# Not cutting through the material

**URL:** <https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330>\
**Category:** General Chat\
**Created:** [November 21, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330 "2022-11-21T23:35:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![phaidinyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@phaidinyak](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/phaidinyak)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330/1 "2022-11-21T23:35:44Z")

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I’m using the AVID Vectric file to cut openings in my spoil board. Problem is the CNC leaves about 1/10 of an inch of material left. I’m using 3/4 inch MDF. I modified the file to raise to two inches to avoid my clamps. I tried a Google search but there were no clear fixes. Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![subnoize](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/subnoize/32/2197_2.png) [@subnoize](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/subnoize)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330/2 "2022-11-22T00:02:44Z")

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In Fusion I set 0 to be the surface of the spoilboard so that all of my cuts are in the positive. Saves your spoilboard and makes sure you cut all the way through.

Your stock is probably thicker than you accounted for.

Sorry, I didn’t catch the part about you were actually cutting the spoilboard. 3/4 MDF is actually 23/32 of an inch so it’s probably shorter.

Ignore my ranting! 🤣

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**Author:** ![davidcnc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@davidcnc](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/davidcnc)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330/3 "2022-11-22T15:13:08Z")

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Material thickness tip of the century: Trust, but verify (measure)

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**Author:** ![MarkLindsayCNC](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/marklindsaycnc/32/30_2.png) [@MarkLindsayCNC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/MarkLindsayCNC)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330/4 "2022-11-22T15:39:50Z")

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It’s cutting .1 too shallow? That’s quite a bit. As a quick fix, you can try setting a Start Depth of .1 in your Profile (or Pocket) Toolpath and see if that cuts all the way through. But that much of a discrepancy warrants further investigation.

You might check your axis calibration. JN Woodworks on YouTube posted an excellent video on the topic. Here’s a link:

[![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/avidcnc/original/1X/260b200f87d8d07177797345981b982245be8d62.jpeg "How to tune CNC Axis travel and Backlash in Mach4 on an AVID CNC Router") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5H7Fsrq95c)

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**Author:** ![phaidinyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@phaidinyak](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/phaidinyak)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/not-cutting-through-the-material/1330/5 "2022-11-22T17:52:09Z")

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Thanks, I’ll give that a try.