Atomstack Pro+ (purple) hardwood plywood settings help

Hello! I’m newer to using Lightburn and have had a lot of success etching slate coasters and burning soft woods, but I seem to have hit a roadblock with being able to cut through 1/8” (4mm) hardwood plywood.
I have tried various settings and passes but the more passes, the more it just burns the wood and turns it to charcoal, while still not going all the way through.
As stated above, I have an Atomstack Pro+, the light purple carriage/framed one. The laser is a M40 5W from Atomstack, too.
I have tried making a test card and I have attached the image of how that turned out. :face_with_peeking_eye:
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Try it on line and not fill if you want to cut it out.

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I did, sorry the test card had its own settings and I didn’t reset to line. Here are 2 of the line examples;
Settings at SPD.150/100% 3 passes


Then at same settings but with 10 passes

Your lens is clean and focused? Looks like you have some mechanical issue. I would check belt and coupler/motor pullies for loose set screws.

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Are you using Air Assist? It makes a dramatic difference when cutting.

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Other than keeping surface and lens clean I have found no improvement.

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Thru the nozzle or on the side? On or off thru my nozzle makes a big difference.

Thru the nozzle with various pressures and no air and I haven’t seen a difference in cut depth.

I just read a posting by one of the regulars that 20 psi made a big difference. Sorry I can’t provide the link.

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Can you upload the Lightburn file for this? 10 passes should be enough to start a campfire.

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Yes, air assist is on.

Not sure how to do that…? The original file is a file I bought and transferred into lightburn.

Yes, I clean/wipe the lense before every new cutting. I set the focus by using the little plastic stack card that came with the Atomstack itself (slides between the laser and the material to be cut).

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Have you tried doing a focus test in Lightburn laser tools?

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Simply drag a copy of the Lightburn file to the reply box. No need for the original source for now.

No, I haven’t tried to do a focus test yet. I will need to figure out how to do one and try it. Thanks! :blush:

I’m on my phone for the forums so will need to wait until I can access my computer to try and attach the file.
Is there something I should be looking for in the file to help me figure out my issue?

To be honest, it is more a “check your work” thing. The plan is to eliminate the project design as one of the variables, leaving a hardware or communications (unlikely here) issue.

I am pretty sure your settings are okay but you know how it goes. Trust but verify. , :rofl:

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dog paw2.lbrn2 (88.4 KB)
dog paw2

Hope this works…this is the original file that I copied into lightburn.

Your second picture seems you were trying to cut on a fill setting?