You do need to keep in mind that large cuts and small cuts may cut differently. On a small cut, the head doesn’t have as much time to get up to speed, meaning it’s actually spending more time in one place, so it might successfully make a small cutout but not cut through on a cut going the full width of the board.
I’ve never had that happen in 4+ years of using the interface…my guess is more likely you haven’t entered a material thickness, and the artwork moves because when you’ve pressed “print” the autofocus step corrects the placement based on its measurement of the thickness. Using the Set Focus tool before placing each piece of artwork will fix that for you, since 1) you don’t need to measure the material and enter its thickness if you use Set Focus, and 2) the Set Focus tool moves the “center” of the fisheye correction algorithm to the spot you choose, making that the most accurate point on the screen for visual placement (until you set it again somewhere else).
I don’t know. I have experienced multiple glitches with the interface. Just right now I was doing the test cut with the file you guys provided the link to (which was another failed attempt) and all of a sudden the Glowforge decided to make multiple passes on some of the elements completely on its own (they were all set to one pass).
You know how you set your artwork (using proofgrade materials) and then click on “PRINT”, the Glowforge refocuses and then the artwork moves slightly (or the image below, rather)? Well… I have moved the artwork to compensate, yet the GF has cut it in the exact same spot where it was originally. As if it did not register the relocation.
Also, I have eliminated (by deletion or clicking “Ignore”) some elements at times, and the Glowforge has STILL cut or engraved them. So… the whole environment (machine + interface) is a very cool tool, but it is not without its (considerable) flaws.
Well… I shall have to live with sealing and painting proofgrade MDF (which I hate and don’t have the patience for). I thought I could avoid it by using previously colored MDF, but… life’s not perfect.
Well… how do you explain that it decided to do more than one pass on some elements yet not on others, when I did NOT change said setting and ALL elements were set to a single pass?
The fisheye lens of the camera also causes some aberration which results in inaccuracy, especially near the edges of the bed.
Don’t be offended. The inteface’s not perfect. Relying on an interchange of data via the web is not the best way to go, but I was aware of that before I purchased the GF (in fact, it’s my least favorite feature but that’s the price of making it ‘user friendly’).
This sounds like you might have duplicate cut lines in your file. The GF doesn’t “decide” what to cut or how many times to cut, If it’s doing more than one pass, something you’re feeding it (either file or settings) is telling it to.
No. I don’t have duplicate lines. If that were the case the GF wouldn’t have done single passes in the previous run of the same art file.
You guys are all so fortunate that you have never encountered errors in a running program. It’s as simple as an instruction line not being executed for a program to act up or behave erroneously (which might be interpreted by others as a machine “deciding” to do something on its own).
Anyways… I will leave you all owners and operators of perfect machinery that probably live in places where there are no blackouts ever, the high-speed internet service never fails and natural disasters never occur. And when they do, it’s because the ignorant “newbie” did something wrong, of course. 'Cause the world is perfect.
like the others have said, i’ve run thousands of jobs and never seen that happen (unless it was my error). and every time i’ve seen someone say they had it run multiple passes when they had one set, if they shared the file it always had multiple copies on top of each other. if you really did have a software error run multiple passes when you didn’t have two copies on top of each other, you’re the first person i’ve seen report it here in the 4.5 years since the machine has been released.
not saying it’s impossible, but if that’s what happened, it’s extremely unusual. and every time it’s been reported on the forum here in the past, it’s been an issue with the file, not with the software.
don’t get me wrong, i’m not a fanboi who thinks GF can do no wrong. i have my issues, but this isn’t one i’ve seen reported and be legit before.
We’re honestly trying to help. You’re having the same problems that uncountable new owners have had before you, and for the ones who are willing to listen and work with us, we are able to get them going in the right direction. But if you’re determined not to consider that it could be user error, you’ll just go on being frustrated.
We really HAVE been around since the beginning, and some of us are beta testers. And these are not issues in the software. We would know if they were.
Actually, I live out in the sticks with super slow glitchy Internet that goes down every time the wind changes direction or it rains a little.
If you’ll share a piece of the artwork that’s making multiple cuts, we’d be happy to help with troubleshooting what’s happening.
I only recently discovered it myself…rather accidentally because I was annoyed that if I couldn’t choose more than 3 passes that I would just have to start over again to get what I wanted.
I had a Glowforge Pro laser tube at the end of its life, that could no longer put out its original full power level. Cutting 1/4" material while still possible became difficult, requiring lower speeds and sometimes multiple passes.
One thing I could not cut at any speed any more was 1/4" black MDF. I have a lot of it. A brand new Glowforge Pro could do it at 120 speed, but just a little less power, and it wouldn’t cut through even with multiple passes.
If you have a Glowforge Basic or Glowforge Plus, you’re starting with 5 watts less power than that Glowforge Pro, kind of like the Pro was at the end of its tube life. You may not have enough power to cut this material. The black 1/4" MDF I got from multiple suppliers has been very dense, denser than Thick Draftboard.
1/4" thick anything is already the upper limit of what a 40W CO2 laser can cut reliably. Some materials just require a more powerful machine.
So it’s probably been said before but black had a hard time tracking with the laser when there’s not any other color present. You can try putting painters tape or masking tape over the cutting area, slow your cutting speed down I.e if you are cutting at 600 lower your cutting speed down to 585 to compensate for the tape layer.
