The ultimate Glowforge question: what settings do I use? This question makes me cringe. Something that I want for you, is to be confident in your Glowforge and to know that you can use it successfully! On the outside, the Glowforge seems like it’s a big scary machine that might eat your materials like its candy. But really, you have control over you machine and it’s not as bad as it seems! I’m going to share my go to settings that I use for my Glowforge and some resources for you if you can’t figure them out yourself. 

The awesome thing about the Glowforge app is that they have a whole list of materials and the settings they use to cut, engrave, and score. I almost always start here if I’m doing something new. I look through their list, and find the closest one I think matches. That’s at least a good start. 

 These are my most common materials that I use and the setting for them.  

1/8″ mdf: Cutting. Speed of 130, full power, and focus height of 249.. I have found that the 1/8″ mdf is very similar to the proofgrade medium draftboard. I set my material to thick basswood plywood.  

1/4″ underlayment: Cutting. I buy this from home depot and use it on a lot of my projects that I want a “wood” look from.  Speed of 110, full power, and auto focus. I choose thick basswood plywood for my material. 

Cardstock: Cutting. Speed of 500, power of 66, auto focus, and a material of thick basswood plywood. I do not use anything to hold down the paper, it seems to stay down by itself. 

Leather: Cutting. I use the proofgrade leather settings that Glowforge provides. Depending on how thick my leather is, I will use either the thin or thick proofgrade leather. 

JDS leather: Engraving. This is a faux very thin leather. Speed of 1000, power of 31, 270 inches per line, auto focus and thick basswood plywood as my material. 

 I will say, the more you try to figure out the settings yourself, the more comfortable you will become with your machine. You will understand how the settings work and what they mean. I almost always use “thick basswood plywood” as my material no matter what I am actually using. I then save the actual settings under a specific name. Always write down settings that were successful. It’s so easy to confuse them and forget what worked. I don’t use a lot of different materials because I like to keep it simple. 

Trouble shooting

1. Why is my material is not cutting all the way through?

The two most common reasons for this that I see is my speed is too high or the material height needs to be increased. 

2. Why am I seeing a flame?

The answer is the same as above. If you are seeing a flame, then your material is most likely not cutting all the way through. To cut all the way through there are two things to try. Decrease your speed,  increase the height of material, or maybe a combination of both.  There could be a chance that your air assist fan needs cleaned, but most likely, the fan is not the case. 

3. Why am I seeing scorch marks?

If you are seeing scorch marks that seem more than normal, you probably need to increase your speed. By increasing the speed, your machine will cut through faster and will not cut as deep. You can also use masking to hide the scorch marks. 

4. I only have a little of my material and I don’t want to mess up, what should I do?

Unfortunately, it’s pretty risky trying a new project with limited material. I always suggest having a practice piece to make sure your settings are correct. 

I still can’t figure out my settings… now what?

Lucky for you there are a lot of people who are willing to help! 

Glowforge forum Beyond the manual: there is a forum for Glowforge users that go over settings they used  for projects that are outside of the box. I’ve used this for ceramic, knives, and other random projects. 

Facebook groups: There are a lot of Facebook groups specifically for Glowforge crafters. Facebook has a great feature that you can search for posts and key words. The most common post I see in these groups is people asking for settings. The chances are someone has already asked the question you are looking for. 

Google: I’ve used Google many times to search for my material and the Glowforge setting. Usually something will come up. 

Other makers: I’m always so impressed with how other makers are willing to help. Find someone who is willing to work with you and maybe even mentor along the way!

Interested in getting a Glowforge? If you use this link, you will get a discount and I will get a compensation at no cost to you. Also make sure to check out my blog on 10 Things You Should Know About Getting a Glowforge!