100% agree if there is any way the 
works for you this is a big reason to stay. I am in a lot of groups, some take a whole 5 min. out of my week, as there is nothing happing, this forum is different than any other I have been on.
But yes, you do need to pay attention to the date when you search something as search results will go all the way to beta units.
@jamesdhatch
i am looking at the cooling differently. If you add an external chiller you should never have to worry about the temperature of the workspace being a little too hot or a really long job overheating the GFpro. The woodshop that I will be putting is different that I had planned since my filter is months away. It was going into the the metal shop which is heated and cooled but I can not cut holes in the wall in there.
While that (customer support) is definitely a factor; an even bigger factor to me is their attitude, specifically Nick Barr.
Sort of. Not entirely though. The Redsail has an industrial external chiller. I believe itâs 5000BTU capacity. But, I have had it overheat due to the chiller not being up to the ambient (90F+) and project cut duration (several hours). My experience with the PRU this summer and the temps in CT led me to the inevitable conclusion that I need to a/c the basement or move the GF upstairs. An industrial chiller (which is not what the Muse has - itâs just too small, youâd need to get a real one) may delay the overtemp issues, but nothing beats large scale a/c (or even a 15K BTU room unit). 
Thanks for the comment @jamesdhatch⌠I guess I can just run the heat pump thermostat to 70 and leave it there in the metal shop.
Surprised on needing a bigger chiller. Good to know!
The jury is still out for me on the Pro from a hot weather performance perspective - I know the Basic (PRU) wasnât up to 85F (or even 78/79F) and although the Pro is rated that high, I donât know how the Peltier cooler is going to keep up with that and if it gets hotter (didnât see it any more than that this year in the basement) it definitely will need to be upstairs.
Just tons of people worldwide who donât a/c their living spaces - much less their shop. The operating range is a big deal for many people. The pause to cool function may help but only the Pro users at mid-80F and above. Basics are in for needing to wait until the ambient is down into the 70s.
I have to say, Iâve been on the forums since the beginning. I only received my GF a c our of days ago, but based on everything I was reading I was preparing for the possibility of a smashed unit, connectivity issues, lose belts, major alignment issues and proofgrade not cutting right. So far, itâs all worked well (knock on proofgrade Maple)
So I guess you can expect that things are getting better. I would love to see a phone number where you can speak directly to a real love human tech support person, but Iâm sure they will get there.
Just a quick note on terminology. The âfocal lengthâ is a property of the lens. Itâs the distance it takes the lens to focus parallel incoming rays to a point. In the case of the Forge, I believe it is two inches. The focus range is what you are asking about, which in the case of the Forge, corresponds to the distance the lens can move, and it is something shy of 0.5 inches.
Of course, we have a tendency on this forum to creatively redefine terms. âFocusâ has even been used to describe the lid camera dewarp process in the cloud (which actually has the side effect of defocusing the image in some areas by stretching pixels)!
edit: stylistic presentation
I was referring to the focal length for the laser. If someone were to use the removable bottom as a passthrough, it would seem to put the object well out of the range of autofocus for the laser. I have not read the specs for the Muse, does it have autofocus?
No. I have seen in videos, it focuses like most do by manualy adjusting the head.
Iâve been working in hardware/software since I was sixteen and while everything has a bug list, not all bugs are the same. There are features not yet implemented and theyâre up front about it. Theyâve quietly changed one or two features since the initial crowd funding that I feel they should have been more upfront about. But it is a very workable piece of hardware and it would appear that they have the money, and will continue to have the money going forward, to keep fixing bugs and rolling out features. Now if there is something it doesnât offer, like operating temperature range, rotary attachment, more z-depth, that you need than, honestly, you shouldnât be here. There is no reason to believe those are coming. But I think any sense you have of this being a buggy, just working, several thousand dollar potential brick, isnât accurate. That you could feel that being forced to sit on the sidelines is, however, perfectly understandable.
Maybe Iâm missing something. I thought lasers produced collimated (parallel rays of) light. So there wouldnât really be a focal length for the laser itself. Itâs only when it passes through the lens in the head that the rays converge to a point. I think to focus way low (below the existing base), youâd have to either use a longer focal length lens or modify the focus mechanism to drop the existing lens way down.
If I am tracking you right then yes, lasers by definition produce collimated light but for most of the path, the beam is about the size of a pencil. To have it do its work it still has to be focused on the work surface.
This is why on the the head comes out and takes a reading.
Not all lasers produce collimated light. Diode lasers, for example, produce a divergent beam without a lens.
Then are they lasers before the lens? I know my training is now very old but collimated used to be one of the qualifications for being laser emission.
Thanks for your comments. I made a choice to go with the GF and the specs it had at that time and do not regret that choice. But find getting current info about what is working and what is not working frustrating enough to look around and see what else is available.
I beg to differ some on the bugs. Features not implemented are just that. I donât think of those as bugs. But as you read all the posting (as I have tried to do) one gets the sense at times that a lot of people are having problems. Some of those are old postings that came up again as an unread addition and as @markevans36301 reminded me⌠pay attention to the date. But I do wonder have some of those items been fixed. I am sure that many if not most have been but not sure.
I have run a software development company for many years and I guess my demand for current issues lists at the office might be clouding my views on what is being worked on on GF.
Is there a list somewhere that shows what is implemented and what is still coming. I have only seen on thing on that. It would a good thing for me.
Anyway before anyone ejects me from this forum that I read everyday I will continue to wait for my GF to get here. And I will not mention Muse. I will not mention Muse. (Grin)
Yes they are lasers because of the way they make coherent light by stimulated emission between two mirrors. I donât think collimated is a requirement.
No one will eject you 
many competitors lasers have been discussed on this forum. Dan himself has made suggestions.
As for the punch list, etc youâre looking for: when you receive your email to initiate the shipping process, you receive a list of current feature status and what work is to be done there. You have to agree to that list to initiate the shipment process. As for a Public/external bug list, there isnât one.
Thanks. Seems like I did hear someone mention that maybe even posted one.
I had to go read up, wiki, in the intro makes it sound like collimated is a required characteristic but in the 6th or 7th paragraph, you are vindicated with a mention of exceptions.
The fact that laser diodes didnât exist when I first learn lasers could explain my not knowing this exception. thanx