If the lid is not closed all the way the GFUI gives you a “Lid Open” message and you can’t run the project. There’s maybe a 2-3mm gap in the interlock “dead zone” though before it trips the sensor. However, the friction of the lid against the sides of the case will stop the lid above that point if you let gravity do the work, so it basically forces you to put pressure on the lid to ensure it is fully seated.
Here’s a little camera test. Looks like the lid camera will get a pretty clear/focused view of the GF logo during the homing/calibration routine. I may have stuck it in there nice and crooked but at least I’m not the one selling millions of these wax cans with spelling errors.
That was me shining a flashlight in there, note the shadow of the camera itself, which lends some credence to others that have had calibration issues (head banging) due to bright lighting in their workspaces directly overhead.
It’s killing me this week that I’m working so much. I’m going to try and run a test when I get home from work2 (which’ll be around 02:00). I’ll have to leave for work1 again around at 06:15, so I can either sleep, or 'forge. Hmmmm…
More like pissed off. I’m going to have to leave the forums for a while before I say something I might regret. I’ll do another test when I get home, but I’ve low expectations. Yeah… I’m gonna go now. I’m really starting to build up steam here…
Honestly, your experience in particular is making me very worried about my forge - I appreciate reading everything you’re posting and you have every right to be angry. I cannot imagine how frustrating this roller coaster has been for you. Is support on a line with you? Because … they should be.
What in the 7 hells happened in the lower-right?! I was sitting there watching it engrave and my jaw dropped. From that point on, it was SO far off the mark. The lower-left one was the 1st one it decided to engrave. Next was the lower of the lower-right ones. All downhill from there.
And here’s one just drop center. Off like I saw the day before yesterday. This thing is just defective. I think I’ve proven that out enough now. Now to go convince Support (again). But I’ll do that some other time. It’s after 04:00 and I’ve got to be at work1 at 07:00, so…
If they do that will be his fourth production machine. I hope they sort this out before international shipments! That would be 7 shipments at ~ $500 each. More than the cost of the GF.
So is this just visually off on the screen, or are the cross hairs not how you placed them in the design software? That is, if you put a rectangle around them all would they be in the locations you placed them in your design software?
I’m pretty sure they will. I mean… As you can imagine, this can’t be used in any practical way. At least not in any relatively-painless way. The kids have little projects they want to do in the meantime, so I’ll suffer it for them for now.
The latter. The purple/pink is where I placed them, and, well, you can see where they actually ended up.
For example, on my cardboard sheet above, the one middle left was specifically chosen so it would not cross the line to its left. But, as you see, it did. Center was chosen because it should my drop dead accurate because it sits directly beneath the camera. But, as you can see, it’s off by ~0.5".
This week is a weird one for me. Those most-recent tests were done from 03:00-04:00 this morning after I got home from work2 and before I arrived at work1. Tonight I’ll be stopping home for a minute around 17:00, then I’ll be back again around 12:00 at which point I’ll approach Support about my current findings. I’m sure they’re sick of me at this point, but I hope this helps the future of Glowforges and Glowforgers everywhere.
I regret saying this. It was 04:00 and I was exhausted and frustrated. 5 hours later and that’s still true, but it was an immediate outburst at the time in response to what I was seeing. So please allow me to rephrase… I’m fed up with this unit and I look forward to my earliest opportunity to give Support the chance to rectify this for me. TO BE CLEAR, Support has not been informed of my recent alignment issues, so they haven’t had the opportunity to address it.
Tom, some thoughts based upon my experiences and don’t take any of this in a negative way please.
If I get frustrated like this, and I have. I step away and give it a rest. Especially since you are working a lot and cannot give this the attention you would like.
The one constant here is you. Multiple machines, etc etc. There are two scenarios that I see.
there is a legitimate issue with the machines
You have a mental block and are doing something wrong and you cannot see it, so you are doing the same thing over and over without realizing it.
It would be interesting to hear back from Glowforge about the machine that was returned. I doubt if they will, but I would love to know if they can replicate your problem back at the factory. This would confirm which of scenarios is happening.
Most of my prints involve artwork and a complete cutout around the perimeter. If I get the cut on the sheet, then minor alignment issues are not apparent to me. If you cut these type of projects with the kids then everyone gets something with less stress.
