What is the difference between focus height and thickness?

[kennyb]

I took last night off.

Scott has confirmed that the system changes settings with the Matl Thk <> Focus Ht, anebed gives priority to Focus Height.

Maybe my using a light score to run the studies has skewed the appearance of the visual.
This weekend I might try again with either a deeper score or engrave. Maybe measuring the depth of the cut will help me visualize.

In the interim, I currently set the focal plane on the top of the material, so my first theorem is acceptable. It would also mean that if I remove the crumb tray for thicker work, I only need to make sure the top is within the 0-0.5" work zone and the red laser will scan and adjust focus to the top of the material.

[scott.wiederhold]

@kennyb

What do I use to view the files and see the details?

The easiest way is to open the file with a hex editor, and count the number of bytes that are set to a value of 0x60. That is the command to move the Z axis one step away from the crumb tray.

Be sure to exclude the first 479 (0x1DF) bytes of the file, as that is the header for (most) .PULS files used for printing.

If you want to dive further into the makeup of the files, and you know some basic Python, you can use the Glowforge Utilities Python library. You can find a sample use of the library here.

I also put together a description of the file structure, based on @palmercr’s research. You can find that here.

[jbv]

@scott.wiederhold

hex editor

[wesleyjames]

Haxxors!!!