The alignment issue should be the first on any list given the nature of the tool. You can really only align thing properly if your cut is in the middle quadrant of the bed and even then it isn’t absolute. As you move to the outer edges the alignment becomes completely unusable. We are all using a laser because it provides a level of precision and accuracy you can’t find in other tools. So, it worries me that something fundamental like this hasn’t been addressed.
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That’s a reasonable issue, in which case the problem is the GF is randomly working through the lines which ever way you look at it. When I run a living hinge it does draw all the parallel lines next to each other, one after the other. In which case if you’re melting then its going to happen anyway.
My point is that it could start at either end of the line and “normally” you would want it to start at the nearest point - since that means less wasted move. Fractions of a second per cut, but significant over the job.
Now, if you need cooling time in there, this is going to make no difference and some other kind of solution would be needed.
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I would argue that the precision and accuracy of the laser itself is not in question (other than certain units with issues that needed replacing). The pieces that I cut are exactly what I tell it to cut within expected variance. The precision and accuracy of the camera alignment is not perfect but completely unusable seems a bit harsh. Maybe your experience differs from mine but after ensuring my three forges were on a flat surface and the door closed softly I have had very few if any camera misalignments that weren’t my own fault for accidentally entering a wrong material height.
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Yeah, I laugh about these characterizations every time I have to line up another laser with a red-dot aiming laser 
Between the error induced by a laser attached to the side of a head assembly coming in at a slant and the parallax involved with me standing above & in front of the thing, I’m doing the same “close enough” alignment as I do with a visual through the camera on the GF except the GF is faster (and I get sub-millimeter alignment accuracy with the arrow adjustment keys - on mine I just need to move it 2 arrow clicks over and one down and it’s dead nuts on).
On any of my lasers I use jigs and reference points on the machine frame to get it nailed when it’s really important I get fast re-alignment of multiple iterations of a job (or pass-through job alignment).
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I have aligned the software cut image to where it sits directly over the area I want to cut and if it is near the edge of the material (on either side), it isn’t even close… like an eighth to a quarter inch off. I don’t understand the fanboy-ism on this forum. I love the machine. I have used it for many cool things. It’s great. Yet, it isn’t perfect and alignment issues are the most prominent, in my opinion. If they can’t fix this issue, they should just say they can’t and be done with it. If I get motivated today, I’ll make a video that shows just how off it is and then you can call it a mischaracterization. Lol. It’s not like I’m the first or only person to claim this. It’s not complicated to understand. The GUI is about as simple as it could be and the cut that it makes isn’t anywhere near what the GUI is representing, which makes cutting or engraving objects that are lager than the middle quadrant of the bed nearly impossible. Not the end of the world, but definitely an issue.
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It’s only unusable for aligning larger pieces. I would totally agree that this is a camera/GUI issue and not the actual laser causing the problem. The image I get in the GUI is somewhat fisheyed. I can get the material entirely flat on the bed and if I look at the lower edge of my board it shows as somewhat curved, indicating to me that the camera has some issues in how it is rendering the depth. Based on other comments, I don’t feel like this is something specific to my machine, but I’m glad to hear that not everyone is experiencing the same issue.
It is nice to find agreement on some things. I can say the fisheye is definitely present and as I get to the far edges of the machine on all sides it certainly is not perfect in visual alignment. As long as my material height is correct though, it is consistent for me and so I know exactly where things can be placed anywhere on the bed and potentially how many arrow clicks for perfect alignment. I’m just curious, how well does your lid close on your machine?
Lid is great. I have re-leveled the machine several times thinking that might have been the issue but as far as I can tell it is level and on a sturdy surface. My cuts are always perfect assuming it is a large enough cut to align it from the center. The issues I have are when I try to engrave or recut something that failed to cut through and the cut I need to make is on the outer part of the material. It hasn’t been a huge issue for me because of the types of things I’m making, but it has ruined a few pieces of PG material. My point was simply about the wish list. If they are going to fix/add capabilities, I’d like to see them put some effort into making sure that the app’s/camera’s visualization of what is being cut was a lot closer to what is actually being cut.
The way it is now, I could/will probably start making some low power engrave dots in my designs to help me align the outer edges. Then, I can just run the print a couple times with just the engrave dots to line it up before I actually start a cut. There are ways outside fo the software to solve this problem manually.
I figured you had already checked all of that but just wanted to mention it in the event you hadn’t. I just want to make clear I wasn’t arguing against them tightening up the tolerances for visual alignment at any point. There is certainly still work to be done in that respect, I was just more curious to hear more about your experience to compare it to my experience on my three machines.
So if the material has not moved and you just resend the job, is it not consistently in the same spot? If so, that sounds like much more of an issue that is not related at all to the camera alignment.
No, I’ve never been smart enough to “not move the material” before trying to recut. For me, the failed cuts are so intermittent that I don’t realize it until I’ve moved it. Also, sometimes, it will cut through on about 75% of the objects, so I’ll test one and think it is great and then find that one side of a group hasn’t cut through all the way. I’m almost always cutting multiples of the same object. So, I mistakenly get overconfident that every sheet will have the same results and then find out that I’m wrong after I pick up a board and only half of the pieces come loose.
I didn’t take your comment as argumentative at all and I appreciate your feedback for sure. Sometime, there are commenters who act like this machine is infallible and you should never raise concerns. I would assume that Dan and company want to hear about the issues as much as the successes. I am very happy with my GF and I would absolutely buy it again even if I had known about some of these issues in advance.
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It also re-scans if you cancel a print, even if the lid is not opened, and nothing is changed in the design. Also annoying is the head returning to the back left after scanning. If anything it should head to where the cut will start. Otherwise, it should stay where it is after autofocus.
I don’t believe it’s “fanboy-ism” to accept the company’s statements on the capabilities - you know, the one that very clearly states that camera alignment can be up to a quarter inch off and they’re working on making it better. Since I get better performance on my machine I believe them when they say they’re going to make it better for everyone.
I don’t understand the necrohippoflagellation that requires continued complaining that it does what they said it would do when you accepted delivery but they haven’t delivered what they said they’re working on. We all know progress is slow, we also all knew that when we accepted delivery instead of waiting for everything they initially promised in the crowdfunding days.
But maybe it’s just venting and makes folks feel better.
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…or you could just save your breath. I was simply giving my opinion on the priority of a list of proposed improvements and you thought it was your duty to chime in on how the issue wasn’t nearly as bad as I was characterizing it. When, in fact, it is exactly as bad as I characterized it (in the company’s own words).
Fine, you’re 100% right. It’s totally unusable 
I know someone who will buy it from you. Just PM me & I’ll hook you up.
Look, I know you’re on here a lot helping people and I really don’t wish to pick a fight. I’m sure you didn’t mean anything personal by it and my reaction was unnecessary. Sorry if I took it the wrong way or personally.
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Just going on the “glorified print driver” line of thinking, I could see a few use cases where precise scale and rotate would be great features to have, because when the print dialog comes up for 2D printing those are common options, at least with macOS.
Basic custom presets that are modifiable (and can do multiple iterations of) would also be very useful if they didn’t go away with each project/reboot. Organizing them further into folders for later use could be helpful, but might be confusing for less technical folks (impending rabbit holes and tech support madness?). There is a case for having a GFUI that can do a promote switch on the fly or return to basic mode for other uses/users.
All that aside, I am glad that these features are implementable as others have done this stuff before and that this is BETA software with a funded dev team supporting it.
Thanks. But if you ever do decide you want to sell it let me know.
Haha. No intentions on selling it. I love it despite the alignment. I just need to adjust my process to account for running tests before committing to permanent changes. Which, honestly, is a good practice in most areas of life.
I had to change everything when I got it. I’ve been using a modded out K40 and a Redsail laser. Way different software control systems and physical operations. Haven’t had the K40 on in a year and I have to stop and rethink how to do something when I use the Redsail now. But don’t need to use that one much anymore (although the 9" z-depth for the pass-through is really handy vs the 1/4" on the GF).
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Did you get a Pro? Or a Basic? (I’m getting old, and my brain is getting too full.) 