So my machine - as of today - is about to hit the garbage bin. If it weren’t’ for hundreds of orders I have yet to fill I would set it on fire.
I literally booted her up today and she has been absolutely worthless. Won’t cut through material I have been cutting for weeks. Won’t stop scanning, won’t stop cooling after the cut that didn’t go through anyways, and will “focus” and “scan” forEVER until I give up, unplug the machine and put it in a time out. When I go back and put it back together again, it still will not cut all the way through… this is a normal issue it seems with 1/4" wood plywood that’s PINNED down to the grate below to ensure it’s completely flat, AND works sometimes and not others depending on how it’s feeling. I use 4x8’ (three ply) underlayment sheets (because real 1/4" plywood wont cut). Was there an “update” to the software to get in the way of my groove in the last 2-3 days? I didn’t use it at all yesterday and stopped using it before noon on Christmas Eve. I refuse to pay extra to make a $4k machine work right. a bypass option of the need to connect to wifi and direct wire the dang thing would be great. I don’t particularly like depending on third parties to make sure my expensive as heck machine does it’s job.
Well, I don’t think there’s been an update lately, I had my machine running for several hours the other day with no booting reboot(how to tell there’s been an update as it checks on boot for firmware updates) but I could have missed one.
Of course the normal checklist comes into play for things to check.
As far as material cutting: checking all the windows, the lenses, all the fans for build up.
Is it literally the same material or is it a different batch of the same or “the same” material but maybe a different supplier? Not likely from just a years use but could be power or tube issues. Only Staff could diagnose such.
Focus and scanning issues tend to be(as you’ve noted) some form of communication issue due to the internet, generally from WiFi stemming from the GF. But, could also be the camera being dirty or given it sounds like a lot of usage, the black lid cable from possible flexing all the time.
All the premium does(in regards to what your issues are) is grant faster processing, not better or more reliable. Premium would help or solve what you have going on unless the higher tier servers are located in a different place than the regular speed ones and there’s better hard lines to them. But GF can’t control that.
And lots of complaints and issues that could be avoided if they’d gone with an either net plug but they didn’t and we still bought one.
Material is from the same sheet of 4x8 that I’ve cut down. Not a different supplier, but the same larger board.
I’ve cleaned all lenses, cameras, etc but not sure how that effects scanning taking over an hour when I’ve left it alone - I did see a article about camera configuration so I might try that tomorrow to see if that helps it out at all. I’ve turned the machine off, unplugged it, vacuumed/cleaned all fans for build up along with all lenses and the sides of the lid where there are those lights and other black sensors… hoping she decides to behave tomorrow.
It’s technically 3 ply underlayment material from
The lumber yard as you call it. I’ve been cutting it for weeks and all of the sudden today it’s not. I wouldn’t think much of it other than the fact that I’m in the same stack of board I was cutting 3 days ago…
I don’t usually get very good results with most of the plywood from lumberyards because of the glues and fillers in them, even from the same 4x8 sheet. I have found some at Home Depot recently that has an MDF core that isn’t too bad (Lowe’s carries something similar as well, but I like the HD one better. Also, HD carries a line made for lasering but most locations don’t carry it in store, only order.
Depending on where you are located there may be a specialty/exotic wood supplier that carries true baltic birch (all plys are actually BB with now filler). It is wonderful for cutting and engraving.
Sadly I live in Menards country so no home depot or Lowe’s near me. I tried a different board and some 7ply BB plywood since that’s all we ha e around here to no avail. This 3 ply has been the only thing I have been able to cut through in the past year. Not sure but fairly sure the core is the same as the other layers as there are three layers that are identical with a very thin veneer on each side. I tried something that looked like an mdf core but it just scorched like mad and never cut halfway through. I wonder if I could get the board you use shipped to me. I’ll have to check online. I think we have a Home Depot a couple hours south of me. Do you have any detail on the material you have been happy with? Pictures or stock numbers? Thanks for all your help!
The top wood is what I’ve been cutting up until yesterday. Now it’s not going through. I’m working on a stack of wood that came from the sand 4c8 sheet that was working a couple days ago… The bottom is another I tried and it won’t go through it even when the machine was cutting correctly. I kinda feel like my machine has always been especially finicky.
I’m sorry that you’ve run into issues with your Glowforge not cutting through prints. It’s great to see some fellow community members have tried to help, and I’ll be happy to try some troubleshooting.
To help isolate the cause of any print issues, can you verify the following?:
