Glowforge printer... old news... nothing to see... move along

Did anyone see this yet? I searched here on the forum and didn’t see this in any discussions, but if it is mentioned elsewhere, MODS please feel free to merge it.

The Glowforge 3-D printer is in the crowdfunding stage and looks pretty versatile for many projects. It almost acts like a image printer, 3-D printer, CNC cutter, later cutter, all in one.

https://glowforge.com/?utm_source=g...MIzbe0nu-Q2wIVSb7ACh2QjARAEAAYASAAEgJDqvD_BwE

Re: Glowforge 3-D printer. Did anyone see this?

It's a laser cutter/engraver And it's not a 3d printer at all. That's just marketing hype. Also, this was funded to the tune of about 25-30 million in 2015.

Re: Glowforge 3-D printer. Did anyone see this?

MrSouthpaw said:

It's a laser cutter/engraver And it's not a 3d printer at all. That's just marketing hype. Also, this was funded to the tune of about 25-30 million in 2015.

Click to expand...

Add to that they "are" still trying to ship the original units to those who purchased them during the Kickstarter stage.

That said this is a unit that oversells it's benefits while understating the safety concerns. For the price you can find smaller lasers from companies like USlaser, or Epilog that have a proven history and will run off of your pc without uploading your work to the cloud.

The air scrubber is problematic as well run a vinyl record, or vinyl masking material through the machine and not only will the fumes eat the machine, but the fumes are toxic.
The short list of laser no no's
Leather and artificial leather that contains chromium (VI) (Leather smells like your burning a dead body so most maker spaces only allow leather work just before closing)
Carbon fibers (Carbon)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) - (chlorine gas- deadly to humans, and eats the components of the laser )
Polyvinyl butyral (PVB)Polytetrafluoroethylenes (PTFE /Teflon)
Beryllium oxide
Any materials containing halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine) Epoxy or phenolic resins
Additionally, extreme care must be used when attempting to lase Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Cobalt, Copper, & Lead.

Fiberglass and pcboards are on the list as well but Glowforge indicates they are ok but I wouldn't try them.

Re: Glowforge 3-D printer. Did anyone see this?

Been a few threads on it over the years. Here's a couple:


https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=283107


https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=247469&highlight=glowforge

Re: Glowforge 3-D printer. Did anyone see this?

MrSouthpaw said:

It's a laser cutter/engraver And it's not a 3d printer at all. That's just marketing hype. Also, this was funded to the tune of about 25-30 million in 2015.

Click to expand...

Ahhhhhh... a news story popped up and I assumed it was new.

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GhostMinion said:

Been a few threads on it over the years. Here's a couple:


https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=283107


https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=247469&highlight=glowforge

Click to expand...

Nuts. I searched it but didn’t find anything. JEDIFYFE’D AGAIN! :darnkids

Ok.... old news... move along! :lol

I've been using one at my local makerspace and liked it enough to order my own (plus, they have rules about using member equipment for for-profit projects). I've found it useful for cutting a ton of different things, including plywood cores for foam weapons. One of the members is working on Daenerys filigreed armor; she cut it using 2mm foam and the whole thing took about 30 mins for all parts. I make all of my patterns in Illustrator, so for me it removes three steps. Once I've got my pattern, I no longer have to print it out, cut the pattern, trace it and then cut the foam. So far, the thickest I've cut is 4mm, but I'm not a fan of the floor mats anyway. I do a lot of layering and detailing with shallow cuts, so I really like it. Shipping is currently 10 days on all units in North America. The filter is supposed to ship in November. I have a dedicated shop space and plan to just vent from a window and see no immediate need for it. YMMV. I don't have any pics on my home laptop, but I'm going by the space and my shop later today. If anyone is interested, I can post some pics and video.