No, definitely not ok. Not only will it release poisonous cyanide gas, but it will just melt the material and not really cut it.
Laser cutters are extremely cool. I’ve used them a lot through the years for cutting out odd sized sewing pattern templates for Mrs Ficus, engraving aluminum, and parts for custom cases. But you need to be really, really careful about what you cut. Fires aren’t a big deal - they can and will happen. You just need to pay attention while the laser is operating. It’s the invisible and extremely toxic gases that can be emitted if you don’t carefully read the MSDS for your material that you need to be concerned about.
I like the idea of a laser cutter for the masses and the material pass through looks really cool but I worry about the lack of air assist, and the casual “just vent it through a window”.
I certainly get your point, but it doesn’t change the fact that their use of the word “printer” has caused a lot of unnecessary confusion in the marketplace. Perhaps that was just part of their original plan to get people talking about it more.
And If the Glowforge is indeed a printer then so is any CNC milling machine, as it too receives vector files and cuts or engraves the medium and has the ability to make signs. But then again I have never considered a vinyl cutter to be a printer just because it makes signs either. It’s literally a vinyl cutter. It cuts out signs, it doesn’t print them (unless of course it also has a print head option in addition to the knife).
I have heard that lasik machines take a commission on every surgery.
Still, this is a consumer product. The Glowforge site implies you don’t need a subscription, but at the same time, it’s not entirely clear what the subscription is for.
Still waiting for my Glowforge to ship. Been years now. Apparently air filters remain vastly more sophisticated technology than lasers, electronics, and software. For someone who, literally, wrote the book on entrepreneurship and runs ads touting the home business potential of this machine, this fellow sure isn’t doing a hell of a lot to help my own aspirations toward that. I’ll probably be on the street before that cutter ever turns up.
