Some items cut all the way through, and some don't

Community Support
1

So I have been cutting Christmas ornaments, and I’ve been having issues with some items cutting and some not making all the way through? Should I up the power overall? Or is there a different problem. I’m pretty sure my machine is fairly level, But if it is out either on the machine side, or the crumb tray, would that also be a possible issue?

2

It would help to know what material you are using.
Level matters, but the material being flat really matters. These hold-down pins are indispensable:

1 Like
3

I’ve been using Trotec 1/8th Walnut Plywood with a masking that seems to be very similar to the Proof grade material. The flatness could be a part of it as well. I find it really tough to use hold downs to get a full sheet. But maybe I should first cut holes to fit hold downs in the dead space to avoid having to throw out a half sheet of the stuff after it doesn’t cut half of them.

4

First thing to do when your machine stops cutting through is clean all the lenses: https://glowforge.com/support/topic/cleaning-service-and-moving/cleaning#things-that-need-wiping

Second thing is pinning down your material, because even if it were perfectly flat (which it isn’t), it won’t stay that way after being cut. For a full sheet, I use the honeycomb pins across the top, and tape the sides and bottom down to the plastic edges of the tray.

2 Likes
5

Yeah, full sheets are difficult for the pins. In that case I use cheap ceramic magnets… not strong enough to cause errors with the sensors, but strong enough to tack the wood down to the honeycomb.
I’ve never used the trotec wood, but I would assume it would be pretty consistent, and not have knots or voids. You can check to see if my assumption is correct with a strong flashlight.

I like to use a small needle tool to lift up cut pieces from the material before I unpin/move it, to make sure they cut all the way through. If they haven’t, and the material hasn’t been moved, I can re-run the job, which almost always works… unless it is a knot or some kind of non-wood filler.

1 Like
6

Support can’t help with settings for non-proofgrade material. The best they can offer is for you to print the Gift of Good Measure on a piece of medium draftboard, which was supplied with the machine. If that has issues, they can assist from there.

7

I’m sorry you’ve been having trouble when printing recently. @eflyguy is correct; The best next step to check if your unit is working as expected is to run a test print on Proofgrade material. Could you please do the following?

  1. Turn off your Glowforge, then turn it back on
  2. We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Place Proofgrade Draftboard in the bed and load the Gift of Good Measure design.
  3. Set the score and engrave steps to ‘ignore.’ Print the Gift of Good measure using the default settings. Allow the print to finish.
  4. When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture of the bed updates.
  5. Check the completed print:
    • If the Gift of Good Measure fails to cut, please let us know the date and time of the print
  • If the Gift of Good Measure cuts successfully, please try another print of the design you saw the issue with, and let us know the results.
  1. If the issue still occurs, please let us know the date and time of the finished print and send photos of the front and back of the finished print.

Please let us know if you have any questions on how to run the test print. Thank you!

8

Since I haven’t seen a reply on this thread for some time, I’m going to close it. If you’re still needing help on this or if you encounter any other trouble, please start a new thread or email us at support@glowforge.com.