13 Things GF needs

To those that say there’s no reason for the height measurement if the lid hasn’t been opened I’ve got one thing to say: pro pass through. How can the machine be sure the material hasn’t changed if there’s an un gated opening in the side?

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Well look at mr posh with his pro. :slight_smile:

In which case you only want the scan if the lid and door aren’t open.

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I want the head to know it’s exact location all the time. And if it needs to know the elevation of a particular part at a specific location,it has thetech to do that.

I just wish they’d make more use of it

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I wish. I bought a basic :wink: That being, I code for a living, and adding that check (is the lid open? No? Is the door open? No? Ok, we’ll used the saved height measurement) is just a corner case waiting to happen. Also, @Jules has already brought up another reason that wouldn’t work (different height objects in the bed at the same time). So assuming the height is the same is just asking for the user to do something dumb, even if it’s correct 99% of the time.

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The problem is that things that happen during a print (like sudden changes in direction the most obvious) can throw the head off so it is not cutting where it thinks it is cutting, and thus cutting in the wrong place. If it checked frequently (like after a long first cut getting ready to go over the first cut again)just to see if the alignment still is accurate It would save loads of headaches.

Your experience seems to be atypical in this realm. My repeatability, and most others, is spot on enough that it can’t be discerned by the naked eye.

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The pass-through isn’t really a door. No way for the software to know if is “open”. If the front door is open it’s like having thelidopen - there are interlocks to prevent it operating.

Fair enough. Per above, I have a basic so anything I say about pro’s is conjecture. But I was confused why no one had mentioned the pass through in response to all the fuss about the lid not opening.

Pretty sure it retains zero or near zero information from job to job from a hardware perspective. After every job, the lens focus mechanism in the head calibrates (the clicking).

I wouldn’t mind an override button. Just use the focal height I assigned and run.

The UI is a little confusing here - when you close the lid, “scanning” is the process of acquiring a new photo and processing it. When you print, the scan involves actually shining the low-power laser on the material and measuring its height. We chose the low-power laser’s location based on where you’re about to print, which we don’t know until you hit print.

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Multiple passes on the same print should definitely not appear separated as you describe.

We’ve measured the time savings for optimized pathing - it’s very small, so working on it hasn’t been a priority. Most of the time is spent cutting or engraving, not moving between cuts. Still something we want to do, but the ROI is mostly us being less annoyed at our prints. :slight_smile:

We do appreciate all feedback about how your Glowforge is working for you. And we are definitely working on lid camera alignment.

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It happens often, sometimes not, but can be a half millimeter or in extreme cases over an inch.

Slow big circles do fine, complex and long cuts before going back over it not so much.

Occasional cases where there is a glitch and it recalibrates, the result is closer to accurate but not the same path as was already done that was less accurate.

I have gotten into the habit of turning the Glowforge off for 30 seconds and back on when there is not a repeat need as yet.

are you talking about printing, finishing the print, then sending the same job again? or are you talking about sending a job where you tell it in the GFUI to make multiple passes in the dialog box?

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Both are issues. I have noted on several occasions when I ask for three passes on the same layer and it makes those three passes in totally different places.

Another but very similar case is when the cut did not go all the way through and I try and recut the same piece on the same pass. I am very careful to set up the situation where I could take the piece out and replace it back exactly as before. In a similar manner many times it works and some times it does not. In those cases the position of the piece is exactly as before.

that sounds like something is broken or working incorrectly. especially the first para. i’ve never had that mess up.

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A more infamous example. This was three passes low speed and low power. It went all the way through each time, and each time a couple millimeters different. The circles above were the same and did fine.

That piece can be you poster child for the problem. I can even message you the svg. The detail is fine enough that the stop/start blowouts weaken the piece considerably, and I made efforts in the design to reduce them.

It could look very nice bent into a lamp but several tries have not succeeded as yet.

One feature I think the GF needs is a device temperature display on the GFUI. If my GF thinks it’s too hot and needs a while to cool down, tell me what the current temp is as well as what the target temp needs to be before it can resume cutting. Then keep updating the temperature value, so I can get a better feel for how long it will take to cool down.

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Is it worth $10 to you?

https://www.amazon.com/Wrenwane-Digital-Refrigerator-Thermometer-Operation/dp/B011LM7IY6/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1526401140&sr=1-3&keywords=small+digital+thermometer

Seems like you could probably find a spot to throw that in the GF.