Brand new Glowforge not cutting through "Gift of Good Measure"

Don’t self-fix. That’s a warranty thing, I think.
If it isn’t, then Glowforge isn’t the company I think it is.

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I’d say you’ve already done that.

I don’t imagine they’ll want it back, but don’t take a hammer to it just in case. And don’t use it as-is. At least not in that spot. If the rest is flat, I’d say feel free.

Otherwise, I’d consider using something else as a riser. (Scrap wood is usually my go-to for that.) You’ll need to measure out whatever you use and possibly recalculate distance from the head. If you need help with that, just say the word.

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Thanks for the advice. I did submit a request to have it replaced, hopefully I will hear back soon. I can probably use 3/4 of the tray for the time being, but I can’t use much of the PG materials since they all use the full tray.

Making a riser doesn’t sound like a bad idea. I have a 3d printer and I was thinking about designing an L shaped bracket that I could use, combined with some scrap wood, to get it exactly the same height as the crumb tray.

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Unless it’s really exactly the same height, be sure to measure… with a calipers. Every micron counts.

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Somewhere on this forum are some 3D printed risers for various heights, including crumbtray height.

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Yes, thanks- I think I just found it. I’ll give them a shot.

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@techyg…what model machine do you have? Basic, Plus or Pro?

It is the “Plus” model. It was the only one I could order (the other two were sold out).

Okay, that means you likely have power settings similar to the ones the Pro’s use.

(I’m just data gathering right now …thanks for the input.) :slightly_smiling_face:

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Just got back from work and thought I would check the crumb tray on a level surface. It looks like only 3 of the feet on the crumb tray are touching, which is what is causing the wobble. I’d guesstimate it’s uneven by a good 1mm, possibly 1.5mm. You can see the gap in the bottom right picture. I know in 3d printing, even being off by .5mm can cause major issues, and I’m guessing it’s no different with laser cutting.

So it looks like I have some pretty significant issues with my crumb tray. Any idea how long support typically takes to respond? I sent a ticket yesterday evening but haven’t had any response yet. I am wondering if I should do anything at all with my Glowforge until this issue is fixed…

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If you mentioned the tray in your email, don’t send another one. Multiple tickets just slow things down.

Instead, send a reply to the automated response that they sent you, telling them that you tracked down the problem to the tray…and include pictures.

It’s the quickest way to get resolution or a response.

Thanks, that’s what I did- responded to the same ticket and updated the info along with the attachment.

I measured the height with a caliper, and interestingly enough, when the foot is off the ground, it’s surprisingly level, within .2mm (and it could be better- some of it may be human error in measuring, since it does wobble). I decided to conduct another job (this time 45 minutes!) on the baltic birch. Also using my 3d printed honeycomb pins which seem to be holding it down perfectly.

I wonder if that tray wasn’t damaged in shipping…I’ve never seen one with a broken grid.

Shouldn’t hurt anything to keep using it…just remember you might need to run a second pass if it doesn’t cut through in spots.

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It could have been, but the box looked fine. My guess is maybe there is something going on at the factory- I saw someone else had a similar warping problem in another thread. Maybe some bad QC?

My 45 minute job engraved really well, but even after two cuts it didn’t cut all the way through. I don’t really understand why the two passes cut out my other design on the BB plywood, but not on this one (which was a larger design, taking up about 8" in the center of the plywood).

Was this on BB too?

Yes, it was just a different sheet. The only difference I can think of, is that I didn’t tape it down, instead I used the honeycomb pins. It appeared to be holding it well, but perhaps there was some kind of bowing? I dunno.

Also, here is a picture (it is acutally an SVG file). The outside line on the circle is what didn’t cut.IMG_1647

What settings did you use?

The Proofgrade stuff is much more uniform in consistency than any other kind of material - you might have voids or glue plugs in there.

It’s usually not a bad idea to run a few tests on whatever non-PG material first, and shine a flashlight through it to check for voids and dense spots.

If you haven’t moved that on the bed yet, you can send it to cut a third time. Did you get a lot of char around it in certain spots?

(Okay…no char.)

Makes sense, I got this stuff on Amazon which claims it was ideal for laser cutting. Of course, who knows what that means :slight_smile:

Unfortunately I took it out of the bed, but I think I can salvage it (was planning on giving it as a gift to someone).

I did notice a lot of char in the outside circle.