Repeated 'Print Stopped' messages

I have received quite a few ‘Print Stopped’ messages today (2:15 pm CDT).

At first, I believed it was due to my SVG being large. So I converted the image to a 96dpi PNG but even then I received the error. The image is 10inx7.5in and I have been trying to use the following settings.

Speed: 200
Power: Full
LPI: 450
1 pass
Height: 0.063

I need the hight LPI because I am engraving in anodized aluminum and I don’t get a deep enough cut unless it is at least 370. It would not print at 370 either. I lowered the LPI to 250 and I could get it to start the print.

Is there a limit to the sq inches available if done at the higher LPIs? If so, it would be helpful to know what that is. I don’t believe my WiFi is super fast and I am not sure if that could be the limiting factor.

If you could look at the logs and let me know it would be extremely helpful.

I don’t think .063 is an acceptable height. I believe it must be between .001 and .05"

A couple of points.
#1 you cannot engrave Aluminum, you can only etch it, This works best by first painting it with an etching compound.
#2 engraving anything at 450 LPI and 200 speed would probably go through half-inch maple and set most woods on fire.
#3 Aluminum does not reflect as well as copper in the range that our lasers operate, but it is hard not to think that a great deal of such excess energy would be reflected against the laser head that alone could cause problems
#4 doing an 8"x10" engraving under the best of circumstances would take an extremely long time and even at a speed of 1000 could be well over 3 hours, and at 200 maybe 5 times that. 3 hours was pretty much the limit before recent software upgrades but I doubt it made it to 15 hours!

I am not the metal engraving expert here, but a search and read of the Matrix and Beyond the Manual could save you a lot of time and perhaps save your Glowforge as well. :smile:

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@dklgood 0.063 inches is 1/16 of an inch. I think you may have a decimal in the wrong place; to my knowledge the GFUI will accept thickness measurements up to 0.500 inches.

@jessebergstrom Your goal when using anodized and dyed colored aluminum is not to remove material but to ablate the dye. There are a number of users who have done this and you should be able to get started with their settings. If you remove the anodize you open the aluminum to corrosion, which will affect the look over time. If you just ablate the dye, you leave the protective surface on the material and just remove the color.

If you are marking the aluminum with a marking compound you should look into what other users have done to get started.

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My bad!

Thanks for your response.

#1 Yeah, I used the wrong term… my end goal is to create an aluminum plate I can print with.
#2 Agreed, but I have used the setting on smaller pieces and had decent results.
#3 This is anodized aluminum with a black color so I don’t believe there is too much reflection happening (and these settings are similar to those suggested by others)
#4 It does take a long time to I have run some of these for 6-7 hrs. But I think your response here is pointing toward my question. I was trying to understand that the limiting factor is for machine. If it is time based (it will only run if it can be done in X number of hours) I can work around that.

I have been looking and using the settings suggested in Beyond the Manual. Unfortunately, most people using anodized aluminum are doing pretty small projects like dog tags (not 8x10). So, I kind of ran into a different situation.

I don’t think that you can get that sort of dimensioning with a CO2 Laser or certainly not one in the under 50-watt range. However certain laserable rubbers or hard woos could be very effective. Some stones like Slate might work by spalling away a deep enough area or even possibly some tiles for the same reason, but in either case, the depth would make for a very tight face to print on.

In a quick look. hard Maple might be the most effective, as Tiigerwood (or zebrawood as it is often called) is extremely flammable, and Jatoba is often mixed up between to very different species, and Mahogany perhaps a dozen species. and most of the others very hard to find/pay for when found.

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I am looking at some hard end grain maple as well. But those end up doing relief printing not intaglio. I might try doing some intaglio with the acrylics…

Another option would be to coat regular aluminum with a resist (shellac) and then only cut through that and use a normal chemical etchant to etch the plate.

I keep playing and I will find something.

I’m so sorry for the trouble.

I extracted the logs to investigate the “print stopped” problem you reported. I’ve made a small change to your configuration that should prevent that problem from happening.

If you see that error again, please let us know.

Can you try your print again and let me know if you’re still having trouble?

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pip,

I tried again and it errored.

I tried at both 450 lpi and 340lpi.

Thank you for writing in. There’s a problem with our software in handling very large engraves and it looks like that what’s happening here. Your message will help us improve our software for everyone.

If your design includes a large engrave, you have two choices. You can reduce the size of your print in the app by signing in, selecting your file, clicking on your image, and then dragging a corner towards the center of the image to make it smaller. Or you can divide your image into pieces and print them one at a time, as shown below.

  1. Split your image into pieces
  • Save your design as a PNG file
  • Go to imagesplitter.net and upload your file
  • Click on the “SPLIT IMAGE” tab and enter the number of rows and columns you want to split your image into
  • Choose PNG
  • Click the blue “SPLIT IMAGE” button. The software will split your image into the number of rows and columns you specify and automatically download a zipped file of the pieces.
  1. Create a single file with all the pieces
  • Locate the file on your computer (where your downloads go) and unzip it
  • Mac: Double click on the file to open it
  • Windows: Double click on the file to open it, then click “Extract All”
  • Open a new file in Inkscape (used for this example, although other software will work too)
  • Choose File > Import and select all the images from the zip file
  • Line up the images up so they are seamless. In Inkscape, when you drag the images near each other, they will snap together. (If they don’t, go to View > Show/Hide > Snap Controls Bar and adjust the settings.)
  • Select File > Save As and save the file as an Inkscape SVG file
  1. Upload and Print
  • Sign in to app.glowforge.com, click “Upload” and choose the file you saved.
  • Each piece of artwork will import as a step in the app. Click on a step and choose “Ignore.” Ignore all the steps but one, and then press “Print.”
  • When that print finishes, leave your material in place
  • Set the step you printed to “Ignore” and print another step
  • Continue ignoring and printing until you’ve finished

I’m going to close this thread - if the problem reoccurs, go ahead and post a new topic. Thanks for letting us know about this!

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