Yes, I know I can cut my losses, but the engineer deep inside me really got hung up on some of the actual physical restraints vs. the promises of the marketing.
Not saying a pump or compressor is used. Just that the claim is that the GF will have air assist without external connections. The effectiveness is TBD. On the other subject about cooling. Not sure I agree. Why does a sealed unit need servicing? It may or may not work well, but a sealed system that doesn’t leak shouldn’t need any servicing.
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I’m sure they understand the basic needs of the laser, that not what I would be concerned about.
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There are cars that have sealed parts that dont need servicing…as Im sure there are other things in this world…
The Chinese lasers are not a good comparable unit to use as a standard for laser cutters…just because that have crappy water cooled problems doesn’t mean it can’t exist. My Universal laseres are air cooled so the whole liquid cool thing is foriegn in the first place…lol
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I cannot think of any water cooled device that doesn’t need servicing. Pumps go bad, impellers flake out, coolant gets moldy, or crusty from antibacterials, leaks, sensors, thermocouplers- all tend to failure. Sealed units are usually the WORST, due to positioning and integration with the larger machine. Remember, this is a 40w laser, not a CPU cooler from Newegg.
my 60(50) watt doesn’t raise the temp of my 3 gallon bucket, granted I’ve only had it run for maybe 45 minutes in one sitting but still, they don’t generate a ton of heat.
I think glow forge is on top of these basic things
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Sure, but look for a moment the volume of space that 3 gallons takes up.
I admire your faith. I just got to thinking about the space issue, and my experience with mechanical failure. I can easily FIX an external water cooling issue. But if it’s crammed up in the GF, who knows.
Exactly! Those parts of failure, like the classic Ford F-150 fuel pump! (had to replace the entire gas tank, resulting in a class-action lawsuit)
Personally if I had your doubts I would cancel. I tend to lean towards having trust in people and products until they fail me. If I couldn’t afford a $3000 gamble I wouldn’t have made one. Never play with money you can’t afford to lose. That being said I have no doubts it will be a fantastic product, the fact they used them all weekend with no hiccups gives me even more faith in them.
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Im just using distilled water, I’m sure they are using something else. All your concerns are speculation at this point. There is obviously no changing your stance and no real point. I would just get a refund if you think its impossible to achieve what they claim
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And yea their betas worked great, gives me more faith in the final product
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Me using the glassblowing lathe
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Well sure, but a gamble is usually based on an analysis of the facts. I have faith, I made a nearly $5k gamble. Just trying to make the point that my ‘gamble analysis’ is getting knocked around a bit with the shipment delay /mystery filter/cooling-vs- that tempting carrot of getting to work on a beater Chinese laser.
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I can understand your frustration…if it wasn’t because I have two durable, reliable lasers, I probably would have pulled out about now…the main reason I’m still in is because of the filter and portability of the unit for travel. Hopefully I’ll hear favorable reports about the filter soon.
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Not saying it’s impossible. But in product dev, you need some serious throughput to nail down vendors, suppliers, all that must be top quality, small (tiny!!) and most of all- available.
Happy to say the community is where it’s at with the Glowforge. I really dig Dan, his methods, and the overall concept. But someone has to play the skeptic now and again.
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Thing is…this lack of info could just as well be a ploy to keep the competition guessing…
I always thought the media was stupid to expect the military to tell them their plans of attack…yeah…because the enemy isn’t listening to media… Doh
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That’s how Geraldo go kicked out of Iraq. Silly journalist, military secrets are secret. 
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Exactly! If I were competition, I would certainly plunk down the money to join to try to get privileged information or sow dissent.
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I know there is a comedy where that is explored… I want to say with Dan Akroyd. Some super secret military group and everyone discovers that absolutely every member of the group is a spy from another nation trying to figure out what the group is all about…
What if all of us are really just major competitors looking for a scoop?!
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I don’t fault you a bit for deciding Glowforge isn’t for you. If you’re comfortable with the value tradeoff of one of the big Chinese lasers, let us know and we’ll get you refunded right away so you can buy one.
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