Glowforge launches consumer-grade laser cutter

Post by saidajigumi » Thu, Sep 24, 2015, 6:12 PM UTC

danshapiro wrote: post #39

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #6

It's a very polished product, and the "pen" mode is a cool idea. To me, they're targeting an odd demographic, Makers who can afford expensive toys / tools, but also want a very friendly, hands-off interface. I would have expected the Maker camp to be ordering ~ $700 40-50W laser cutters from Shenzhen. I suppose the Glowforge would be pretty great in a school setting, though.

CEO/Founder of Glowforge here. There are a bunch of lasers billed as 40W on ebay and amazon, but please look really carefully before you buy one. The mostly-harmless part is the lousy interface, overrated tube, and inability to cut (the motion controller only supports raster mode). The worrisome parts are the ungrounded case, high voltage wires that are usually but not always firmly attached, and lack of an interlock…

  CAD software
  -- export-to-DXF
  pre-process in Illustrator
  -- laser kerf allowance
  -- layout parts on material
  pre-process in Corel Draw
  -- load and reexport the DXF, just 'cause
  load in cutter software
  -- mark up paths for cutter parameters 
     (speed, power, cut/raster mode)

Post by noobermin » Thu, Sep 24, 2015, 6:16 PM UTC

chromaton wrote: post #37

This looks like a decent laser but I thought I'd post a few thoughts about this package which might give a potential buyer pause. First, the main unique feature I see is the built in camera which apparently gives you a preview of cut/engraved finished part on your computer screen with the material as it's positioned inside the machine. This also (apparently, it's not clear), allows you to correct for misaligned mater…

Post by tomkinstinch » Thu, Sep 24, 2015, 6:19 PM UTC

borgel wrote: post #53

tomkinstinch wrote: post #42

I have a 40W hobbyist laser cutter. It's fun, and a great tool for various projects, like making board games[1,2]. That said, sometimes materials inside the machine catch fire, and sometimes the beam reflects or dwells on a section of the metal enclosure. It's interesting that they've chosen to make the entire (?) enclosure out of plastic, itself a combustible material. I get why they went with plastic (cheaper to fa…

What unit do you have? I've been thinking about getting one.

Post by pierre » Thu, Sep 24, 2015, 6:24 PM UTC

noobermin wrote: post #63

chromaton wrote: post #37

This looks like a decent laser but I thought I'd post a few thoughts about this package which might give a potential buyer pause. First, the main unique feature I see is the built in camera which apparently gives you a preview of cut/engraved finished part on your computer screen with the material as it's positioned inside the machine. This also (apparently, it's not clear), allows you to correct for misaligned mater…

Every issue you mentioned apart from the terrible fumes are problems that already exist in one's home with cooking in your own home, and people, seeing the convenience of cooking in their homes, have adapted to it. Regarding fumes actually, the smell from my neighbor's cooking isn't always to my liking either, but, perhaps, burnt plastic might be worse and equally undesirable to all people.

Post by Animats » Thu, Sep 24, 2015, 6:26 PM UTC