I tried using nonproofgrade material. I engraved good and cut but would not cut through. What did I do wrong?
You need to find the proper settings. I make one of these for every new material and keep every one as a reference.
Every material is a bit different, and sometimes even different places on the same piece of wood.
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Significant changes in temperature and humidity can also affect the settings required to cut through cleanly.
Also, consider that not all materials are possible to process in the way you wish.
Some materials are too thick to cut through even if they are under a quarter inch thick *because they do not laser well.
Some materials melt rather than ablate cleanly.
Some materials create objectional smoke or have a high fire risk. The Glowforge can process Proofgrade materials as stated, and also non-Proofgrade is permitted, but no garantees are stated or implied.
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Nothing really, as mentioned above.
All goofgrade materials will require tests and it has been seen that even proofgrade can need minor adjustments from batch to batch.
Starting with the set values for proofgrade and seeing how they work is a good place to do initial tests. Too much flash may mean things are a little harsh, while no cut thru may require a little more zing.
Another thing learned by many of us is to try and move a cut piece in some manner when the print is done, without moving anything else on the bed (like a probe or chunk of sticky tape). If it comes up, great.
If it does not - you can return to the UI and ignore everything else and just redo the cuts. If nothing on the bed has been moved it will go right into the same place even if the image appears to have shifted.
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I keep a small shop vac handy. If it does not come up something is holding it down. other folk use tape.