I’m in the process of setting up my GF Pro. The lid has a gap in the front left, and it scrapes on the front right corner. I have leveled it as good as possible, but it has only helped slightly. The lid still catches. Should I go ahead and get things up and running, or could this indicate other problems?
The case is a little more flexible than most people realize…it can bend slightly. Usually if you have one side that’s scraping a bit, it means that the case might have been slightly twisted when you set it down. Try lifting under that side, just an inch or two, and set it back down gently.
You can also try using shims to straighten it out a little, but frequently lifting it slightly relieves that tension. If that doesn’t get it…try the shims under one side (few sheets of paper like Post-it notes).
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Welcome to the forum. Please let us know if the suggestions offered by Jules work.
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I guess the question then is, do I want to shim it for the lid to align evenly? Or to be level? It seems like I’d have to jack up one corner to get the lid even, but then when I put the level on top, of course it indicates it’s too high there.
No, the glass frequently sits a little proud on one side or the other. Mine is high by about a sixteenth of an inch on the right. That won’t affect anything. Try taking the tension out of the case so that you can open and close it without scraping the lid at the right side. If you can’t get it to do that with some simple shifting or shimming, take pictures of the variance to show support. (The scraping is not going to hurt anything…I used a PRU for eight months and that thing scraped like the dickens.)
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Thank you! I’ll move forward with the setup, hopefully all goes well from here!
I put a piece of corrugated cardboard under one corner of the unit. Just like a book of matches under a restaurant table. The shim has been under my glowforge for years. You might want to check if the surface you have your laser is level.
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I’ve had some folded card stock under one end of my Glowforge, too…for a very long time.
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Level is good, but flat is important. I believe the manufacturer places the machines on a stone slab to position the lid and calibrate.
My lid rubbed also, and once I moved it to another surface for cleaning the exhaust port - and it didn’t rub anymore. When I put it back the rub returned, so I repositioned the machine and corrected it.
Floors are not mirror flat, and any deviation in the floor can telegraph to the table surface.