Having trouble dialing in the right settings to use? Tired of wasting materials? Use a test grid to figure out the right balance of speed vs power that you need for your project.
Place your material into your P2 machine. Ensure that it is stable for cutting, lighter materials may need to be clamped down. Materials should be no smaller that 2" x 2.5" (larger will let you see more detail in the end result).
Now is the time to start to customize the grid for your particular needs!
The file has two other elements: the text and the bounding box.
Before you send the job to the P2, be sure to calibrate the material thickness. With no element selected, on the right side, you should see an option for thickness. The button to the right of it will allow the machine to auto-calculate this.
Remember this setting for your material!! When you go to use the material again, you'll want to ensure this is set the same otherwise you may get different results from when you did the grid test.
Now send it to your P2 for processing. Watch this process carefully as the lower speed / higher power tests could cause your material to burn or start fire.
Once done, review the grid. It should start in the upper left corner with your top speed and lowest power, which should be barely visible on your material down to your slowest speed and highest power in the bottom right corner which most likely cut all the way through. If the upper left is too dark, or the bottom right didn't cut through (or didn't engrave very dark) then you may want to adjust the grid with higher/lower settings to dial it in more.
Hope this helps you get your machine dialed in for your materials!