I also pretty clearly remember a post saying that the delay was due to the performance of the filter being below expectation. Part of the reason I remember it is because it was frustratingly vague as to whether it was the prototype design that was not performing to spec or production units were not performing like the prototype. I cannot find this post either, but interestingly, I did find a reference to a post by Dan from October 10, 2017 – which is around the right time – called “Air Filter Update”. As far as I can tell, that post no longer exists.
I can’t say for sure if Dan deleted a post because it actually gave some information, but it would surprise me not at all.
In search of this, I came across some other information-like morsels from Dan in the forums, which I collect for you here so you don’t have to hunt for them the same way I did:
November 2016
March 2017
Pro and Air filter continue to move forward as well. We have the first factory-produced Pro units in the office, [emphasis mine] and air filter builds are scheduled to start at the factory soon. Expect these to take a while to get more public exposure, though - our safety and user experience teams need to finalize their manuals before we show them being used.
This would seem to indicate that the problems were with production units – so why wouldn’t Dan say so in response to direct questioning many times?
April 2017
Air filter
Whether you went for Basic or Pro, the vast majority of you ordered an air filter with your main Glowforge unit. You can see the first factory-built air filters here, from the front (first picture) and back (second picture). You can see the exhaust on the right hand side, and a small air intake on the back. The rear picture does not show the exhaust input on the far right, because as you’ve gathered from this update so far, I’m a pretty hit-or-miss photographer.
June 2017
We’re now shipping production units. We’re incredibly proud of how they turned out. Some of you have yours already. Some of you will get yours ahead of our latest schedule - and, I’m so frustrated to say, some of you will receive yours up to three months later. Our updated schedule for final, production units is:
Now : Glowforge Basic deliveries underway.
June 30 : Glowforge Pro shipments start.
September 30 : Air Filter shipments start.
October 31 : All Basic and Pro orders placed by 10/26/2015 shipped.
November 30 : All Basic and Pro orders shipped.
December 29 : All Air Filters shipped.
I’m excited to tell you we’re shipping, but pained to tell you about the schedule change because I know you’re counting on receiving your Glowforge. I apologize.
…
Air Filter
As you can imagine, a device responsible for removing smoke and odors from the air needs to be meticulously tested, and we’ve spared no expense in testing our Air Filter exhaustively. Unfortunately, that’s taken longer than originally slated, and our Air Filter production is running behind schedule.
While our Air Filters have been in development, we’ve been using these enormous, $3,000 industrial ventilators made of folded sheet metal in the office. I can’t tell you how excited we are to be getting rid of them. They take up floor space, make a ton of noise, and they stay on constantly. And if you do turn them off and then forget to turn them on before you print, your print will fail when the Glowforge detects that something’s wrong. We’re so happy to be making you something that just works.
And it’s not like it’s complicated to use, either. Your Glowforge has only one button, but the Air Filter doesn’t have any. It talks to your Glowforge to know the perfect fan speeds, runtimes, filter status, and more. It automatically powers itself down when it’s not needed. If you use Proofgrade material, the Air Filter can measure its airflow precisely to match the needs of your print. In fact, if your filter should ever be accidentally disconnected or unplugged, it coordinates with your Glowforge to pause the print while you set it right.
Also June 2017 :
October 2017
Also October 2017
Unfortunately no - we’re not able to share technical and production matters in any detail before we’re shipping production units. That’s because as interesting as it is to our customers, it’s even more interesting to the companies out there who admire what we do and wish to be more like us. Many of you will remember that our explanations got a lot more concrete after shipments started for the Basic, and then again for the Pro - it’s the same for the Air Filter.
Feb 2018:
We’re confident we can deliver [the filter], but unfortunately I don’t have any more detail to share with you about our production process. There’s a lot of complexity to building a great air filter, and as we did with the Glowforge Pro and Basic, we’re opting to take more time to do it right rather than rushing it out as soon as we can. I think ultimately that will make more customers happier than if we hurried, but I apologize for making you wait so long for your delivery.
Note that, as with all dates, this is the latest forecast we have for your unit, and others may have a different forecast.
May 2018:
(In response to a question about whether any filters showed up at Maker Faire, given that the lack of any at World Maker Faire the previous year was one of the early indicators that the filters were not on track:)
Given that photos of units were shared more than a year earlier, with the exhaust and air intakes helpfully pointed out, this explanation falls rather flat.
June 2018
Unfortunately, we’ve uncovered additional schedule challenges for both air filter & international shipping. We don’t have updated ship dates yet, but will by next week. At that time, they’ll be updated at glowforge.com/account/ , where we keep the most up-to-date shipping forecast information we have available. Of course, should you decide you can’t wait any further, you can email support@glowforge.com to get a refund (on either your air filter or on your international Glowforge delivery).
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