I keep running into cutting problems

Community Support
1

I keep running into problems with cutting through the proof grade medium cherry plywood. This is really getting frustrating. I have over 50 keychains I have an order for and they keep not cutting all the way through. I have wasted so much material and time, I probably will be taking a loss now. I’ve cleaned the laser lens, slow down the speed of the laser, etc.

I’m really not happy right now…

2

I’ve even done 2 and 3 cuts and still not going all the way through…

3

Are you trying to do full sheets at a time?
Are you pinning and using any magnets (not close to laser path) to help keep the middle tight against the crumb tray?

Try cutting the sheets down so you can more easily keep the sheet flat–or cut a section, then put more pins in the areas just cut out so you can pins closer to the center of the board, since cutting any material will release any internal stresses (or induce them) and that can affect the flatness!

4

Can you put a picture up what one cut looks like? With 2-3 cuts, it’s pretty odd it wouldn’t go through on PG settings. Is the lens installed correctly?

5

it is easy to clean the lens and then put it back upside down. If you are setting up a large number and then having them all be bad you are taking unnecessary risks. I would do them one at a time until I had the settings down and then do the many,

Before that, I would make this and find the best settings.

6

There isn’t enough info to find a solution. Your post says, “I’ve cleaned the laser lens, slow down the speed of the laser, etc”. It’s the etc that is important. For example cleaning the laser lens doesn’t mean that you cleaned the other two windows or the mirror. Is the material completely flat, with zero give when you press down on it? Are completely automatic setting being used or have the settings at some time been changed? Once they are changed the automatic save feature will lock those settings in. Are you having the same issue with a test file such as the Gift of Good Measure? Are all of the keychains failing to cut through or just some of them? Is it worse in the corners or all across the material? etc.

1 Like
7

Going through multiple cuts without success often indicates a settings issue. Be wary of the automatic save feature on a file.

Does the focus at the type of the material look good? Is there excessive burn (wide kerf) on the top cuts?

8

Support will most likely ask you to print the “Gift of Good Measure” on medium draftboard, so you may as well go ahead and try that to see if it runs correctly.

9

I’m so sorry for the trouble.

I extracted the logs to investigate the problem you reported, and I noticed the autofocuser is having a hard time.

Could you do the following for me?

Please some photos, with special attention to any damage you might find:

(You can post them on this thread, or email to us at support@glowforge.com.)

I’d also be curious to see the rest of your optics:

  • Both windows
    • The printer head window, on the left hand side of the printer head
    • The laser window on the inside left of the Glowforge
  • The printer head lens
    • Both sides of the lens, top and bottom
  • The mirror inside the printer head

Once we have those pictures, we’ll follow up with next steps.

1 Like
10

Have you had a chance to inspect the bottom of the printer head and your optics? Please let us know what you find and we will follow up with your next steps.

1 Like
11

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.