Beam Bench Docs
TroubleshootingJob quality

Output is too dark

Engraving overburned, charred edges, or cut left a wide kerf with melted/charred sides.

You see

The job ran but the result has problems:

  • Engraving looks black / charred when you wanted softer tones.
  • Cut edges are visibly burned, melted, or have heavy soot.
  • The material took collateral damage around the cut.

What is happening

Too much energy. The opposite problem from too light. Reduce one of: power, time-per-area, or passes.

Fix

Quick adjustments

  1. Decrease power. First lever.
  2. Increase speed. Less dwell per area.
  3. Drop a pass. If you were running 3 passes, try 2.
  4. Increase air assist pressure (if you have control). Air assist carries away heat and prevents char.

Small steps (10-20%), re-test on scrap.

If charred fills

For engraving fills, char usually comes from too much power per unit area. Try:

  • Increase speed first (preserves engraving sharpness).
  • Then decrease power.
  • Use a coarser scan interval (less total energy per area).

If cut edges are charred

  • Air assist on and adequate pressure.
  • Lower the power so cut just goes through, no overburn.
  • Multiple low-power passes can give cleaner edges than one high-power pass on some materials.

If smoke is staining the material

Stains around fine work usually mean inadequate ventilation. The smoke deposits before the extractor pulls it away. Increase extraction airflow, or move the work closer to the inlet.

Re-tune with a test grid

For a clean reset, run a Material test grid with a wider power / speed range and pick a cell with the right intensity.

Material-specific

  • Wood with knots / pitch pockets: those areas burn hotter than the surrounding wood. Sometimes unavoidable; consider material swap.
  • Acrylic: overburn melts. Lower power, faster speed.
  • Leather: overpower produces wrinkled char. Lower power.

Verify it worked

  • Test burn looks clean, engraving has tonal range, cut has sharp edges, no excess char.
  • Save the working settings to the Material Library.

Still stuck?

Output is too light

Engraving is faint, hard to see, or your cut did not go all the way through.

Shifted layers

When a job has multiple layers, they do not register on top of each other. Outlines and fills are offset.

On this page

You seeWhat is happeningFixQuick adjustmentsIf charred fillsIf cut edges are charredIf smoke is staining the materialRe-tune with a test gridMaterial-specificVerify it workedStill stuck?