I love Proograde products. The quality is great, ease of use is superb, and the sizes are perfect for the Glowforge.
That being said, there are times when I want colors or thicknesses of acrylic that are not offered through Glowforge. I’ve bought tons of stuff from Inventables, but shipping delays are common due to back orders, so here’s a GREAT alternative, and the prices are about 40-50% less - plus, you get volume discounts when you buy more than one item. Larger pieces can save you lots of money, and if you have a Pro unit, like me, you can use the pass-thru slot to cut longer items to size.
Check it out www.estreetplastics.com.
I’m only about 40 miles from their location, so shipping wasn’t bad. I don’t know how prices will be for longer distances.
Here’s a screenshot showing some of their pricing for clear acrylic.
That may be the case, however you also have to factor the cost of shipping materials, and the fact that shipping rates have been consistently rising over the last few years. In fact the USPS just raised their rates about a week or two ago.
3 12’x12" sheets is $16 shipped to eastern WA state. Personally while I think it’s a little high, I don’t think it’s all that bad. Especially when you factor in the vast selection they have to pick from. The shipping on a single 12x12 was only $6 or 8 USD. I switched it to an order of 100 sheets and FedEx was the only option, and came to $72 shipping, of course it was $450 bucks or so but obviously the volume ordering is where it’s at. And if you want that single odd piece, it’s not that bad either.
I get what you’re saying, but shipping from Inventables is far lower, requiring 18 12"x12" acrylic sheets to rack up $18 in shipping fees.
Proofgrade materials from Glowforge have a flat $9 shipping rate, with free shipping on orders over $100. (Admittedly a far less wide-ranging selection of materials, though.)
I ordered from them once, even thought the shipping prices were way too high. But I haven’t ordered anything from them since because their “transparent” colors were completely, 100%, no doubt about it… opaque.
I’ve used them for years. There is a listing of suppliers on this forum somewhere…estreets has been listed since the beginning…lol
Jealous that you are that close…I would be driving over to save on shipping.
I’ve run into this problem with a lot of different products. I dont know why, but sellers can’t seem to grasp opaque vs transparent vs translucent. Its fine when my sister can’t, and I have to double check every time if she means see-through or not-see-through… But she isn’t selling things to anyone.
Proograde products. The quality is great, ease of use is superb, and the sizes are perfect for the Glowforge.
