Dang. All the easy possibilities are being eliminated. Which isn’t the greatest news I’m afraid.
The only other thing you can do ahead of hearing back from Support is examine the belts up close and personal. As much as you can, sometimes it’s hard to see the whole thing. (And make sure the machine is off before moving the head around to see it.)
Check to see if the tension is similar on both the left and right side belts, and check the one the head travels on. (The X axis.) Make sure there isn’t a worn tooth somewhere that might make the head slip during rapid tight movements.
I might be completely off base…this is just searching for clues, and it might not be the cause of whatever those skips are. Support has a lot more diagnostic information available to them.
But it’s something you can take a look at while they diagnose.
It would make sense for engraved to be fine – it’s being zapped in a raster pattern, and the software path is like also different.
I would be interested to see something like the good measure design printed at multiple angles, so that we can see whether the orientation of the weirdness is constant with respect to the machine or to the print. (I’m not sure what that would tell us, but it would be something.)
It could indicate several things, such as a power usage issue, or a software problem, as presumably the same motors are used to move the head for both engraving and cutting.
The same motors are indeed used for engraving and cutting. This is not likely a power usage issue, especially since the default presets for proofgrade material are being used. Most likely a software or stepper calibration issue considering it didnt start doing this until 2 software updates ago.
I don’t see how it can be the software - we’re all using the same thing. If it was the software, everyone would be seeing it.
I personally suspect a bad stepper after eliminating the possibility of belt slippage. (But I’m no expert on this, and could be wrong, so hopefully you’ll hear better news from the folks at Glowforge.)
I would lean more towards software/calibration issues myself. Reason being is that the engraving toolpaths are generally straight and round if it is a circle being engraved, whereas vector movements such as cutting are the ones that are showing poor performance, both good and bad present in the same print which makes me feel that its an issue in the generation of the toolpath in the software rather than a stepper loosing steps or belts because those hardware issues would show up in the engraving as they would be a constant fault in the system regardless of engraving and or vector cutting.
Thank you for trying the test and posting your reply.
Would you please check the following next:
Wait until your Glowforge has been idle for at least a minute.
Open the lid.
Very gently, push the printer head to the right with one hand and see if you are able to move it. You should feel resistance and the the printer head should not slide freely.
Repeat the previous step, this time pushing the printer head to the left.
Let me know if the printer head slides freely or slips in either direction.
Then, check the wheels on the carriage plate by following these instructions:
Turn off your Glowforge.
Remove the printer head from the carriage plate. Holding only the finished black surfaces, grasp the printer head as shown. Pull gently up and back to disengage the magnets and remove the head.
Roll the carriage plate left and right and inspect the wheels for any flat or rough areas.
If you find anything, take a photo and attach it to your reply.
There is resistance when pushing the carriage left to right, no slop in the movement. Removed the laser head and there are no flat spots or excessive play in the carriage.
Thanks for checking those things and letting me know the results.
Unfortunately, it looks like your unit is experiencing an issue that we can’t resolve remotely. I want you to have a reliable unit, so I’m recommending we replace this one. I’ll be in touch via email to sort out the details. I’m so sorry about the bad news.
