Laser Focus

Community Support
1

Hello,

I’m having another issue with the GF where the laser does not focus properly even with proof grade materials. See attached cuts, they do not go through and are very wide. We cleaned the lenses per the maintenance manual 3 or 4 cuts ago.

Any ideas? See attached print on medium maple ply. We had this occur last week on acrylic (both proofgrade and not) and after submitting a ticket to GF, it started working a couple days later, with no change on our end at all, but I got no explanation. Is there any troubleshooting we can do? I searched the forum and looks like some others are having this problem as well. Ps I did try these things: https://glowforge.com/support/topic/troubleshooting/cut-didnt-go-through-material

Thanks for the help.

IMG_3979
IMG_39791154×866 141 KB

IMG_3980
IMG_3980612×816 162 KB

2

Are those just vector cut lines?

3

If lines are wide it’s a focus issue. Probably operator but not always.

4

Yes vector only. The faint inside circles are score lines.

5

Did it start right after the cleaning?
Could the lens have moved, if you took it out for a cleaning, not fully seated or upside down?

1 Like
6

We have had good cuts since the cleaning. And this started just today.

7

Hang tight for support. I had the same issues a few weeks ago and they did several software pushes to my machine to clear it up. My GF works great now, even better than before.

3 Likes
8

Good to know. I do have faith in the support; I assume they did something last time too.

Would prefer a solution I can implement on my own so I’m not left waiting and losing time on my cuts!
Support, you out there? :slight_smile:

2 Likes
9

As @rpegg suggests, wide lines like that point to a focus issue. Do check to verify that the focus height in your cut operations is the same as the default listed for the maple ply, if that is the material you are using.

10

Several, eh? Interesting.

11

I think it was 3, may have only been 2. Right at the time I was feeling better and ready to start playing again the GF team had it figured out, and I’ve been very pleased since.

The only missed cut I’ve had since was because I screwed up the pew setting and ran it at 1. That doesn’t even cut paper :slight_smile:

1 Like
12

And it makes a great way to determine exactly where the laser will strike. A trial run on paper at 500/1 is SOP for me, prior to the real operation.

3 Likes
13

Not a bad idea, I might try that on a couple of projects when convincing myself to trust camera placement. Thanks.

1 Like
14

Update: Ok so the issue seems to have resolved itself. I fired it up this morning without doing any other cleaning and it cut through medium draftboard just fine so tried the ply once more. It did not recognize the QR code on the ply, but cut pretty good anyway–still more charred than the draftboard.

No idea how to actually fix this. So if support is still listening, please do give us any tips! It may be one of things that have so many variables, it’s impossible to pinpoint. But if there are known issues, please let us know. You can understand how frustrating it is when you’re depending on the machine…

1 Like
15

I am very sorry for my slow reply.

As you said, there are many variables that affect cut-through. If you have trouble again with a print on Proofgrade material, please let us know the time and date so that we can research more fully.

Regarding the QR code not being recognized, I dug into the logs and it looks like there was a very bright light shining into your Glowforge. Would you try reducing the direct light overhead and see if that helps?

I’m going to close this for now – please post a new thread if either issue recurs or if you have another question.