Issues with cuts

[chillnvapelounge]

has anyone else experience issues with
the cut settings on Glowforge pro?

so I usually do a test cut of a small heart to make sure my settings and everything is correct and the test cut of my small heart comes out perfect but…
when I try doing my final cut it starts to giveing me problems like.
it either doesn’t fully cut the material or there’s parts of the cut that’s deeper then other parts.

I know my wood is flat straight laying down on my board.
I even pin it down with the pins just to make sure.
my lens and everything is fully clean. my board is laying flat and correct.

im just getting frustrated the amount of materials I have wasted its crazy.
I even sometimes regret purchasing my Glowforge and I hate to say that because I really love it but it just makes me upset that its always a problem

[davidgal2]

I am assuming that you are not using proof grade wood from glow forge. Some plywood has hard spots in between the two plywood sides that the laser has trouble cutting through. I am guessing this is your problem. If you are using 1/8" wood, sometimes using a very bright light you can see the hard areas in your wood. Hope this helps.

[davidgal2]

This is what I have been using and have never had any problems.
AmazonSmile: 3 mm 1/8" X 12" X 20" Premium Baltic Birch Plywood – B/BB Grade - 20 Sheets by Wood-Ever: Arts, Crafts & Sewing

[davidgal2]

I use the glowforge setting of medium cherry hardwood and it cuts just fine every time. A little hint is: when your cut is finished, don’t move it until you take some sort of pick (I use a dental pick) to be sure everything cut through OK. This way you can cut again without wasting any wood.

[MarcM]

I’m so sorry to hear that you’re running into trouble cutting through material on your Glowforge.

It can be difficult to narrow down trouble that is occurring on materials that are not Proofgrade. I’d like to take a look at a specific test print, so that we can ensure your Glowforge is performing within specification. Could you please do the following?

1. Turn off your Glowforge, then turn it back on

2. Place Proofgrade Draftboard(or any Proofgrade Material) in the bed and load the Gift of Good Measure design.

3. Set the score and engrave steps to ‘ignore.’ Print the Gift of Good measure using the default settings. Allow the print to finish.

4. When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture of the bed updates.

5. Check the completed print:

• If the Gift of Good Measure fails to cut, please let us know the date and time of the print

• If the Gift of Good Measure cuts successfully, please try another print of the design you saw the issue with, and let us know the results.

If the issue still occurs, please let us know the date and time of the finished print.

Once we can review the log files from the test print, we’ll send over the next best steps.

[chillnvapelounge]

12/15
04:46-5:09

[chillnvapelounge]

12/15
5:16-5:18

[chillnvapelounge]

how lovely these are the results.
another wasted material which costs a lot of money
espically for times when its extremely hard right now
the last 6 projects I did. I wasted so much material.
it honestly makes me question if I did the right thing purchasing a glowforge pro
or if I should’ve returned it. its honestly really frustrating and disappointing
because I see other people work and I see its potential. the amount of money I wasted on materials its really hurting me.

[chillnvapelounge]

[MarcM]

Thank you for taking the time to send over the information regarding the prints you completed of the Snowflake files on 12/15. Previously I inquired about performing a print of the Gift of Good Measure, on PG material, with Default settings.

Could you work through the instructions I provided above, and let us know when the Gift of Good Measure has been completed? This is a great test for us to use to ensure your Glowforge is performing within specifications.

Once the print completes, please send over a photo of the front and back of the print if you notice that it does not cut through.

Also, I would like to check over just a few more things. Could you do the following for me?

Please send photos of all your cleaned optical components, with special attention to any damage you might find:

• 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
  
• The bottom of the printer head
  
  

Once we have those pictures, and can review the log files from the print, we’ll follow up with next steps.

[chillnvapelounge]

I just recalibrated 12/17 2:16
and I did a precision test and it seems little off

[chillnvapelounge]

I cleaned everything from top to bottom including the lenses!

[Pearl]

I’m not staff, just another user like you. 2 Questions, did you clean the lens way over on the left side and on your third picture, the small lens/window to the left of the main big lens, is it missing or does the photo just look weird? To me it seems like there is no window and you can see right down in the hole.

[Brandon.B]

We appreciate your response with some images of the cleaned optical components requested. I understand that tried recalibration and noticed it was off. Before we try troubleshooting that issue, I wanted to focus on resolving any cut issues since that may also solve any issues with alignment.

Were you able to work through the steps Marc provided above for the Gift of Good Measure? Once it’s completed you can let us know, and we can review that. Photos of the front and back of the print if it fails to cut through will be a huge help too. We use this to make sure that the unit is working within specifications.

[Brandon.B]

Hi chillnvapelounge its been a few days since we heard from you, so I wanted to check in. Have you been able to complete the Gift of Good Measure test print? Let us know if you’re still working on that and we’ll look forward to hearing back. Thank you!

[Brandon.B]

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.