I don’t cut a ton of proofgrade, but when I do I just use the auto settings with no adjustments. I’ve had a problem once or twice, where one area failed to cut through, but it was because the material was warped and I was too lazy to tape it down.
But I have only had my glowforge since December. If youre suspecting some sort of overall loss of power (which I definitely don’t have - settings for nonproofgrade I figured out months ago still work perfectly), someone who got theirs summer 2017 would prob be a better judge.
Edit: forgot to mention I live in Georgia. Less humid that some places, but a lot more humid than others.
You should consider posting your poll somewhere else. Posting it in a thread about material not cutting through is probably a bit of a biased audience - a lot of people might not read threads that dont pertain to them.
I’m in NY so I don’t think dry air would be the issue. I’ve had a couple warped pieces and try slightly bending them back. I keep reading that people with this issue use magnets to hold the board in place. Can anyone elaborate on this a little more or provide a picture of their print setup with the magnets in place?
I’m nervous to lower the speed on the cut because during the print, I noticed the flame was rather larger than usual. I felt a little uneasy about the flame size while watching the cut. Has this happened to anyone else?
this, for the most part. i occasionally have a smaller issue, but it’s almost always the flatness. and it’s always on wood, not on acrylic, which helps reinforce that for me.
The little hold-downs the @eljefe4 designed and shared work great for me and really flatten the piece and ensure it does not move. This was the post Honeycomb bed holdown pins
They are great… one of my first steps in making a puzzle is to just cut out the whimsical pieces from the board. After I cut those, I put the hold downs in the holes left by those pieces, so I have a sheet of goods that is basically held down on the exterior and interior by them.
I like to peg the interior too. Most folks might not realize yet that once you cut something out of the middle of a sheet, you’ve got increased warping and twisting forces going on in the leftovers. Those pegs are da !
Would these help with warp towards the middle of the board? I have medium sized pieces with smaller cuts and engraves within it. All the cuts and engraves are on a single file
Haven’t needed to lately since I started using the pins. (UNLESS I’m cutting something with extremely tight small curvy cuts. That’s just a bit of extra insurance from habit after years of doing it with digital cutters. So put that one down to outside experience.)
Come to think of it, I had no trouble at all with the little 3 mm circles I cut yesterday, and they weren’t slowed down - I just used the defaults. (Board was pinned.)
Ok thanks for the info. I have had to reduce the speed on all my proofgrade cuts since we got the machine. However last night I was testing some thick proofgrade draftboard for the first time and I used the default settings. It cut through without any trouble. First time ever. Up until now all my cuts have been in meduim proofgrade materials.
Even just doing the perimeter of the board helps quite a bit… but, with the cuts I’m doing, they have the potential to release tension within the board causing it to “warp” during the middle of a cut.
My typical cut process looks like this (discourse hates vertical images, apparently, must click to see rest):
I thought it was me…since I’m a total laser virgin. I have only had successful cuts doing the first tutorial/try-these-out types of things (had the unit for just a month now - I delayed shipment hoping that some kinks would be worked out…).
I have been trying to cut on a proofgrade maple plywood - nope, I got a nice, deep engrave , though. I slowed the speed down…nada. I used those little honeycomb tabs (freaking love those), didn’t help.
I’m in Seattle, so maybe humidity is a factor, but it looks SO DANG FLAT and ANNNDD I used the magic honeycomb tabby things.
If you’re having a problem with it not cutting through, you need to start a new ticket (all your own) in the Problems and Support section so they can create a ticket for you.
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