Yellowing around cuts

First day with my new GF and it’s working out great but I keep getting yellow discoloration around my cuts. I’m sure it’s been asked a million times but when I try searching I get a lot of information on yellow lights or information on cutting different materials. I’m cutting 1/8" birch and am using the same settings as maple plywood as I’ve read that it is the closest. Just wondering what I can do to limit the amount of discoloration.

Is your material masked, or naked wood? Masking tape will definitely eliminate the discoloration.

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Awesome thanks! It’s naked so I’ll try that!

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You might like:

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There are a lot of tips in the forum on how to remove the smoke residue – baby wipes, Windex wipes, denatured alcohol, etc. It’s one of the realities of life with a laser. :wink:

https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=remove%20residue

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Also, since you’re just getting started, this post links to so much good stuff:

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Awesome. I’m used to working with a cnc so I know every machine has it’s only little quirks so I wasn’t super worried about it but I did try sanding which is what Im used to doing and it kind of messed up the engraving because I wasn’t careful. I never thought about just wiping it off lol.

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Seconding masking, it’s the quickest and cleanest result!

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In some cases, a quick sanding is faster than the process of masking. It’s a little situational. Everyone’s got his or her own workflow, but if I have a single small part, I just cut it and sand it after rather than busting out a 12" masking roll.

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I put my peeled off masking in a little desktop trashcan because I’m too lazy to go to the big outside trashcan every day. :face_with_hand_over_mouth: For small parts there’s always a piece in there that’s useful, masking can be used again if it’s not too wrinkled. The peel offs are also handy for picking up tiny little cuts pieces out of the Glowforge. :smiley:

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Thrift store vacuum cleaner. You will thank me!

Or wait, if the tiny pieces are what you want, then yes, carry on. I use blue painters tape or scotch tape as needed to just yoink the parts out.

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Oh I’ve got a Dyson and an assortment of shop vacs :laughing: You’re right - the cleaning is not the issue, I’ve been cutting tons of tiny little pieces.

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You might like my tape sandwich method:

Saves me a ton of time with peeling. Like 90-95%. Game changer, for sure.

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I saw that post, quite brilliant!

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Particularly with poplar and birch if you have surface discoloration; I have found that soaking in bleach can be very effective in removing staining. Such soaking in many materials and open woods warping can be a real problem. Under such circumstances, if the piece is clamped flat (or to a desired curve) and let dry completely it will hold that.

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I recently stumbled on the exact size and shape of scraps to consistently lodge themselves in the honeycomb openings and refuse to fall through or be vacuumed out, while leaving just enough protruding to disrupt the surface without being quite enough to grasp and remove. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Yeah I get that a lot.

I push them down with a blunted nail, and periodically shake the tray out.

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I have found the shop vac very good for that sort of issues, as long as they are not physically jammed in there like when the honeycomb pins break off.

They jammed themselves in very effectively. I ended up pushing them through, but even that took a little effort!

What type of masking are you using?

I cannot get duct tape, gorilla tape, extra sticky masking tape etc to pull Up the masking to save my life! I use a medium tack paper masking from amazon. I press it on the ply wood as lightly as I can but it still won’t come off.
Cutting a puzzle so I end up with a couple hundred pieces and cannot peel each off by hand.
Cutting in rows won’t work for me.
The plastic razor method also did not work.

Any suggestions are appreciated!