Archived Live Q&A from 11/20/2015

Alright, Q&A!!

With the recent thread on working at Glowforge, do you have any ideas/hopes on how big the company will grow? Do you imagine satellite offices in other states some day?

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Are the layouts of the glowforge being left somewhat open for hacks? for example… are the stepper motors using belts we can pull off and potentially attach to other devices, like rollers for circular engraving?

I think so many cool innovations come from the hacker community, so in putting these together if that was kept in mind, it might lead to some really cool upgrades for glowforge v2 that you guys didnt think of.

3 Likes

Do you foresee the software covering all the of use cases around the glowforge?

context:
I recently purchased an x-carve and found out that their included software, which is very similar to the glowforge software, will only perform a fraction of what can actually be done with the product. (3d cuts are a no go with their built in software).

In order to perform the more complicated cuts, I have to purchase a very expensive piece of software from a 3rd party. Im hoping that this will not be the case with the glowforge, as the other software that is out there is not designed to manage the additional hardware capabilities of the unit.

7 Likes

Software Feature List: As a consumer oriented software developer, many of the projects I have worked on have very high amounts of user input as to what features will be available in the future. We even let some users post new feature requests in our project management software, and see our products feature road map.

That being said, will the glowforge have an upcoming feature list for the software? Will this list be publicly accessible and possibly allow customer influence, and if so to what extent? Will your code be open source to allow for pull requests for additional features should someone be so inclined?

5 Likes

There have been a number of threads questioning the filter’s ability to eliminate odors and/or harmful gasses. I get it that you keep saying it doesn’t need to (and cannot possibly be) vented when the filter is in use, but can we get a direct statement about just how clean and odor free the air coming out of the filter will actually be under the all day use some of the pro models will get?

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@dan: What can we do to start preparing for the GF? Also, do you have a recommendation on courses for designing products for the GF?

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What, if anything at this point, is the biggest threat to shipping on time?

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How about just a quick update on orders to date and breakdown of pro, basic, filter.

Also out of curiosity, what’s the largest order?

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Do you plan on getting the material shop up and running while shipping units, or will we need to source materials elsewhere for some period of time after we receive our glowforge(s)?

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The draw and cut/engrave is a truly killer feature that has been shown a lot. What’s a great feature you think people may not be aware of?

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Does the cutting bed have any indexing points or rulers?

How far away is 2.5d variable power/focus engraving? Will it be available when you ship machines?

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What is the actual size of the bed? cutting size is 12x20, but is there any wiggle room for marginally oversized pieces of material? room for fingers to grasp the edges of the material? maybe a picture of a 20" ruler sitting in the bed, showing the edges?

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How good is the filter gonna be? will we really be able to use the Glowforge inside with just the filter and no additional venting? Will the filter elements be replaceable individually or will they be a combined unit?

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Will there be any open Beta testing for the software and if so how can we join the beta test team?

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How do we reset the machine? (I see this likely if something strange happens like your destroy your router that the Forge is configured for, and now need to access the settings to configure for new router)

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How far backwards compatible will the software be? Basic browser-version/system requirements? Will tablet/smartphone interaction be via web browser or app?

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Is there an API planned? Or any other way for the community (even just select members of) to contribute to the functionality of the Forge. When someone is passionate about a feature that your team doesn’t see as a priority, they would love to be able to self-develop it I am sure.

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Have you been working with any designers behind the scenes to propagate the catalog with initial offerings?

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Has resilience testing started on any components? I am a klutz and I am very curious how hard it will be to accidentally shatter or disconnect the lid when loading hardwoods.