I just got through setting up my Glowforge and I’ve been having difficulty even completing the first project. The problem I’m having is that the machine doesn’t seem to cut all the way through the medium draftboard.
I’ve tried this project 4 times and all times, the problem seems to get worse as you go to the left. Additionally the score lines look very inconsistent compared to the engravings.
I’ve followed the directions below, but that hasn’t improved anything. The material is flat against the crumb tray, the crumb tray is seated in the dimples with no debris
Can anyone suggest any additional troubleshooting? Do I potentially need a replacement?
Note the second one is smaller than the others because I was using my iPad and didn’t realize I had accidentally scaled it.
In the picture of the top you can see that the score lines around the perimeter of the holes and the outside are rather inconsistent (not sure why but the first one also had a smudge below the Glowforge logo)
On the backside, the bottom one is pretty representative if the cut of the others it didn’t go through on the right side). The 4th was the worst as I couldn’t even force that one out. The others took a fair bit of coaxing but there was tearout as a result.
Nope, no play at all. I’ve got a nice straight edge that I use for calibrating my jointer that I used to check the material and it’s about as dead flat as I could imagine MDF being.
Unfortunately the only thing I can think of (besides needing to be replaced) is that it is using “pro” settings, which has higher power capability, on your Basic machine.
Support can check the logs. Unfortunately, it can take them a day or two.
In the meantime, you could use it and manually adjust the settings to ensure material is processed as needed. It’s not ideal, I know.
Well I appreciate the suggestions anyway. Hopefully I’ll hear back from them sooner than later. In the mean time will try some other projects to see if those come out any better. I just hate burning through all this material just troubleshooting out of the box!
Do I also need to send an email to support or will they see this post here?
In the meantime, you can edit the settings and slow it down just a little so it cuts all the way through.
Actually, now that I read your post more closely, I see that the engraves and scores don’t look right either. On the off chance that there’s a fixable issue with your machine, like a lens in wrong or something interfering with the beam, it’s probably safer to stop using it and wait for support. Don’t want to make it worse.
Everything looks okay with the exception of the printer head window. I didnt notice it at first and it’s really difficult to see except in the right light but there appears to be a slight scratch that is sort of visible in this picture
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.
