Reducing Scorching to Boards

Scorching on a beautiful board!

Unless your intent was to keep scorch marks for a rustic look, they can mess up the visual aesthetic of your project. 

Let’s go over scorching real quick.

Scorching happens at virtually any setting, after all we are cutting flammable material with a laser! However, the slower the laser moves increases the time heat is on the board, resulting in more soot. 

To reduce scorching you’ll have to use the fastest laser setting that will still cut through the board. 

We have run numerous test settings on boards to find optimal laser speeds for reducing scorching. Follow the link for our recommendations on cut settings which worked well on our Glowforge Basic. (link to recommend cut settings post) 

Also, be sure your air assist fan is clean and working well. Lasers and too much flammable material in an enclosed space...It is located at the back of the printer head and blows air over the cut location to prevent flammable material from staying in the laser path which can cause a flame. Here is a link to the cleaning instructions.