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Sample Testing Gravoply Ultra 2 Color Board With Nova & Odin

5 min read·Updated Jul 2026
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Laser parameter test results for engraving and cutting Gravoply Ultra 2 Color Board on the Nova 35 and Odin 22, with recommended speed, power, and LPI settings.

Applies toNovaTopicMaterials & Parameters

Nova 35–80w Testing

Cutting air inlet pressure at 27psi. Stock 2" head with 6mm focus. Cuts and Engraves were performed at stock focus.

*Note that for speed comparisons, a Odin 32 60watt will be able to cut faster than the 30w Odin 22 but it will depend on object size as to whether any speed is gained and time removed from job.

Customer Provided Samples

Used the samples to measure and replicate into the attached lightburn files. Customer stated that the current machine is having issues cutting, hence why some of the through holes are not aligned with some of the marks. They were hand drilled.

White On Black

Test engrave for 1000mms from 16 to 25 power to determine the required engraving power for good contrast. Took 4:45 to complete (LB estimate was 3:13)

Setting engrave power to 1000mms and 25 power for the rest of the Nova 35 Engrave testing.

Ran Additional engrave tests to see the full range:

Sample Tags

300 lpi, 1000mms 25power for engrave, 35 speed and 90 power for cuts

White over black tags: Nova 35 time estimate 3:42, actual time: 4:47

Black on White

Ran original power scale, created another scale down to even lower levels. (Lower left RSTLE was accidentally left at 16pct power vs 6 hence the contrast and depth)

Set power for engraving on black on white to 15pct at @1000mms and 300lpi.

Sample Cutting

Cut 7 labels, 3 of the 080 and 4 individual of the TB-G2, took 1:46 vs Lightburn estimate of 1:06

Speed Cutting Test to Find Max Cutting Speed

Use 90 as max power, 35 as the min speed and work up from 35 until it will not cut a rectangle out completely.

40–85 speed. Max speed at 90pct power was 60mms. Lightburn only estimates a 13 second times savings due to size of objects and the ability to actually reach 60mms vs 35mms. White on black cut through on 65mms/90pct power so it likely should be cut at the same speed at Black on White material.

Final Results for Nova 35

Recommended Max Settings

  • Engrave: 1000mms 25pct power for White on Black
  • Engrave: 1000mms 15pct power for Black on White
  • Cutting: 60mms and 90pct power

ODIN Testing

Odin 22 30w, stock 2" lens and stock focus. Cutting air inlet pressure at 27psi. Cuts and Engraves were performed at stock focus.

Initial test card at 2000mms ranging from 100power down to 55power, Lightburn estimate of 1:34 actual was 2:20. Note that 60/90 was not enough to cut through. Clean up is less than on Odin, but cut lines are dirtier due to the air nozzle on Odin. 2 more cut passes added 15 seconds, so 2:35. Will adjust cutting speed next. Nearly twice as fast overall vs the Nova 35.

Cut tests ran at 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 – Cut limit is 35mms and 90pct power.

White on Black Samples

Lightburn estimate of 2:20, actual time was 2:48 almost 2 minutes faster than Nova 35. Set speed for fill at 2000mms, 75pct power and cut at 35mms and 90 pct power. Note that some of the hole plugs had to be popped out, recommend slowing down a bit of adjusting air pressure down.

Black on White Samples

Tested engraves on Black material from 5pct to 100pct at 2000mms.

Ran test engrave chart. Recommended speed and power for engraves: 2000mms and 45 power.

Ran the same test on white on black to see if it had similar results. Could do the white at 45power too but seems like the contrast is not as nice.

Sample Tags

2000mms, 45 power for fill, 30\90 for cuts. Lightburn estimates 56 seconds, actual time was 1:10 a savings of 36 seconds over the Nova 35.

Final Results for Odin 22

Recommended Max Settings

  • Engrave: 2000mms 75pct power for White on Black
  • Engrave: 2000mms 45pct power for Black on White
  • Cutting: 35mms and 90pct power

Observations

  • Black over White material generally required less power to engrave
  • Black over White material leaves a white residue that is more noticeable than the white over black
  • Contrast for White over Black wasn't as good as expected. May be more noticeable with larger font, bold letters.
  • ODIN cutting with High Air Pressure causes the debris to go to the left based on the angle of the air nozzle for the Odin.
  • White substrate leaves a tacky residue that can transfer to other tags
  • When cutting smaller tags, may need to reduce the cutting air level

Time Comparison Table

This test is to show the engraving quality at 2mm text height and lower. The ODIN uses a 2" lens but due to the initial beam spot size, when the beam is focused it is smaller than the beam spot of the CO2 Nova 35-80w. The ODIN achieved readable results down to .75mm and the NOVA down to 1.25mm.

Full Sheet Time Estimate Test

Created a full sheet to produce a time estimate in Lightburn and the Worktime Preview on the Ruida controller. The actual job was not run.

Nova 35 Lightburn Layout:

Nova 35 Lightburn Estimate:

Nova 35 Worktime Preview:

Odin 22 Layout (5/9 rows):

Odin 22 Lightburn Preview (5/9 rows):

Odin 22 Worktime Estimate (5/9 rows):

Cutting Comparison between Nova and Odin

Tested cutting the Gravoply on both the Odin and Nova to compare the differences of the surface with either high or low air selected. Cut lines were cleaner when using high air on either machine. The Odin has a indirect nozzle so some of the debris is sprayed onto the surface even when using high air.

White on Black:

Black on White:

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