Me too! Age & work have taken nearly all the fun out of hand carving.
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Whoa. That is awesome
I hope it doesn’t require a 400 watt laser to do that! 
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I wonder what class laser that is? There appears to be no enclosure whatsoever. (Seems to have a pass thru, pass over, pass under, passaround…)
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The data sheet for the machine says it’s class 4
I believe anything over a certain wattage (something like 5mw) that is not totally enclosed is a classIV, but my understanding has some holes in it.
It requires a 400 watt laser to do it THAT FAST. Ours will do it too, just ~10x slower (and probably ~100x cheaper)
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Wikipedia has a nice little entry on laser safety:
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Also remember that carving like that is going to generate more smoke than you can believe.
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Truth.
For those interested in the technobabble… 
https://www.rli.com/resources/articles/classification.aspx
IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a global organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. The IEC document 60825-1 is the primary standard that outlines the safety of laser products. Classification is based on calculations and determined by the AEL as with the ANSI standard, but the IEC standard also incorporates viewing conditions:
Class 1 lasers are very low risk and “safe under reasonably foreseeable use”, including the use of optical instruments for intrabeam viewing.
Class 1M lasers have wavelengths between 302.5 nm and 4000 nm, and are safe except when used with optical aids (e.g. binoculars).
Class 2 lasers do not permit human access to exposure levels beyond the Class 2 AEL for wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm. Any emissions outside this wavelength region must be below the Class 1 AEL.
Class 2M lasers have wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm, and are potentially hazardous when viewed with an optical instrument. Any emissions outside this wavelength region must be below the Class 1M AEL.
Class 3R lasers range from 302.5 nm and 106 nm, and is potentially hazardous but the risk is lower than that of Class 3B lasers. The accessible emission limit is within 5 times the Class 2 AEL for wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm, and within 5 times the Class 1 AEL for wavelengths outside this region.
Class 3B lasers are normally hazardous under direct beam viewing conditions, but are normally safe when viewing diffuse reflections.
Class 4 lasers are hazardous under both intrabeam and diffuse reflection viewing conditions. They may cause also skin injuries and are potential fire hazards.
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Bump. Hoping to hear some news about the 3d engraving? Is it working yet?
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It’s been working for months, but the UI hasn’t been added yet so all we have to show for it are some checkerboards of different depths that aren’t really worth showing off. It hasn’t been as high a priority as some of the more urgent features for beta users like wifi setup (which was previously monstrous, but is now very slick).
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HI, bringing this thread to life.
I am searching for the best workflow from an autodesk inventor 3d part to a 3d engraving file format usable in the glowforge. @takitus already gave me some asdives and help for stacked cutting with 123D Make, but it is not an option for what I have in mind. I am exploring Autodesk Inventor HSM Express, which is made for milling machine (not exactly what we need). Is there other option? Something to transform 3D object in grayscale?
I want to familarize myself with the software before the GF arrives.
I have not found a great workflow to create heightmaps - hopefully people here will have suggestions!
I tried it when you linked it before, and it works great!
Oh also there is a tutorial above for doing the same in zbrush
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I tried this as well with great success with SolidWorks. Here is what I found to be helpful with the l link @takitus posted…it’s listed in another topic.
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