I have been trying to cut ornaments using a 5w Creality on 3mm basswood that require fine cuts for snowflakes etc and no matter what settings I use for low power, fast speed and multiple passes, it still incinerates the intricate nature of the design.
Will adjusting the kerf help with this problem, or is there something I’m missing?
No, Kerf Settings are used for something completely different.
Your problem is probably related to your focus spot not being small enough and also, in the nature of laser diodes, being a bit elongated. You have probably reached the natural limits of your laser - if your machine is in order and you have set your focus very precisely.
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I have been using a popsicle stick to focus for larger plain cuts with great success. I will try something thinner like cereal box cardboard and see how close that gets me.
possibly lost in translation 
but I don’t know this.
I always use/recommend a ramp test, also for new machines that come with prefabricated spacers.
I drop the laser head down onto the popsicle stick and then pull the stick out since the built in focus arm leaves it way too high.
…of course…, I’ve seen this principle but forgot about it. Try doing a ramp test anyway, it’s quick and easy to do and you won’t be the first one where the predefined focus doesn’t fit.
Your file probably has too many nodes, and small radius.
Indeed. I’m able to adjust the size up to mitigate some of the excessive burning and it comes out much better, using painter’s tape adds another layer of protection. But to get that predetermined size is impossible for my machine as it’s written. The original file must’ve been made using a much better unit.
Can you upload the LB file? Maybe it just needs to be cleaned up a bit.
I can edit the nodes to remove the excess. I have several of these types of files, this being the first I decimated.
3ddeerwithornaments1.lbrn2 (491.6 KB)
The file has no arc or curves, all short straight lines. The ornament with the snowflake has 1615 nodes.
Apart from the fact that there are way too many nodes and it’s not the most beautiful design (on a construction level) I’ve seen, there shouldn’t be any problems cutting it out, it just won’t look pretty this way.
I’m deleting nodes and changing the points to smooth curves. Minutia upon minutia but I’d like to see if this will work.
What did you base this conclusion on?
Have you determined the correct focus height somehow, or is this a “this feels right” kinda thing?
Do a simple ramp test, and you’ll find your perfect focus height easily.
I have a 10W diode laser with 0.06mm beam size, not sure your rated beam size, but before I could engrave fine and cut patterns I still had to; calibrate the X-Y axes, add air assist (it shouldn’t be an option on a laser, not having it permits adjacent burning and smoke debris). I had to run more than few practice runs to determine the right speed/power, etc. BTW… burning… it’s what lasers do, if I don’t like the edge charred I can use vinegar to remove the char. It’s not so easy in fretwork to do so, but certainly burned profiles can be cleaned up with vinegar.
Don’t listen to concerns about diode lasers, mine cuts 10mm thk soft/hard/ply woods with superfine resolution for both cut and engrave, and most newer diode lasers don’t have an oval beam pattern, depending on the mirrors and lenses. My machine shipped with a focus tool - a stepped tool based on material thickness. It’s more of a guide…
I arrived the best result by making incremental adjusts as I cut and engrave a small test pattern, you’ll find that height adjusts of as little as 0.010" - 0.030" can affect really fine patterns, and once you have the focus dialed in you should be good - just find some way to repeat the height adjustment. I use feeler gage leaves with my factory supplied stepped focus tool to always repeat the height providing the finest beam. I would calibrate the X/Y axes first, then start working focus. Know too… manufacturers are making wild claims/recommendations for the speed. Mine is supposed to engrave at 6000 mm/min, and yes the machine is happy to move at that speed, but I find best results on my machine for fine work being under 2000 mm/min, especially engraving gray scale images.
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