I’m having what appears to be a focus issue on my new Pro machine. It’s very similar to the issue I had with my Basic here:
This is what I’ve done:
Using Ceramark-like spray to mark metal
Turned on/off
Used known saved settings
Used set focus
Ran Gift of Good Measure - came out fine
Adjusted speed on saved setting, just in case there was a difference between machines causing the darker print
Attached is a picture of the GOGM and a steel marking sample from the new machine. I’m also attaching a picture that shows what is happening. First heart shows what is happening, second heart is how it should come out.
GOGM looks fine and the marks do appear like a defocus thickening.
First blush is the auto focus is not hitting the earrings and is zapping the background.
Have you put in a manual depth (thickness of the hearts)?
I’m generally a really patient person. But, having to wait for over 8 hours for an initial response on a support issue – after spending ~$10,000 with a company in the past year – is simply unacceptable.
I wait less than 10 minutes for an initial response from my $50/mo web hosting company. Often, my issue is solved in less than 30.
I’m not sure if it’s lack of staff or lack of knowledge on the part of that staff, but something really needs to change here … either the price point of the machine or the responsiveness to issues.
When you add in the recent server issues, which halted production for many, I’m really beginning to regret my decision to buy a 2nd machine. Don’t get me wrong, I love my GF; but, if I can’t rely on timely support when issues happen, that goodwill only extends so far.
No offense meant at all, but I wasn’t talking about my ISP. I actually give them a bit more leeway than my webhost.
24 hours isn’t acceptable for the price point of the product. It just isn’t. My AOV is $45 and my customers would ensure I was run out of business if I didn’t even give the courtesy of a response in 1 business day.
Were you using Full Power on both the Pro and the Basic machine? (Because yes, that is going to make a really big difference.) Anything less than Full Power will render the same on both the Basic and the Pro. The Speed settings should be different at Full Power though. (Do not use the same speed for the Pro as you do for the Basic, unless you are working at less than Full Power.)
What I am curious about is whether you used the same LPI setting for both prints? And the heart on the left looks Engraved, the one on the right looks Scored. Did you use the same process for both?
Also, just to make absolutely sure…check that the lens is inserted correctly in the head…it can defocus the beam if it’s in upside down.
Yes, I just realized I misspoke on the power above (I’ll edit that). I am using full power on both. What I adjusted was the speed - but, it made no difference. I normally have it running at Full Power w/ 300 speed (on the Basic). After realizing there was a problem, I left the power alone (on the Pro) and adjusted the speed down. by about 50; but, no change. (And which I just realized could have made the print darker, right?) Just to be sure, I’ll try adjusting it up.
The LPI was the same. These are saved settings that I’ve used for over a year successfully. Both were set to Engrave… 100% sure on that.
I will check the lens. This is a brand new machine though, and I also would have thought that the Gift of Good Measure would be off if the lens were in wrong? I’ll make sure, though.
Thanks again. If you have any other suggestions, I’d be most appreciative!
Adjust the Speed up faster on the Pro if you are trying to adjust from settings that were used on the Basic. A Pro machine is more powerful at FP, so you do not have to linger as long in one place to get the same effect as the Basic.
Always go faster with a Pro machine. (Does that make sense?)
It does!! And, after I wrote it out, it struck me lol!
I’m going to use my Basic this morning for my orders and I’ll play with the speed settings this afternoon on the Pro to see if it works. I shall report back
Still might not be fast enough - try 1000 speed, and work the speed back down if it is not burning dark enough. (The Pro is a LOT more powerful than the Basic at FP.)
The speeds are not linear, they are logarithmic. You can go REALLY fast with the Pro. It’s one of the reasons people buy them…much shorter processing times. My engrave speeds all start at 1000, and if I need to reduce effects, I’ll start reducing power.
The power output is supposed to be the same for all 3 versions of the GF using settings of 0 to 100. It’s only if you select full power when the power output becomes different. If my memory serves full power on the Pro would be 15% more than on the Basic but identical on all other settings by design.
I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve hit this snag, and I sincerely apologize for the delay in response. I appreciate your patience during this time, but I see that the community has been immensely helpful in resolving the snag you were hitting.
Just in case, I’ve extracted the log files from your Glowforge to review the autofocuser on your unit. It does not appear to be experiencing any trouble, but it can be difficult to narrow down the culprit on materials that are not Proofgrade.
I’m so glad to hear that some of the advice @Jules provided was helpful. Could you let me know if you are still running into the same trouble?
Thanks so much for your response. @Jules has been tremendous help and I do appreciate it!
I am still having trouble, though. While increasing the speed did help with the darkness, I am having “skipping” on some of my engraving. I’ll attach a couple of pictures to show you what I mean. I have no idea if it’s related or a completely different issue.
The first heart was done on my Basic with FP/300. The next 4 were done on the Pro with FP and speed ranging from ~600 to ~800. Same LPI for all 5.
If you look at the loop on the “k”, it’s clearly visible on the Basic engrave. No matter what speed I’ve tried on the Pro, it doesn’t print clearly.
This is the same file used for all, so it’s not design issue. Also, all other settings on the 2 machines were the same - I only adjusted speed.
Here’s another one. I don’t have a comparison to show (though I can make one on the Basic, if it helps). You can see in the 9, there is a similar “skip”. Again, I tried multiple speeds.
Any ideas? Is there another setting I should be testing? I’ve used these settings on my Basic for over a year now. While I understand the speed needed to be adjusted, I would have thought I’d hit the “sweet spot” on the Pro with all the testing I’ve done.
The good news is - most of my engraves are fine. So, it doesn’t happen every time.
Thanks for any further guidance. Much appreciated!
For really thin lines of text, (calligraphic fonts are particularly problematic), it helps to either thicken the area slightly with offset before you print it, or you can try increasing the LPI. That might cause it to show up a little bit better at the higher speeds. Although it’s still going to be thinner than what the Basic machine shows…you are talking about a 500 point speed difference between the two machines.
Try increasing the LPI first, and if that doesn’t do it, you can look at adjusting your speed and power settings to match what the Basic is doing.
(Total waste of the speed power on the Pro, but you should be able to make it come out close to the same effect as the Basic. You will need to work with a speed of about 350 and reduce the Power on the Pro to about 95%. See if that comes close, I’m pulling it out of the air without testing it. If it’s still too thin, increase the Power to 100%. Not Full Power.)
