Only engraved part of design


Hey guys, I was engraving a photo onto stainless steel, I waited the whole two hours it said it was going to take to print. However, upon having 10 minutes left, the laser head has only moved maybe a quarter of an inch across the board. Like its done its thing going back and forth, but on the y axis its hardly moved. Any suggestions why it would not engrave the whole thing?

If that happened to me, I’d start by trying to rule out potential causes:

Physical:

  • Obstruction / debris on the rails
  • Loose belt
  • Broken machine / mechanical failure other than the above

Software:

  • Software bug
  • Something in the file
  • Something in the settings

After cancelling my job, I’d turn the machine off and carefully move the laser head in all 4 directions to see if it moves smoothly, and inspect the bed and rails for anything it may have gotten caught on. Also check that no cables are hung up on anything.

If that doesn’t discover anything, a good next step is printing the Gift of Good Measure on Proofgrade Draftboard. If that works, then you know the hardware is ok.

At that point, I’d try a smaller test engrave to see if I can narrow it down to why it failed with that particular print.

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I’m sorry that you ran into trouble with your design. I’m glad to see that you’ve already received some great first steps. Thanks @chris1!

Did the advice that Chris1 provided help you to print your design as expected?

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It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.