Camera Calibration did not work

Problems and Support
#1

I’ve been printing a large project over the past couple of weeks.
My printer was filthy and not printing accurately. I cleaned it all by hand and let it sit for a few days before I continued with the project.

The alignment was still off, so I used the recalibration tool to try to fix it and it made thing even worse.

How can I fix this? I have a lot of work I need to get done ASAP.

camercalibration bad
camercalibration bad1470×814 454 KB

::Edited to add: I took this screen shot right after I canceled the print. I have not moved anything. I still haven’t opened the lid.

#2

Are you referring to the lettering I’ve circled? If so was it properly aligned in your design software and then engraved like this?!
Help

#3

Yes.
Exactly.

I was staring at the machine for a hot second just wondering what the heck it was doing.
Then I realized the design is stretched and pixelated and hit the button to stop/cancel the print.

I have no clue what I did wrong.

#4

You may have accidently stretched it as you moved the pieces around. Very easy to do.

2 Likes
#5

I’m sure I didn’t.
I copy/pasted all three and they are the same.

Plus, this kind of distortion would show up in the preview…

image
image3024×4032 2.51 MB

#6

Well hopefully someone else has some ideas.

1 Like
#7

Does no one work Saturday/Sundays?

Do they really put off all the things that go wrong over the weekend until Monday?

This is absurd, especially right now so close to the holidays. AND on top of the new subscription charge.

This is the biggest downfall of Glowforge. Shoddy tech support.

I’m sitting on a large commission that needs to get out my door and the remainder of Christmas presents need to be made.

I can’t do ANYTHING because this large company doesn’t have proper tech support.

The Facebook page’s messages do not work. The robot is stuck in a loop. Can’t use the chat feature on the main site because writing capability is turned off. They don’t have a proper phone number to call - you have to give your email for further communication.

This is unbelievable for such an expensive machine.

#8

They are not a large company.

1 Like
#9

Can you print the Gift of Good Measure to replicate the distortion you are seeing? Sometimes files get corrupted for no known reason, and it could be a problem with the file. Also, have you checked the tension of the belts?

#10

I am not here to argue semantics over what is or is not a large company.

They need a proper tech support option.

With so many glowforges out there, I cannot be the only one who needs help over a weekend.

#11

Then don’t make false statements. I didn’t say anything about the validity of their tech support model.

1 Like
#12

Then I am not understanding the point of your original comment?
I didn’t call you a liar. We disagree on what constitutes a “large company.” And (I think) you are agreeing that Glowforge’s tech support should be better than what it currently is?

Do you have any insights on my original problem about camera calibration making everything worse? I could use any kind of help at the moment.

#13

Sure. But just to put some perspective on it… It’s just a laser cutter. Not like it’s a hospital mechanical ventilator or something even remotely critical. I’m sure you can think of dozens of small businesses that don’t offer weekend support. This is just one of them. Waiting until normal business hours for support seems reasonable.

On to the business at hand…
What was the result The Gift Of Good Measure @dklgood asked for?
If you feel comfortable with doing it, you could post the file you’re having trouble with and one of us could take a look at it.

1 Like
#14

This product was made to help small at-home businesses. For me, it’s not “just a laser cutter.” Sure for some, it’s a hobby thing. But for many it’s not. Again, for them charging extra for full use of their services and machines, I would think they would upgrade their tech support to something beyond exclusively email correspondence that takes days to solve any problem.

Holy crud, I did not see @dklgood’s comment at all. Thank you for pointing that out. I will give it a try.

The files I was using when this went side ways I’ve printed and cut before without any problems.

I’ll take care of it and report back with updates.

#15

@dan sated in the December update,

" We transformed our Customer Success team.

Being part of our Customer Success team is a tough job: you have to know your electronics, your optics, and your software inside and out. We decided that we needed it done right, so we decided to do it ourselves. We stopped outsourcing any of our work and tripled the size of our team. Now, any time you reach out for support, it’s a full-time US based Glowforge employee who’s there to help. And even with the enormous growth in team size, it’s hard to keep up for the holidays - we appreciate your kindness and patience while we make sure everyone’s printing is a delight."

So, it’s not like the company isn’t trying, maybe cut them a little slack. I personally think they have done an amazing job. Also, for all that think the company has produced a defective product he has also addressed that not in the above update, but is will below their forecast and getting better, even the Auto Manufactures have defects, there is NO prefect product this manufactured on a large scale, after all humans are involved…

3 Likes
#16

You might want to try moving that pin…the head might have hit it. (That doesn’t look like Medium Basswood Plywood, so you might have a height differential going on there. That can impact how high the pins stick up.)

Or check all the tracks for debris…maybe give them a cleaning too if they are sticky.

#17

Thank you for pointing out the quote from the Dec. update. I did not read that one throughly and missed this section.

I really can’t cut them any slack… my clients need their things. I don’t have hundreds of people working for me. It’s just me, always after hours and on the weekends.

#18

I’ll def check the pin. I’ve never had the head hit it before, but who knows?

I just cleaned the machine before doing this cut. (Technically two cuts before this one, but the alignment was getting worse.) The big factor was me using the calibration tool and then things went hinky.

#19

I have not check the belt tension. How would I go about doing that?

How would the calibration tool make that happen in less than an hour?

#20

Sometimes two things happen closely in time but actually have no relationship. It is possible that the lid camera calibration is not related to your current issue. When you completed the calibration, were the targets aligned, meaning the calibration worked or did you get a message saying the calibration didn’t change anything?

You can quickly print the Gift of Good Measure to see if other files print ok while you are waiting for Support to contact you.

Here is the link for the tension: https://support.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360054011474-Adjust-the-Carriage-Plate-Belt-Tension

3 Likes