If you make a replacement Glowforge, then you can sell Glowforges back to Glowforge Inc.
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I the previous posting about this product Iâm pretty sure the article mentioned that the Glowforge reads a tag on the material; does this mean you need to use Glowforgeâs propriety materials? I canât find the original post to check.
The are not propriety materials, they are just âvettedâ. There is an IR barcode printed on them that the GlowForge can read to configure the settings (power, time, etc.). It will take the guess work out of getting new materials setup to cut or engrave. Probably not a big deal to use your own materials, but things like plywood can vary from lot to lot with the amount of glue, so one time you calibrate your self might not work with the next one.
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Years ago I worked for a ad agency and we had to ship some printing to Jamaica from the US. It was cheaper to have someone flyout from there come and pick it up and flyback. Then to have it shipped. Plus it got through customs much faster.
And the fact that they know exactly what youâre doing with this machine. No thanks. If I buy a piece of hardware, I want whoever wants to spy on my to work for it.
Good news! You live in Vancouver. Glowforge is located in Seattle. That means if you drive down there and pick it up, itâll cost you less than the shipping. I recommend calling up glowforge and asking them if you could just come down and pick your thing up from HQ yourself, if youâre able to get across the border without too much fuss (IE if you have a passport etc.)
Sorry about the earlier comment. I didnât know they were unresponsive twats who couldnât be bothered to actually engage anyone interested in their alleged product.
Youâre getting that message because BoingBoingâs ad agency (StackExchange) is trying to monetize the video. If BB were honest about their hosting, then weâd either know up front that certain people arenât welcome, or theyâd do the FUCKING RIGHT THING and just not monetize ads with more ads. You know. Like decent people.
I had the same issue, from Houston, TX using AT&T as my provider. Uh⌠Whut?
No they would not explain if that was even possible for instance maybe the machines donât come from there headquarters, or if they would allow it like red camera did in the beginning.
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Maybe itâs only for people from Tuvalu?
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How many household doodads do I need to make before I recover the cost of the thing?
I love the idea but I know its not something I can make any real use of.
The same used to be said of printers, cd burners, computers and a lot of tech before it.
Itâs early days.
And here weâll point out that the CEO used to work for Google.
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For this price you could make way more of the same stuff with the same materials and an X-Acto knife. I know itâs hard to believe that people ever made stuff with knives and scissors, but I have to tell you that every facet of modern life is made with something other than 3-D printers and laser cutters.
And they get to keep a copy of everything.
But Iâm sure that is just a happenstance of the design not a feature.
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ummm you need to try this before this saying some thing like that if you have a tech shop near you or a maker space try it thennnnn try to do the say with a knife
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Correct. You cannot cut acrylic thatâs more than paper-thin with an exacto knife. Lasers sizzle through acrylic like itâs butter.
And the glowforge canât cut metals of any thickness, whereas I can cut 18 guage steel with ordinary shears. The set of things that cannot be made with a laser cutter is much larger than the set of things than can be made with it. For 99% of people, spending $4000 on appropriate materials and tools will result in far more output of cool stuff than will spending $4000 on a glowforge.
There are cheap plasma cutters which can cut 1/2" steel with ease. I have one that I got off ebay for $250. It struggles with anything thicker than 1/2" but I donât need to cut anything that hefty. And the consumables for this thing are cheap. I have a whole bag of about 50 electrodes and tips that I got for about 20 bucks.
For cutting acrylic: use a cnc and make a shower of sawdust, or use a laser and get a little smoke. The thing that a laser can do that the other tools canât even touch is engrave cool, intricate designs. CNCs can, too, but I think the laser raster engraving is a cool look that only a laser can really do.
Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses. $4k for a laser of this cut area & power is a beet steeeep⌠esp when 40w CO2 tubes are what, $100? But I like the software advances they are making. To me, itâs not worth the cost, as these software advances will eventually trickle to the other cheaper lasers.
