I was right, I googled “slimline dryer vent elbow” and found that a variety of designs exist. I would still want to plan for at least an extra inch or two extra if using one of these back there, just to ensure you don’t have the hose or elbow jammed against the back of the glass door, making it hard to open or keep open. If none of them seem appropriate, maybe you can temporarily support the 'Forge farther out from the wall than you really want it, and figure out a way to make a custom slim elbow as your first project on the Glowforge!
I have one of these behind my dryer, it saves a couple of inches: 
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This is exactly what I am going to be using. But you have to seal it. I ended up using spray epoxy in the interior and aluminum tape on the exterior.
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aluminum tape is fun. great for making fake metal surfaces on props =)
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aluminum tape is also much better for sealing ducting than duct tape is.
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Yes, the hose is a standard 4" dryer hose, and we’ll include it with every Glowforge order (even if you also ordered a filter). A 90 degree turning bracket can be used, or you can curve the hose, which will probably take 6-8" depending on how willing you are to smush it a bit.
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I used this exact system for the workbench in my garage. The corner pieces are really sturdy and it was nice just cutting 2x4’s to length and screwing it all together and not fiddling around with angles and braces and all that fun stuff. The kit pieces also have pre-drilled angled holes to guide the screws too so there’s no guesswork there. I definitely recommend it.
My only concern would be that the height is not adjustable. It’s a very comfortable height for a workbench but the GF is pretty tall.
To answer your first question, as the working area is 12x20, a good guess is that the lid is roughly 20" wide. From the pictures (I haven’t studied as closely as some) it looks pretty centered, so that would leave 9" to a side. You might be able to safely count on 4-6" of each side that could be slid under a shelf.
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Thank you. I guesstimated about 8" on each side…so I’m in the ball park. That will help my planning.
Can anyone tell me what Dan is referring to here? Whatever space I can conserve when the hose is fastened to the back of the Glowforge will diminish the overall footprint of the machine. The space where it will be is already 2" shy of the GF width and I’m thinking I will need to redo something to give it the extra space needed for the hose elbow. The Glowforge will sit in this space right underneath the window above.
You can find then on amazon:
Do a search for “Vent Periscope”
But make sure you tape it up well once you get it to the right size as it’s under pos pressure and any leak will leak into your work space
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Thanks, Spike. I see now that it’s the same thing as Tacitus suggested anyway. I just wasn’t clear on how to hook it up. So the ‘vent periscope’ can attach directly to the back of the GF and then the hose gets attached to the other end? That’s actually the part that was confusing me. So if my window opening is 15-16" above where the GF sits, I could attach a vent periscope with the hose fastened to it that is that same height, then vent out the window, right? I’m smart on a lot of things but other things completely elude me. 
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You got it!
One end is female (the end you hook up to the GF), the other end is male(the end you hook up to the hose that will go out the top and out the window), so it acts just like an extension.
You can buy them in different sizes, depending on your needs and once you get it all set, tape it up real good.
Yay! Thank you. I finally ‘got’ something. This will be very helpful.
Nice! DIY is almost always cheaper.
Did you see the 2x4 basics kit I linked to above? I picked one of those up and it made construction a breeze. I had everything ready to go in a very short time.
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I actually bought the 2x4 Basics workbench and built it per your recommendation, it is awesome and I thank you much for turning me on to it.
I would really love to add casters to the base. After analyzing the legs I came up with a couple of ways to add casters but I am not satisfied with either.
Do you have any suggestions? I haven’t searched for articles online for adding casters to this particular workbench, but I imagine that I wont find much.
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I guess it depends if you want it to always be on casters, or if youre wanting to use lifting casters (which are quite a bit more expensive, but leave your workbench stable when not in use). Depending on which one you get will change where they need to be mounted.
If you go for regular casters, I would run a wooden support between 2x4s at a 45deg angle underneath, and mount the casters there (as close to the corners as possible).
If you get the lifting casters youll want to put them on the outside so you can kick lift the table. They have some cost associated with them, but if you want your workbench to be super stable this is the better option
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Thanks for the suggestion, I was thinking about a 45 degree support to mount locking casters, but now you have me considering the lift casters. Really helpful, Thanks @takitus!
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Another option might be fully locking casters. They are casters that lock the wheel from spinning and the caster from rotating. I have them on several shop carts and they work great. I have the Woodcraft casters below on several shop carts and they work great. They are rated for 300 pounds each and are easy to operate with your foot. They are relatively expensive, but Woodcraft usually puts them on sale for about 2/3 that price a couple times a year.
Recently I found the lighter duty 175 pound casters at Home Depot, but have not used them myself. They look of decent quality and have good reviews.
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