Your results don’t seem to indicate this to be true. 
- properly working tube
- clean and aligned optics
- proper focus
If you have these three, they work. In your case, I’d suspect one or more of them are not correct.
I have a 40W tube, that I cut 5mm sub flooring (much tougher than 3mm basswood ply) at 12mm/s@65% power. Considering you have almost twice the power available, I’m suspicious of your adhering to the three requirements I previously mentioned.
Did you test the tube for it’s resonance mode? When setting up, ensure that the parts are working as you go. Here’s a quickie on TEM00 resonance or operating mode. Go back and check your results at m1 for the tube operating properly. A new tube should work, but I’ve seen many that do not operate correctly.
When I upgraded my tube, I researched these with builtin led/combiner, the TR series. I had a series of emails with Russ Sadler about them as he seemed to indicate previously they were the best bet for a position indicator. He explained he’s seen too many that were off the actual tube path and suggested I stick with a regular tube, which I did.
@bernd.dk is correct, a ramp test should show you where the proper focus is. I suggest you post a photos of all of your results. We can sometimes see things you may not be aware of.
I’ve never really had a pointer, I realized it was only really useful with acrylic and only when there was a hole in it to take the beam. Not to mention, change lens, change pointer setup… of course with it being generated at the tube, this shouldn’t matter.
Good luck
