Just did a couple of jobs on Medium Draftboard and had to run the first one two times because it did not cut all the way through. Second job did not cut through either. Glowforge was just cleaned. this is pretty much the norm when I use Medium Draftboard.
Usually I lower the speed by 10 percent when cutting MD but I am hoping I can get this ironed out so that the PG settings just work.
Just a data point… Cleaned my GF optical path thoroughly. Then used it engraving a similar MDF as draft board for about 30 minutes. Next day wouldn’t cut cleanly. Took the lens out to check and found gunk on about 5% of the lens center. Cleaned it again and the unit functioned as new.
Thanks for the info. I cleaned the GF just before starting this job. Thing is I have never had Medium Draftboard cut through using the PG settings. I have always had to slow it down. What is so odd is that thick Draftboard cuts through on the PG settings.
I’m posting so that support can have a look.
I recently had that happen on a sheet, but they didn’t recently change the settings. Might have been a slightly dense sheet. (Nothing we can do about that, unfortunately.)
Just want to mention that we now have the ability to save our own settings for materials, so if you want to save that 10% slowdown for use on your draftboard, you can do it and not have to re-key it every time.
Thanks Jules,
That might be the answer but I thought I’d run it by support and see what happens.
Thanks for letting us know. I’m sorry that your print didn’t come out beautifully! Thank you for taking the time to do some initial troubleshooting. Can I have you check a few more things as well? If you see a step you’ve already done, feel free to skip it.
To cut successfully, there are three important things to check. First, your material must lie flat. This requires a clean, properly installed crumb tray and flat materials. Second, there must be no obstructions, dirt, or damage preventing the laser light from reaching your material. Third, your design must be set up properly - for example, with lines that are fully on the material and that are set to cut. It’s hard to know which issue might be affecting your print, but if you follow the instructions in the cut-through troubleshooter, we’ll be able to get to the bottom of it.
Once you’ve inspected and cleaned, please try another print. We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Please print the Gift of Good Measure on that Proofgrade Draftboard and let me know the result. If it doesn’t print well, please let me know the date and time of your print and post photos of the front and back of the print. If you’d rather not post the photos here, you can also send them to us at support@glowforge.com.
Hello, I just had this same issue. I printed the “gift of good measure” and it didn’t cut all the way through on draft board. It looks good otherwise. I printed around 5:35pm or so Eastern time. I only did a single pass, it’s my very first print on the Glowforge.
Since each thread opens a support ticket that support can track, its recommended for other posters with a problem to start a new thread to be sure they can get the appropriate help.
Ok, thanks for the info. I’ll open a new thread (just didn’t want to duplicate since it sounds like the same issue).
Thanks for the response. I have followed the cut through troubleshooter and your instructions.
Remove crumb tray and clean base and dimples
replace crumb tray
clean side mirror with Zeiss wipe
clean lens and window on head
insert medium draftboard
secure with hold down pins
load Gift of Good Measure design
print
Photos of results posted here. Design did not cut all the way through. Time of test about 2pm EST Oct 2
Thanks for looking into this.
We have a Pro
Okay thanks…I was data gathering and stumbled over a user problem. (aka: me.) 
The interesting thing is the problem isn’t the same magnitude on all Proofgrade materials. It is most pronounced on Medium Draftboard. My hope is to get it dialed in well on MD and have all the other materials fall in line too.
Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry you’re still having cut through issues.
There’s one more thing you can try. Please clean and inspect the mirror in the Printer Head according to these instructions. Then, try the test print one last time and send me photos of the front and back of the print.
Here are the results after cleaning the interior mirror and running the Gift of good Measure again.
thanks for looking at it.
Time of print was about 1:30 on the 4th of October
Thank you for taking the time to run that test as well. Unfortunately, it looks like your unit is experiencing an issue that we can’t resolve remotely. I want you to have a reliable unit, so I’m recommending we replace this one. I’ll be in touch via email to sort out the details. I’m so sorry about the bad news.
