Default Cut Settings not right?

I’ve noticed my default cut settings on PG Medium Maple and Draftboard don’t seem to be cutting all the way through.

My lenses and mirror are clean.

I’m using PG wood with default settings.

The wood does cut for the most part, but there’s always little “tags” left uncut which mainly seem to be the tape more than anything else. This problem doesn’t ruin my projects, but it’s definitely annoying that I have to take out my pocket knife and gouge out all these pieces when they used to just fall right out after a cut.

I’ve lowered the speed which does seem to help a little, but some of my projects are a good 3.5 hours to finish… lowering the speed only by 10 added almost a full 20-30 min to it.

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That looks a mess, really! Just one thought from me…when you cleaned everything, are you sure you put the lens back into the head correctly? Cup side goes ‘up’. If you put it in upside down, it will cause havoc with your results.

Yup, followed the instructions on my phone as I did it.

That almost looks like a problem with the file, like the lines aren’t actually connected. I would look at the lines really closely to make sure they are all continuous. Then I would run the Gift of Good Measure to see if you can replicate the issue on that design. If so, post the photos so Support can see the results of the test.

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I am seeing that too…now that I look at it more closely.

It’s not. I’m using the same file for this project as I always have and there were no issues before. All my shapes are closed, no stray anchor points, etc. The cut does seem to go all the way through the wood (after slowing speed down a touch), but the tape doesn’t get cut and it’s annoying having to manually weed it all out.

Those tags aren’t even happening on a corner, but a straight line (which are proper clean strokes).

i have the exact same thing happening. the right half cuts perfectly and the left half looks just like yours. i don’t know what to do.

Are you consistently seeing the failure to cut through occur in the same locations on the design? If you run the same design twice, is the tab in the same location each time?

Nope, it’s inconsistent.

Since you have some draftboard, the official recommendation to troubleshoot is going to be along the lines of running the gift of good measure on a piece of draftboard. Then pictures of all of your optics - lens, mirror, and two laser windows, making sure they are clean and not scratched.

Here are those shots…




And for the most part it cut fine, but there was one tiny tag of tape left over like before… the circle came out because as I lifted the piece out, it spun and dangled before breaking off finally. But you can see the small area where the tag of tape was (top center of large circle).

Hello! @pauljima I am so sorry to hear about the cut-through trouble. I will do my best to get this resolved for you. I’ve reviewed the result of the test print you sent. I have good news, we have a tool that remotely adjusts the factory tuning of your unit. This change may affect your Glowforge unit’s custom print settings. Because of this, I wanted to check in with you before I made this change.

Here’s how it would work:

  • I’ll make a change to your configuration to test a new setting, and let you know when it’s been applied.
  • You’ll print a Gift of Good Measure to test, along with anything else you’d like to test
  • You’ll send me photos of the front and back of the prints.
  • We’ll determine our next steps from there.
  • We can try a couple of different settings to see if we can improve your Glowforge unit’s performance.

Please let me know when you are ready for me to apply the change and if you have any questions.

Honestly, I’ve just come to the conclusion the default Cut settings aren’t working because the PG wood I have measures 0.14" thick instead of 0.125".

The issue persists, but I’ve just come to the conclusion that the default Cut settings don’t work because the PG wood I have measures 0.14" thick instead of 0.125".

Hey! @pauljima Nice work on finding out that the material thickness may be the issue. Could you let me know which specific material you’re using? I’d be happy to take another look at this for you and see what our options are. Thank you!

@Ray.V I’m using PG Medium Maple Plywood. I’ve dropped the speed by 10 and that seems to compensate… enough anyway.

Hello @pauljima Can you tell me if you are also running into these same issues on other types of material?