is normal.
4 Likes
I would rather have a problematic batch of wood than a problematic machine. Contact Glowforge support with photos showing your results with the old batch and the newer batch. They may refund your material costs.
6 Likes