I guess it's my turn now...calibration issues spoiling my plans! :(

[geek2nurse]

I’m suddenly having calibration problems with my (until now) trusty GF. My plan for today was to print the final version of my Mastermind game box to make sure it’s ready to share with the world. The first two prints (box top in PG hardwood, then inner box bottom in PG acrylic) went fine. The third and final print job was for all the other pieces, using PG Maple.

I got distracted and wasn’t watching it print, so it ran all the way through. This is what happened (stuff shifted around so parts overlapped and scores were in the wrong places):

Onscreen:

In the 'Forge:

So I cleaned all the lenses and the GlowForge logo, vacuumed all the junk out, checked the divots in the bottom, made sure the door was properly closing and the head and gantry were moving smoothly through their entire ranges, checked yet again just to be sure the magnets weren’t in the way, even though they never are as long as I lay the stacks on their sides – they’re 0.4" wide and the head and vent thingy move over them with room to spare.

I even sent my inspector in to check things out…

(Not really; that was actually from earlier, when I was trying to get set up to cut the acrylic piece, and our newest family member, Pixel, thought he needed to be involved in the process.)

I restarted the machine with the head positioned under the camera, deleted out the parts that had escaped damage, and tried again on a new piece of PG Maple. I stopped this print partway through, because it was already screwing up:

I’m 90% sure I actually had those two pieces placed on the far left, but I they printed on the far right instead, AND didn’t print correctly. (I didn’t realize the position had moved until I was clicking out of the GFUI screen to go find the Gift of Good Measure, so I didn’t get a screen shot, and now I’m questioning whether I hallucinated that, although the previous positioning shot does support my claim…)

So I turned it off again, rechecked everything, and printed the GOGM in the center of the bed. It was perfect:

Then I did the whole thing again, but printed it on the right side (metric version this time). Perfect again:

So, okay, maybe that last recheck fixed whatever was wrong…hey, I’m an optimist!

But nope:

I went ahead and let the job finish this time, thinking there might be a hint in there to tell someone more knowledgeable than me where the problem started to happen, so we can pin it down better.

Also I forgot to write down what time I started the last two prints. Argh. I printed the GOGMs at 1:46pm and 1:55pm (Pacific) respectively, if that helps.

Is there anything else I should have checked or tried that I’ve missed?

[Jules]

Aside from having a severe infestation of really adorable kittens in your machine …I see something in your first shot that might have caused a problem…junk on the rail.

(And I know there are umpteen million people who swear by them, but really strong magnets make me nervous around stepper motors. I highly recommend the pins instead. I know for a fact that the pins don’t interfere with the magnets inside the stepper motors that cause the motor to turn correctly and not lose steps.)

[geek2nurse]

Good catch! And I missed it in my vacuuming. I was really excited there for a minute, thinking my problems would be over–but alas, the gantry doesn’t move that far forward. Here it is with the gantry pushed all the way forward until the head reaches the front and stops it:

[Jules]

Uh-oh. I wonder if the gantry is hanging up on something?

You might want to turn off the machine, lower the front door, get down at about eye level and slowly move the gantry forward, looking underneath it, to see if you can see anything catching. It helps to point a flashlight at the back underneath the gantry and look waaaaay in the back at the left and the right.

Don’t force it any further than it wants to go until you see what’s going on in there.

[geek2nurse]

Yeah, I’ve already tried that – moved it forward and back and the head back and forth through their entire ranges – everything feels nice and smooth, and nothing’s coming into contact with them anywhere it shouldn’t.

[Jules]

Crud. Going to need to let them take a look at the software from their end.
(I wouldn’t run it in the interim.)

[bbum]

How tall are your magnets? The air assist fan sticks down quite a bit more than the head itself and it is hard to see from the front. With the machine off, move the head around manually and make sure it clears the magnets.

I had an off cut once because the air assist fan hit a magnet. I don’t use those magnets anymore (got smaller magnets that are more powerful).

However, your alignment on proof grade overall looks significantly more off than it should be.

[geek2nurse]

They’re 0.4". On medium PG there’s plenty of clearance. I’ve accidentally stacked them too high before and had problems, but that was easy to troubleshoot! Since I learned to keep them on their sides, I haven’t had any trouble. Here’s a shot of the air assist directly over a stack of magnets:

[geek2nurse]

@Jules

I highly recommend the pins instead.

I use the pins regularly, but they’re only good for edges, and only when there’s crumb tray exposed to stick them into. On a full sheet of PG, there’s just no way to ensure total flatness without the magnets…and other than when I’ve stacked them too high and had the air assist run into them, I haven’t had any problems before this. My alignment has always been pretty near perfect. Until now.

[geek2nurse]

@Jules

(I wouldn’t run it in the interim.)

I’m not…I’m just sitting here eating cold Thai leftovers and watching my screen obsessively for replies!

[Jules]

You can actually stick them into previous cutouts…they hold the whole thing down very flat.

[geek2nurse]

@Jules

You can actually stick them into previous cutouts…

I do. When there are some.

[Jules]

And I had reheated Thai for lunch myself.

[mnemosyne]

Fingers crossed that it will be a fast fix for you - I am so sorry!

[timjedwards]

Ah bummer… Is it only the Mastermind file messing up? Maybe software instead of hardware?

[geek2nurse]

Hmmm. Wanna try it on yours?

[geek2nurse]

I just emailed it to you – in case you’re feeling brave.

[timjedwards]

Ok!

[jaz]

Oh no! I’m so sorry your print didn’t turn out right.

Could you try a test for me, similar to your Gift of Good Measure test on the right side? Please do the following:

1. Restart your Glowforge.
2. 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 on the far right edge of the bed using the default settings. Make sure your material and the design is as far right as you can put it!
3. Take a photo of the print and let us know how it goes!

Thank you in advance,

[geek2nurse]

Okay…the one I did wasn’t far enough over? I’ll do another one now.