I’ve a H2C with a 40W laser module and had cut a 3 mm plywood puzzle with as result a 3/4 cut plate. It goes even worse when cutting 5 mm; then I’ve to cut 3 times the same job before the pieces are cut throughout the plate with as result a quit poor quality of the finger joints of the box.
I can’t imagine a 40W laser is not able to cut a 5mm or even thicker plywood in on pass! Or my setting are wrong or the laser has no power enough.
Any suggestions on settings or experience on working with wood are more than welcome.
I haven’t cut wood with my H2D yet, but I have cut a lot of plywood with an epilog machine I have. As Gerrit mentioned air assist is important because it will blow smoke away that could be blocking/dimming the laser. I assume you are at 100% power, and you can obviously slow your speed down to cut more in a single pass but at some point I imagine going too slow would make it more prone to catching fire. Plywood in general is tough because of its inconsistent composition. I have had sheets cutting cleanly all the way through and then the laser hits a knot or dense spot and only cuts 1/4 of the way through that spot.
I found the correct setting; power 100%, speed 15 and 2 passes. Although it is slow. I also noted traces of the cutting on the bottom of the tray so I think it went too far. The kerf also changes with one or two passed… So I think I need to experiment a little more!