Every time I try to do anything with a cut near the left edge it fails to cut through the board entirely.
The board is proograde and it sitting completely flat. It is basically perfectly fit between the sides of the tray. Everything else in the design cut through without issue but as it gets to the left side of the machine it fails to cut through about 25%. I would just run it twice but I can’t tell that it isn’t cut through until I go to pop the pieces out.
How do we solve this. I am thinking there is an issue with the machine (which I love) but seems to have a real issue calibrating the depth as it gets to the outside edges. It is almost like the power of the laser is adjusting for the way the camera almost seems to have a fisheye view to it. The center cuts perfectly but the firther you get from center the less deep the cut is.
Blue tape and/or a small pick are your friends in this situation. Assuming your PG is fastened in place with magnets, pins, or what-have-you, checking your cuts before moving the material or making any changes in the UI gives you a chance to make a second cutting pass. I realize this doesn’t help with the main issue, but hopefully gives you a way to keep going until it’s resolved. Best of luck!
Your advice is good, but I keep seeing it all over the forum, and I can’t help but get even more frustrated by the situation every time it comes up.
We didn’t spend this kind of money to need workarounds. I have less trouble with my 3D printer that cost 1/10th of the Glowforge.
I love our Glowforge, honestly, but I’m just getting awfully tired of the incomplete cuts, alignment issues, artwork limitations, etc.
I trust Dan & Co. to address all the beta release & growing pain issues and make the Glowforge the product we all hoped it would be out of the box, I just wish it could happen a bit more quickly.
I’m so sorry to hear of your trouble. It does sound like there might be something off about your Glowforge. Would you do a careful inspection and cleaning one more time? If you find a blemish on a lens or window, please post a photo of the lens or window here. If it all looks good, would you do one more test print of a Gift of Good Measure on the left side of the bed on Proofgrade draftboard and share the results with us? Thanks!
I just did a number of tests with squares of different sizes all around the area on the left bottom corner and up the left side. None of these had any problems. So, I’m pretty sure it isn’t an issue with the machine. I had cleaned it right before I had the failure so I don’t think it was an issue with the lens. I didn’t re-clean anything before running these tests. I really think it was either an issue with my file or with the app. Not sure what the cause might be but I cannot reproduce it.
One thing that might have caused it was that my unit was slightly un-level. It definitely wasn’t by much but I added a small shim to my table and got it absolutely level and it maybe that is the difference. That would be my suggestion for a future enhancement. Either an internal level that provides a digital level via the software or physical levels build into the casing. This would definitely be useful if this ends up having been my issue.
Three feet does not inherently make something level, it only ensures there is no wobble as all three feet are always touching. It could still be significantly unlevel if the platform it is on is not flat and/or level.
I don’t necessarily disagree with you on the two long runners, but I also do not think that having three feet is necessarily going to avoid the slight twisting of the frame some people are seeing. Even if all three feet are touching the surface this does not imply that the housing did not flex to allow them to do so. It does make me wonder though what the elusive filter will have for footing and if when the glowforge sits on the filter, will it help avoid the flexing issue?
Three feet would be a bad idea. If the body of the unit were rigid, then perhaps. But it’s not and putting discrete feet underneath would cause all sorts of sagging and much higher stresses and strains.
Nope. The load on each one depends on many factors, including how they are situated from the center of gravity.
Think of it in the extreme. Suppose you wanted to support a mattress to make it flat. Would you prop it on three posts? Or something that distributes the load as evenly as possible?
That’s why I stated there would be little twisting if “there is relatively equal load on them all”, implying the feet would be positioned on the frame as to provide for equal loading.
I’m curious. Where would you place these three feet to get equal load on them? Two on one side on one on the other? That would cause about as much unequal load as possible! Three in a circular arrangement about the center of gravity? Might be equal loads, but what horrible sagging you’d have at the ends of the machine!
It’s not the equality of leg loads that matters. Even if they were equal, that would not prevent twisting. Go back to the mattress analogy.
With three feet it will always settle the same way on any uneven surface. So you would get the same results on a twisted counter top as GF would get on a granite slab. I.e. the frame would always distort the same way unless you put it on a steep incline or put something heavy on the bed that changed the COG.
Yes a stiff frame between the three feet would be a good idea but even with a stiff frame you still don’t want four feet unless one can be adjusted. If it is infinitely stiff it would wobble on a twisted surface but more likely will twist slightly to conform, given the size and weight.
I am making a machine with 20x20 aluminium extrusions for the frame, which is pretty stiff when made into a box, but I will use three feet. Two at the back where the tube and all the weight is and one at the front.
