I started teaching a high-school Design class (“Product Design and Manufacturing”), we are short-staffed, are missing an art teacher this year, and it was something enough students have an interest in.
I’m getting them to do a ‘craft’ type project, ala something they could sell at a weekend festival or on Etsy, and nudging them strongly to make it doable (cutting / engraving) on a laser-cutter (aka my GF).
I’ve given them some X cents per inch on cutting 1/8 or 1/4 plywood (based on PG and Purebond I frequently use), Y cents per inch square for engraving.
As they get closer to prototypes, I’d like to get a better estimate for costs.
Other than leaving my GF at home on, and connecting / logging in from school and giving it a fake “ready” run (do the ready in the web browser, but cancel once it comes back with the time estimate), is there another way I could get a better estimate?
Main ideas students are doing are boxes with designs cut out (for candle or led candle), key chains, chessboard & pieces, and pendant light “shade”.
There is no way other than that. The motion plan for the file has to go to the cloud and back to the GF…and that’s the only source for the amount of time it will take to make the print.
Many people have wished for a way to get print-time estimates from uploaded designs, but the fact is the time is only calculated when you go to print it.
You can send your request to support but I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s been on the wish list since the beginning.
I wonder if it would make sense to buy a nonfunctional Glowforge super cheap that has working WiFi, just for this purpose. You could strip down any parts that still work and use them for your working Glowforge. Maybe @Deleted knows where you could get such a beast.