Hi everyone, I have been having so much trouble as of late getting my team engravings done, for well over an hour the prints look great, then near the end it seems as if the center origin changes and it ruins my very long prints along with my materials. Does anyone have any ideas why my designs would glitch like this? I have contacted Glowforge support a number of times and I might as well email a wall because they have been no help.
I have recently replaced the belt and I check the tension constantly and I don’t think that is the issue. Could the laser head and or carriage just need replaced? Thoughts?
So you’re saying the engraving becomes misaligned part way through?
This isn’t directly addressing your issue, but I would suggest trying a faster engraving method. I often I see very little difference between the “high res” and “draft” speeds. I tend to use the fastest method possible that yields acceptable results, as I have little patience for repeating long jobs.
Hi Chip my engravings do that sometimes, I have found that the belt connector ( not sure of the correct term)from the main body of the printer to the laser head unit sometimes gets caught up on the belt drive unit on the lefthand side.
Can you post a pic of the piece itself, and also a screenshot of what the print is supposed to look like?
I can only make assumptions based on what I see, but it sounds like a belt slipping issue, not the carriage plate. As well as the belt (which you’ve changed), the machine depends on the toothed pulley attached to the stepper motor on the carriage itself, which I believe is only attached by a grub screw set into the side of the pinion itself (i.e. drilled thru the teeth). If that has worn (which is possible if what I see is typical of the type of work you are doing), then it may need to be replaced. I can not suggest where you might find one.
Does the print fail in the same place every time? Do all long prints fail? Can you share photos so that we can better understand what the failure looks like - alignment/focus.
