Updated grid for engraving without crumb tray

Reading the instructions and I have a couple of questions - You said V2 was for when the crumb tray is out and for engraving only. Does the height of the grid change the alignment (meaning if I put it on top of the crumb try will it still be accurate)? (If not, can you point me at v1 file also?)
I can’t help but wonder if a L shaped version of this grid for on top of the crumb tray that you could use to line up other materials against would be beneficial when you want to cut something out and still need alignment accuracy. (Think about embroidery tools for pocket placement on shirts as a example.) Thanks!

So here is the link for V1:

https://community.glowforge.com/t/reinsertable-grid-file-and-tutorial/93366

The V1 is for crumb tray in or out but you use to front door to line up. V1 is still a fine option but I have a pro and a plus and they are very different in their front doors so I designed V2 to be independent of the front door. V2 also focuses more on use on the Z axis. I go over in the examples on V2 but also in V1. The coordinates are not effected no matter where on the z axis (so you can raise and lower the grid and the points stay).

I have another tutorial that goes over how you can put a grid on the bed on the glowforge.

The reason why I say they are not for cutting is because you should use the crumb tray to cut. There really is no reason not to cut on the crumb tray because the max thicknesses for cutting is .5” and that is the allowed thickness to be on the crumb tray. I am sure you can use the grid for cutting but you would be destroying the grid each time if you are cutting on it and it would waist more material. Doing more of an embroidery holder design is fine as well but the crumb tray has some variation on where you set it in every time and so it would easily get shifted and no longer be accurate.

I recommend this method if you want to use coordinates when cutting:

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Thanks for sharing this, I was able to use some scrap pcs of wood to make my locators and it worked great (not as fancy as 3D printed). I still have a question related to manual focus and manual material thickness entry when not using the honeycomb tray. My basic question is how does the machine know where the “top” surface of the material is when you are using random risers with non proof materials? When you use a manual focus value, is that always in reference to a certain height in the machine (maybe the top of the honeycomb tray?), that is still confusing for me as I try to better understand the relationship between the material thickness, the manual focus numbers that I should be using to account for the material being set on different height risers. Sorry if this has already been covered in another post.

Welcome to the forum.
Use the set focus tool and make sure that the red beam lands squarely on the material to engrave. It is not necessary to enter a material thickness or do any math. The Glowforge can only focus in a 1/2" range. The material to be engraved or cut must be between 1.5" and 2" off the floor of the machine. Have you cut the No Math Focus Ruler? It is very helpful.

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Thanks @dklgood, I have been using the “set focus” feature for most of my first projects and tests, I mostly wanted to understand better following up on previous posts related to manual focus to adjust the focus point for efficiency or even certain effects, so that triggered the question in my mind if my material was within a certain height range within the 0.5" range but the machine doesn’t really know exactly where, how would a manual focus/material thickness adjustment would look?
Related to the no math focus ruler, is that the one with a bunch of Glowforge logos on it? Maybe I am thinking of something else?

This is the tool to help you quickly determine whether or not your material is within the focus range with the honeycomb tray removed. No-Math Focus Ruler

It would be very helpful if the interface provided the focus height when the set focus tool is used, and this has been requested by other users. It would make it easier to do defocused engraves and scores. Until that happens, however, you can always do your own math if you measure precisely the distance the top of your honeycomb tray is from the bottom of the Glowforge. We used to have to do all sorts of computations before the set focus tool came along. Use the search function to follow many old threads regarding engraving without the honeycomb tray.

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Thanks for your sharing your knowledge and for your patience, I have found so much good information on the forums help me get started, I can’t imagine the earlier days with no set focus. I do agree, having some of that information available would be so helpful. I have a friend that owns an epilog laser machine and he was so confused by the GF, I believe that he actually has a touch point of some sort to get the dimension and he can adjust his head up and down to adjust for different materials.

I have not been ignoring your questions. I am hoping to finish up a post here soon that I think will help :slight_smile: All of this is stuff that is hard to explain and I have never been good at explaining. :slight_smile:

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I did the original grid, do you think it would be possible to just add the numbers to that grid without having to redo the entire project?

Can you please clarify? The original grid has numbers on them and you just had to add in .5 to map to the app because that grid had started at 0.

Yes, my original grid had even numbers only (i.e 2,4,6,8…) and only across the left side and top. The new file starts at 1 and goes across the top, bottom, and both sides.

Another use for the manual focus is intentionally defocusing - useful when you want a slightly wider score line or smoother result engraving acrylic.

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You can certainly just write the other numbers on the older version of the grid and still just add .5 to convert to the app. The bed of the glowforge is actually a grid and so once you know one point, you will know all them.

I love this. Great idea!

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I am getting a page not found when I click the V2 link :anguished:

I get the same thing:

Did the file move?

Weird. I removed and re uploaded it. It should work now.

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It worked for me now. Thanks.

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Hi there, huge thanks for putting this together and sharing with us! Im hoping to start putting it together next week. I love the idea of the 3d printed pieces that fit into the grooves of the GF, are you able to share a file to 3d print it? I dont know much about that so would ask someone around me to print it, but wanted to see if that was even possible first. Thanks so much!

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Hello! There are a few 3D jigs I have made and posted. This is the most recent one: No tray lineup (v2)

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