5
Speed vs power chart for common materials — my 2 years of testing
I've been keeping a spreadsheet since I got my first laser. Sharing all my settings for MDF, ply, acrylic, leather, felt, and cardboard.
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Laser Cutting
Everything about laser cutting machines and projects
4
Acrylic cutting tips — why your edges are cloudy
Cast acrylic vs extruded acrylic behave completely differently. Here's how to tell them apart and the settings for crystal clear edges on both types.
3
Does anyone else use masking tape on acrylic?
I've seen conflicting advice. Some people swear by it for preventing flash marks, others say it affects the cut quality. What's your experience?
5
LightBurn optimization tricks — cut your job time by 30%
After 2 years of LightBurn I found some settings most people miss: 1) Enable "Cut Inner First" to avoid warping on small pieces. 2) Set "Overcut" to 0.1mm on closed shapes — eliminates small tabs at start point. 3) Use "Flood Fill" for large engraves over 100x100mm — 30% faster. 4) Ramp length 5mm on cuts over 3mm material. 5) Enable "Remove Overlapping Lines" before any cut job.
5
Glowforge settings for 3mm Baltic birch — tested 50+ times, here are my results
I've been testing Baltic birch from 3 different suppliers and the settings vary wildly. Here is what I found: Baltic Birch from Woodcraft: Full power, 168 speed, 1 pass = clean cut. Baltic Birch from Amazon: Full power, 140 speed, 1 pass sometimes works, 2 passes safer. MDF from Home Depot: 168 speed, full power, 1 pass but watch for fire.