Hi everyone, I’ve had my Glowforge since last summer but this is my first post, although I’ve been creating online, I haven’t actually printed much yet,
in fear of wasting materials that seem so hard to come by. I just tested a few prints using GF Proofgrade Veneer along with the appropriate settings, however, the engrave did not go deep enough. It barely scratched the surface on some of the design and didn’t even penetrate past the paper on some of the small print. Should I be using another setting? I am attaching a photo for reference. I have tried in the past to adjust proofgrade setting but have been completely unsuccessful. Suggestions? I really wish there was more training on the settings, I’ve been trying and struggling to understand it all for months.
Veneer is very thin, so the engrave settings don’t go very deep, but even that being true I think mostly what we’re seeing in your photos is the masking paper still being in the cuts. Anywhere it’s white inside a cut has to be either masking from the top or you managing to engrave all the way through the veneer to the tape on the other side.
So first things first, turn them over and see if you can see any effect on the back. If it engraved all the way through you’d be able to see light through your engravings.
If not, go over those again either rubbing your finger try try and dislodge the masking, or by covering it with a piece of high-tack tape (Gorilla tape is great for this). Rub the tape into all the grooves and then pull it off and see if it pulls the masking off.
If neither of those fixes it I will suggest running the Gift of Good Measure (in your dashboard) on some proofgrade wood (not veneer) and post photos of the front and the back and the time you did it. That particular design uses every command the has so we’ll (hopefully) be able to see what’s not working.
Thank you @geek2nurse but I do not want burn marks, would that be an issue or is the engraving light enough to not have to worry about it in this case?
Thank you for your help @deirdrebeth! I thought it might those issues too but have rubbed away and used duct tape to remove all left-over masking. I also lifted the 3M and see that it did not go through to show light. I am attaching more photos as well as the Gift of Good Measure photo as suggested, I ran this at 5:17pm pacific time. (Good to know about the setting commands
The GoGM looks right - which probably means that @geek2nurse is right and it’s just that those lines are too fine to handle the light engraving that has to happen with veneer.
Can you try a thicker design on that same piece of veneer (or thicken up the lines on that one) and see if it looks ok?
I’m not sure how to thicken the lines but I tried it after removing the masking and it worked much better. Thank you for all your help, I appreciate it! @deirdrebeth@geek2nurse
I’m so sorry to hear about the snags you ran into with your Glowforge, but Its so great to see that the advice @geek2nurse and @deirdrebeth provide was helpful, and you’ve been able to see much better improvement in your prints!
Based on the Gift of Good Measure print you completed, your Glowforge is performing within specification. That’s so great I’ll close this thread for now, but please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly at support@glowforge.com if you happen to run into any more trouble. We’re here to help!
has so we’ll (hopefully) be able to see what’s not working.
