Basic Cutting and Etching
The Glowforge is a small desktop laser cutter with an online interface. This offers an easy way to laser cut things without the need to learn cad software.
Glowforge speed and power settings for certain materials
Note that whenever you cut material, the device used to perform that cut (be it a saw blade or a laser) incurs some type of loss on the material. We call this loss "kerf." For more information on kerf loss for laser cutters, check out this Make Magazine article.
Listed below are certain settings for materials that the MakerE either does not hold or is not officially supported by (but can still be cut/engraved on) the Glowforge laser cutter:
| Material | Action | Thickness | Speed | Power | LPI | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltic Birch Plywood | cutting | 3mm | 170 | full | ||
| 6mm | 120 | full | ||||
| scoring | 3mm | 180 | 0.5 | |||
| 6mm | 120 | 0.5 | kerf loss with these settings = 0.36mm | |||
| engraving | 3mm | 1000 | full | 270 | ||
| 6mm | 1000 | full | 270 | |||
| Acrylic | cutting | 1/4" | 115 | full | ||
| scoring | 180 | full | ||||
| engraving | 500 | 85 | 450 | |||
| cutting | 1/8" | 125 | full | |||
| scoring | ? | full | ||||
| engraving | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Anodized Aluminum Tags | engraving | 1/32" | 400 | 100 | Thanks, Marissa! | |
| Cardboard | cutting | corrugated 0.15" | 180 | 0.6 | ||
| engraving | ? | 0.65 | ||||
| Slate Tile | engraving only | varies | 900 | 0.3 | 270 | Leaves white markings |
Other Materials
- Glowforge "Beyond the Manual" Settings List: Beyond the Manual
