To ensure accurate cuts, the laser arm of your Glowforge must be horizontal. If you find that vertical cuts are shorter than horizontal cuts, the laser arm may be out of square. You can test this by cutting a square from a piece of material, then measuring the height and width of the square that you cut.
The difference is usually tiny, but you can use the following procedure to eliminate it. Once performed, it doesn’t need to be done again until the machine is turned off.
Squaring the Laser Arm
- Obtain a square like this one, online or at your local hardware store. We recommend using one with a “foot," a small ledge on one side.
- Turn off your Glowforge.
- Open the lid and the front door.
- Gently slide the printer head all the way to the left.
- Gently push the laser arm to the back of the bed.
- Grasp the silver metal front of the laser arm with both hands.
- Simultaneously hold the laser arm gently in place with your left hand and pull it slowly with your right hand until the front wheel on the right end of the laser arm rolls off the rail. The laser arm will sit at an exaggerated angle.
- Press the foot of the square against the right side rail using firm pressure as depicted in the photo. You may need to use the top edge of the square to slowly push the laser arm away from you so the foot of the square will fit inside your unit. Make sure the foot is flush against the right side rail and that the laser arm is still at an angle.
- Still using the square to apply pressure to the side rail, continue pushing the square towards the back of your unit until the metal part of the laser arm is flush against the entire top edge of the square and the wheel pops back onto the rail. If the laser arm is not flush against the top edge of the square, try the process again starting from step 5.
- Remove the square, being careful not to bump your Glowforge or the laser arm.
- Turn on your Glowforge and wait for the lights and fan to go on.
- Close the front door and the lid.
- Print!
If you're still running into trouble, please contact our team and we'll be happy to help!