My Glowforge Pro is Garbage

It worked great for a few jobs, now:

Everything it cuts is misaligned by 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch.

It seldom cuts all the way through proofgrade materials and I have never used anything but proofgrade materials. I have wasted over $100 on medium ply that the machine destroyed .

It pours smoke from the back lid hinge despite being vented outside. Fills the entire house with smoke.

It overheats constantly, making every job last 3-4 times as long as it should.

It says the job is done printing while the laser is still printing.

Today, I sent it to cut a design that it didn’t cut through the first time and somehow the arm that holds the print head angled itself halfway through the job, scrawled cuts all over the panel, melted grooves all over the side of the crumb tray, and then got stuck in the corner where the head continued to burn the panel until it was on fire and partially melted the bottom of the print head. I have never had anything like this happen with any of the other laser cutters I have worked with in the past.

I have followed every direction to the letter, which makes it even more frustrating. I have emailed and called. I am sure the team is busy putting out fires (literally) with other people who are having similar experiences.

This isn’t a crafty little toy for me. I bought the pro because I needed the smallest sliver of reliability. I use proofgrade materials to provide the best results and not throw anything into it that wasn’t engineered to work with the machine specifically. So far, it has been an utter waste of time and money and I am trying really hard not to feel like a giant sucker.

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May I recommend that you not attempt to use it again until Support has contacted you back.

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Interesting. It sounds like nearly everything that could go wrong did go wrong! Do you have any pictures of your set up? Maybe picture of the crumbtray? How you placed the material? Pictures of the back hinge?

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Yes, apart from the fire with PG, these are all problems other people report here on a regular basis. You just seem to have got them all at once.

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Is there any possibility that you had a material to laser head crash? eg. Material too tall and caught the head and snagged the laser carriage/gantry?

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Material is 1/8 in thick and it was exactly where I placed it on the tray. If the head had struck it somehow, it probably would have moved? I don’t see how it could have though.

Folks have placed the material on the ledges of the crumbtray more than once.

Oh! No, it was nestled firmly between the edges, flat on the crumb tray. No warping or twisting at all.

I’m sorry for the challenges – I’ve replied to your email, and am closing this thread since we’re in communication there.