I would like to know why Glowforge offers “hundreds of materials”, yet all the acrylic is currently out of stock. I have not been able to get proofgrade materials for months. This is ridiculous. You cold at least refer us to some other places that will sell it to us. sheesh!
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There is a pandemic that has run rampant over acrylic supplies.
If you search the forum for acrylic suppliers you’ll find dozens recommended.
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Many of those places also don’t have or have very limited supplies. There was this little viral thing that sucked the acrylic out of all suppliers for cashiers and PPE and other safety gear.
I’ll bet the over protective lawyers have something to do with no suggests on where else to go but a quick search for 1/4 or 1/8 acrylic suppliers will turn up a decent amount of places for you.
I got distracted by plumbers ripping out a sink set to replace here at the hospital so forgot to post my response to @deirdrebeth, you beat me there. 
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There are lots of acrylic suppliers and acrylic is pretty standard stuff so you won’t have a quality issue. I suggest you consider Johnson Plastics Plus, Tap Plastics, Trotec, Cerulean Tides, Estreet Plastics to name a few.
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Can vouch for quality of eStreets but it took 1.5 months to ship because acrylic is high demand. Also look up cast acrylic on Etsy, you can find white, black and clear usually, probably more but I haven’t looked much.
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I’ve been able to find it elsewhere, but I would rather buy proofgrade from glowforge. That’s all. I believe they should try harder to find resources to keep their shelves in stock. Especially by now.
If you’re only gonna buy Proofgrade, you’re missing out on a wider variety of beautiful woods and MUCH cheaper acrylic.
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Please share where you get the different woods!
I know I just wanted to vent
Thanks
There are tons of posts in the forum regarding wood sources. Ocooch Hardwoods, Colorado Heirloom, Home Depot. Smokey Hill Designs, Cards of Wood, Trotec, Johnson Plastics Plus, Woodpeckers, freedformhawaii.com for Koa, etc., etc., etc.
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I think that a corporation that profits substantially by overcharging for their materials is not low on stock due to a lack of effort on their part.
I think it’s safe to say that they’re highly motivated to keep taking your money for something that you can usually buy for less than half the price elsewhere. In fact I’m willing to bet they are even more eager to restock than you are.
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Just to reiterate: Cast acrylic is basically all the same. The stuff you buy from GF is the same stuff being sold by the other places for the most part, but possibly with different masking. If you want more unique patterns, you have to buy off brand, though,
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It took 2 months for us to receive an order from eStreet during the middle of this. I was needing sizes and colors that Glowforge didn’t offer. Glowforge is just getting hit by the disruption in the supply chain as well it appears.
WHY would they recommend going elsewhere? That is detrimental to their business. Besides there are plenty of places that people have recommended in the community. I really prefer their wood because of the finish and that it is already masked…I’m a lazy hobbyist. I like to cut, peel and go…so I understand we may share that in common. 
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There’s nothing magic about proofgrade materials. Acrylic is acrylic. Get it wherever you can find it and get it cheapest.
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I know I shouldn’t be surprised by it, but I don’t understand how after almost 10 months of dealing with the pandemic people still don’t understand how it’s affected the supply chain. But either way, everyone is right and acrylic is acrylic and there is nothing unique about GF acrylic. (The wood products are different though.) Here’s a link to a bunch of suppliers and you’ll find some available, but you may have to shop around for specific colors because many of them are running low too.
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I buy my acrylic from Cerulean Tides online or Etsy. I get it in under a week, it’s a lower $ amount for free shipping and it comes masked on both sides. Home Depot carries Pure Bond Maple in 5/32 in packs sized for the GF and a variety of other woods in 1/4 inch that they will cut and ship to you for free with a $45 purchase. The only thing I am really missing from GF is the Medium Basswood Ply. I use that a a lot and I’m down to my last sheets. It is annoying that other companies and even small businesses seem to be able to get stock but I’m thinking they are A) focusing their attention on actual lasers possibly and b) possibly hoarding what little they do have to send out with every sold machine. I haven’t read anything saying that someone didn’t get their materials when their machines came.
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I just see other places selling it and want to know why GF isn’t that’s all. I have ordered some from johnsons plastics (had to place a $400 order to get free shipping) only to find out there are horrible fumes encountered when I cut into their materials! So, its not that I am not aware…its that I trust GF products wont harm me or my machine… Thank you so much for the spreadhseet. You are appreciated…
I’ve purchases some from another place it is smelled horrible when I cut it and I don’t want to mess up my machine. It was also much more expensive.
This is awesome. Thank you.