Alignment help

I’ve had my GF for two weeks and in the middle of my engrave my gf cut seems like it shifted. I tried to cut again and now it looks like my laser is off track and marking a weird noise. Anyone experience this?

Is it possible that your material was bumped by the print head or fan? Sometimes the material is placed over the edge of the honeycomb tray, gets bumped, and knocks the carriage out of alignment. Try turning off the machine and gently sliding the printhead to the back left home position. Turn it back on and see if the noise continues.

Also, a picture of the failed engrave might help.

I did that and tried to do another cut and now the lase tube seems to be off track.

This procedure might help for getting it back on track.

Make sure the rails are clean and free of debris.

i just tried and this happened when I turned it back on.

In that case, you’re probably better off leaving it alone until you hear back from support. I don’t want to give you advice that could make it any worse.

If it were my machine, I’d get in there with a flashlight and try to figure out what’s causing it to go off the rails. A very rare, but potentially worst case scenario, could be one of the motors failed and it’s only driving one side. But unless you’re extremely unlucky, it’s probably just hitting something or a belt is not on right.

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I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve hit this snag. I appreciate you sending over such great details.

Please hold off on printing for now. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

Could you try the following:

  1. Turn off your Glowforge.
  2. Using both hands, gently slide the laser arm all the way to the front of the unit, then all the way to the back of the unit. Note any points of resistance or bumping.
  3. If you find anything that might be the cause of the bumping, take a photo of it and attach it to your reply.

Let me know how it goes!

I did it and found no resistance or bumps.

should i try turning it back on?

I see that you’ve also reached out to us directly via email. I apologize for repeating the steps you have already taken! I’ll follow up with some additional directions via email, and close this thread.