My glowforge suddenly stopped cutting. i had just cut a piece that didn’t quite cut through so i cleaned the lens. Now it’s not cutting at all with speed 175/full. Can someone check on this for me?
Thanks!
Can you check your mirror.
Ensure you put the lens in correctly - “Cup goes Up”.
I only cleaned the outside, i didn’t take it out…
Cleaning the lens requires you take it out of the print head. Clean optics are a prerequisite to successfully laser cutting any material. Here’s where you’ll find step-by-step instructions for cleaning the lens, mirror, windows and camera:
2 Likes
Appreciate the help. I took it apart and cleaned it. This is a replacement GF and i’ve only cut a few projects in the couple of weeks i’ve. had it. Very little amount wiped. Repeated a cut and got nothing. So, went to the gift of good measure, pg draftboard, and it too does nothing…it doesn’t appear there’s any laser. It ‘started’ the cut okay…
and, to clarify for the support team. I cleaned the lens ‘after’ this happened, not before. After cleaning, still no firing. I tried to print the gift of good measure and the draftboard is clean, it did not cut it at all…
My last attempt was last night around 9pm CST.
Thanks, Robin
Hi @rvogt! I’m sorry to hear that you’re running into some trouble printing on your Glowforge. I’ll be happy to help you get this sorted out. If your Printer Head is moving but you aren’t seeing the laser marking your material, there are two likely causes:
- The mirror in the Printer Head is not installed correctly and may have been damaged.
- The print power has been set to the lowest possible setting.
First, please inspect the mirror in the Printer Head
-
Follow these instructions to access the Printer Head mirror.
-
If you see damage to the mirror or the plastic handle (for example, if the plastic handle has been melted), please check the interior of the Printer Head for any additional damage. If you don’t see any signs of physical damage inside the Printer Head you can purchase a replacement Printer Head Mirror through the shop. Note: If there is damage to the plastic handle on the mirror, the mirror may be difficult to remove. You can follow the instructions here for removing a mirror that is stuck.
-
Once you receive your replacement mirror, please clean both the lens and Printer Head window, by following these cleaning instructions.
-
If you find any damage in the Printer Head, please take a photo of the damage and send it to us and we’ll follow up with next steps.
If the mirror looks good, do a test print
-
If the mirror is undamaged, please reinstall the mirror.
-
Place a sheet of Proofgrade material in the bed of your Glowforge and open the Gift of Good Measure design.
-
Before starting the print, please select the default Proofgrade settings. Once the material has been chosen you will see the word, “Cut”, “Score”, or “Engrave” under each step in the design.
-
When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the lid image updates.
-
If the design prints successfully, it is likely that the power was set too low on the previous print.
-
If you still don’t see the laser marking the material, please reply to this email including the date and time (with time zone) when your test print was run.
Let me know how it goes, or if you run into trouble with the steps above. I’ll look forward to your response.
I took out the mirror and it looked pristine with a tiny speck of dust. I cleaned it and put it back. Put in draftboard and pulled up the gift of good measure. Made sure all the settings had power to them and all looked good. Ran the print for the full 4+ minutes thinking the variable power might yield something at the cut. The board was not cut at all, there are no markings on the draftboard. I saw no laser flame during the print. The print was done at 6:22pm CST this evening.
Thanks, let me know what you determine after looking at the print. Appreciate it.
Hi @rvogt. Thanks for getting back with the added information. I have sent a response to your email address so we can continue troubleshooting this faster with you. Please check your inbox for my message and i’ll look forward to hearing back. I’ll leave this topic open for another day in case you are not able to see my email response and need to let me know. Thank you!
Brandon i have not received you email. i checked my spam as well. Can you resend please? It appears it’s been 3 hours since you sent and it should be in spam by now.
Thanks, Robin
Thank you for letting us know! I’m so sorry to hear that you did not receive our direct email. I’ll make sure we send over the most recent response again. Please let us know if you are still not receiving the email. I’ll keep this thread open for the time being, until we hear back directly via email.
I did get the email and have taken the requested pics. Thanks!
Hi @rvogt! We got your response. I will go ahead and close this thread, and will follow up with your via email. Thank you!