After a long time I eventually had the time to come back home and unbox my Glowforge.
I was quite surprised at how well its designed and how it looks, I am very impressed (good job guys)
I have been working with laser cutter for the past 5 years, different kinds, brands, and sizes. the Glowforge by far is the WORST i found in terms of preparation time ( its taking me more than an hour from focusing, centering, scanning, then cooling… and eventually it might print or most likely its going to be stuck in one of those preparation stages
It got to the point, its faster to go to the local maker space and laser cut my parts rather and it would be faster then getting my Glowforge to start cutting.
Please tell me that there is an update or a fix for this issue!!
at the moment its been 20min and its stuck on cooling, even though its only my 2nd cut. and i have switched the machine off and back on and same thing
Same here - it usually takes a few minutes to power up and calibrate. Occasionally the process ‘reboots’ part way through, when there’s a firmware update. I’ve never noticed “cooling” - that makes me wonder whether it’s unusually hot where you are, or whether there’s something wrong with the GF?
This is abnormal. Have you reached out to Glowforge yet? If I have a design I want to cut, I can turn the Glowforge on, open my window for my vent, sit at my computer, load the file to the app and by that time I just click print and the purple button. It’s less than 5 minutes. I had an alignment problem with my first Glowforge that required an exchange, but my first cutter was just as fast.
I’m sorry for the trouble you seem to be having. Hopefully you can contact support and they can tell you what is going on with your Glowforge.
one reason i posted that because @dan has said in the past that they prefer you either post here or email, not both, otherwise you’re opening up two separate support tickets.
the other reason was the implication of your post was that they might not have reached out (“Have you reached out to Glowforge yet?”), and since the act of making a post here is literally reaching out by creating a support ticket, they’ve already done so.
and you’re welcome for my addition to the conversation.
I second that this is not normal behavior. What we have seen in the past is that WiFi and internet issues are among the leading causes of this type of behavior.
Yes, I know there is nothing wrong with your WiFi and your internet is 35 gigabit, but the first steps that you will be asked to do is to reboot your router and modem and ensure that you are getting a solid signal from your WiFi router to your GF. I suggest using a WiFi app on your phone to get an actual signal measurement. Some informal testing done several months ago shows that you should have a signal strength of -55dB or more, with lower numbers being stronger signal, for best results, and that a connection speed of at least 5 Mbps is preferred.
Please also run the test of the Gift of Good Measure and ensure that the issue is not with your file as this has also been shown to be the source of issues.
For reference, my GF Basic takes about 5 minutes to be ready for the first cut from a cold start until it has calibrated and the bed photo has updated on the GFUI. Then it takes about 1-2 minutes to load the file when starting from scratch with a new project. Once the file is ready, a 15 minute engrave takes about 2 minutes to be ready to start as the head moves around and measures the material and does its little startups.
If your room is approaching the upper edge of the temperature range you will need to wait for cooling more often. Make sure that the right side of the GF is not obstructed and you can get clear airflow into the GF, and that the cooler air in the room can get to that area of the unit. You may want to lower the room temperature also; the lower the incoming air temperature is the faster the GF will cool and be ready to continue.
When my work area is 76 F I can run about 30 minutes of cutting before I have to pause for cooling, which usually takes about 10 minutes. Running higher power will decrease the operation time between cooling pauses.
Thanks guys for the replies and feedback… its working much better now. and I realized its taking only long time when I was doing scoring.
by the way I wanted to know, is there a laser pointer that can be activated in the GF to easy align to objects, and is it possible to manually move the laser head to align as well
No, this laser does not have a laser pointer. We use jigs to get precise alignment for now. Eventually the visual placement will improve. There is a beta project called “Snapmarks” currently being tested for aligning with jigs, but it has not been released to all machines yet.
Glad it is doing better. Have you watched any YouTube videos that have been posted of the setup and process for using the Glowforge. There are quite a few. Those may help you identify a problem in your workflow or setup. Normally I can turn the machine on and be cutting, engraving or scoring in no time.
And when you mean “scoring” are you sure that’s what is going on? Engraving, back and forth raster marking the material takes a long time. Typically scoring is the fastest of all operations because you can go at top speed since you are just making a light line marking of a single vector path.
I would like to see an easy way to align objects… like moving manually … what I started doing is creating a jig for almost everything I wanna engrave on … this seems to be the only way for me
It sounds like you’ve sorted out the cooling problems, and the logs show you haven’t had a cooling event since Friday. Please let me know if you’re still having trouble with that.
Regarding alignment
The software on your Glowforge is responsible for ensuring that the print lands on the material in the same place as the preview. When you’re done with a print, let a new image load. If the print appears on screen far from where it was supposed to go, you may have an alignment problem.
Most alignment problems come from the material being closer or farther from the camera than expected. While the software is still improving, you can take these steps for the most accurate alignment results:
Use Proofgrade™ materials.
If you don’t use Proofgrade materials, use a precision set of calipers to measure your material, and enter the thickness in the “uncertified materials” dialog.
Use material that is not warped or tilted.
Place your design near the center of the bed.
Clean the area underneath your crumb tray, particularly the four indentations on the floor.
Reboot the machine. Alignment can drift over time, particularly if you bump the head of your Glowforge while removing material.
Should you finish all of these steps, and find that you have an alignment error of more than 1/4", we’d like to have you try a few troubleshooting steps for us:
Turn off your Glowforge.
Check for small pieces of debris or dust.
Check the lower door to make sure it closes all the way. It may require some force to open, but open it, wipe any dust off the edges, and close it all the way.
Remove the tray and clean any dust or debris from the surface underneath. Pay careful attention to remove all debris from the four dimples where the tray rests.
Check the lid to make sure it closes all the way. Small particles of material, such as dust or debris, can prevent it from closing completely.
Check the surface your Glowforge is on to make sure it’s flat. Ensure it is not twisted slightly and that there is no debris propping up one side of the machine.
Turn your Glowforge back on.
We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Place the Proofgrade Draftboard in the center of the bed and print the Gift of Good Measure using the default settings.
When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture updates. Without moving your artwork or your material, take a screenshot of the Workspace to show us the difference between the artwork placement and the actual print placement. Make sure to include the rulers in your screenshot and show as much of the bed as possible.
Mac: Press Shift-Command-4 and click and drag a box around your image. You’ll find the screenshot file saved on your desktop.
Windows: Click on the Start Menu and type “snipping tool”. Open the Snipping Tool > New then click and drag a box around your image. Click the Save icon and name and save your file.
Send us the screenshot along with the date and time of the print, and we’ll investigate.
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.
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