Hey all,
I don’t want to start anything about shipping dates, but has anyone, anywhere gotten a unit Beta or otherwise?
Just wondering
The people whom received beta units signed non-disclosure and we will never know who they are, that is all the info that you will find re the beta units unless you yourself were a successful applicant. Shipping is due for June and nothing more anyone knows unfortunately.
It is an irritating time without info, but on the other hand having beta testers allowed to post and give out info, would just cause issues for the GF team and testers themselves, as well as too much info getting out there allowing “rip-off” units to be produced.
We need to try keep our confidence and patience for a few more months as it will definitely be worth it.
We all want info and news but the best is kept for last as they say.
Cheers
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So beta units DID go out? Good. I had not heard a confirmation on that.
No, they have not. 2+ weeks ago Dan put up banners indicating that they have not, and he has not indicated that they have shipped since then, so until mentioned otherwise, they have not shipped.
I wouldn’t bet your paycheck on that. No one has had any confirmation of any Beta units being shipped. The closest we have had was Dan posting…
Now if you want to assume that means private beta units have shipped then I guess that’s up to you. They might have shipped but I am not ready to make that leap.
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I have wonder if they will be doing a ‘test cut’ as a final QC procedure on each GF unit before shipping, similar to the test print done on my 3D printer (PrintrBot Play) before it was shipped. Would hate to be in a discussion over who is responsible for return and repair shipping costs if a unit were to arrive dead.
Obviously I don’t know. But it would seem necessary to test the alignment of each unit prior to shipment. We have been told that the cooling system will be pre-filled so the unit should be ready to test. I don’t like to assume things but it would surprise me if the assembly line isn’t a contracted operation. GF would probably require alignment and testing prior to shipment. I’m guessing the only question really unanswered is whether a test print/burn would be included with the shipment.
The laser does have to be fired to get the alignment securely dialed in. Well, that isnt’ true. With an externally powered laser pointer which can be secured to the laser tube with reliable matching beam position you need not fire the actual laser.
But… doing a cut is NOT required for the alignment, even if you do use the actual laser tube. And since we don’t know what the end use will be for a given glowforge, it is likely better than no test cut is performed. If you plan to use the glowforge exclusively for food, you would be livid if someone cut acrylic in there during initial testing.
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Didn’t think about the food thing but was really just talking about checking the alignment of the spot and the mechanical/electrical operation of the belts, Vwheels, cameras etc. You could test it with rice paper for all I care, but it still needs to be tested in some way. Too many ribbon cables, connections, pumps, fans, and mechanical things to go wrong. No way to test the components individually and just assume they function as a unit. End-to-end testing will need to be performed. Either that or maybe 1500 of 10000 orders would be very, very unhappy. The folks at GF are smarter than that.
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True, if they use something food safe then it will be good. You could run with nothing at all, but then you don’t see how precise the focus is on the beam.
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We don’t really know where they are in terms of testing. But I think it’s safe to say all of the original schedule slop is gone. Back in September my most optimistic delivery guesstimate was end of April, beginning of May. Don’t see that happening for me now. But still very confident that my most pessimistic delivery guess will be beat. Won’t say when that is but I believe we’re on the downhill slope.
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They have beta units. The have public beta units at the office that they have been discussing and showing the work from for the laser Thursdays. There is expected to be other privately discussed beta units shipped to those that applied and passed thier stringent selection criteria. Just because some person isn’t blasting the forums with early operation use stories, doesn’t mean that beta units haven’t shipped. It means that testers under an NDA are respecting the NDA.
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I wish I could share you confidence on this one Rick, but I will be absolutely blown away if they have 10,000 GF units on courier trucks by June end. I mean absolutely blown away! Personally, I’m still hopeful for my October 2 order to ship by October end. Just imagine for one moment just how long it will take to assemble, calibrate/test, package and ship 10,000 units by hand. Even at a hundred units per day they would have to be assembling right now. If you believe that process will be preformed by an automation system, you have to understand how long it takes to design, test and implement one. Even the GM plant in Lancing MI only puts out ~ 750 vehicles per day and that is running 3 shifts with ~ 3,500 employees . I know these units are not cars and not being assembled by the GF team, but people just shouldn’t get all stressed out if come mid May there is a shipping update that pushes the schedule a fair bit further out.
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I parsed my words carefully. I won’t say the schedule is blown without seeing the project plan. My personal assumptions are irrelevant. Still, I would be pleasantly surprised to see my “first day” unit arrive in June. Downhill slope just means I believe most of us are past halfway. There might still be a dozen little irritations remaining in the development process though don’t see any technological challenges. (Other than how they ship a very large fragile device around the world.)
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It has occurred to me,as I’m sure it has to other “non-domestic” would-be GF owners, that those of us far removed from the US are likely to get our machines later rather than earlier, irrespective of order dates.
Preliminary shipments, I would have thought, will be sent to “near” destinations fine tuning shipping, returns DOA procedures and the like.
When shipping starts I’ll not be holding my breath waiting for my GF to arrive in Australia and, if I’m honest, I’d much rather have it arrive in ready-to-go condition.
I doubt the delay before shipping international will be very long. It was stated that the first units will trickle out to domestic locations to ensure the packaging/shipping process is worked out. Don’t have any way of knowing but that might only be hundreds of units. Not even the first 12 hours of orders. Who knows you might get yours before mine. The Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia where I live might be considered a hazardous shipping destination. 
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You may be a little north but will you be making banjos with your GF?
You’re probably joking but the answer is actually yes. I work on banjos and other instruments for friends There is a small amount of work that the laser is suited for. That’s me with the upright bass though I mostly play oldtime banjo. Just walked in the door from playing tonight.
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What a great photo…made even better done in sepia tone.
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The picture is a tin type. Those are the true colors. Lisa Elmaleh travels the country with her large format bellows style camera taking vintage pictures of interesting folk life. I can tell you it’s pretty darn hard to stay perfectly still for 20 seconds. Notice the little boy couldn’t do it.
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