My new refurbished glowforge will only cut on the left side





Hey all,
I am feeling so defeated and depressed with my glowforge pro. I got my first glowforge pro in January 2022, on May 6, 2023 the “head” couldn’t be found so I was sent a refurbished one. It arrived today, setup was a breeze. I cut my first project I noticed it wasn’t cutting on the right side or in the middle - only the left side. I used proofgrade maple wood plywood to test cut the gift of good measure project. I still had the same issue.

I’m familiar with the glowforge and how to clean it. I’ve cleaned all the lens, cameras, etc. removed the crumb tray, used my spare lens that I bought with the original glowforge - still the same problem. I decide to take a close look, I see a tiny spot on the lens, I tried to clean it with a wipe. It won’t come off, so I think it’s inside the lens. Will glowforge really send a machine that has a spot on the lens ? I’ve sent tech support picture but no response yet. I’m so defeated . I’ve lost sooo much money in the last few days and now I’m wasting materials.

See pictures anything will help! If you all think it’s the spot in the refurbished machine that just came out the box ? Please let me know how to get it off. Does it look like it’s on the inside of the lens to you?

Help me!

I wonder if the ribbon wire that connects to the head disconnects as the laser moves to the right. have you tried cutting a line that goes from the left all the way to the right to see when it stops?

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I haven’t , but I will certainly try. I’ll try anything at this point. I honestly think it’s that tiny spot, it won’t engrave in that area either .

If your Glowforge is level but won’t cut on the right side, it is an indication that the optics are not aligned properly. You will need to contact Glowforge Support.

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This often happens in shipping, that the aiming parts get bumped out of aim.
When bad the laser beam will hit beyond the window and dig into the side of the head when you try to cut on the right side. This photo is one where the aim dropped and dug into the screw at the bottom of the window.


This is a bad thing as the smoke has burned onto the window but illustrates precisely where and how big that laser beam is and where it is supposed to land if the head is on the left or right.

If you can take a photo of that side of the head it will reveal a lot.

Looking I see…

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If that disconnects the head stops moving and it throws an error message. Until it is reconnected it won’t work.
I think the mirror in the left side has shifted during shipment (it’s happened before) and that throws the beam off farther as the head moves farther away from the left side.
Unfortunately their is no way for the owner to fix it and it will have to go back.

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