It seems this has suddenly become an issue like the quality has dropped. Nobody mentioned mould sink lines before and haven’t seen them on any pictures over the years until now. Does that mean the injection moulding pressure or temperature is too low?
I think most if not all of the lid alignment is simply that you need to place the machine on a perfectly flat surface or else shim the corners. Something that big and heavy isn’t stiff enough to maintain alignment itself.
The body of the machine should be under negative pressure, so gaps around the lid should not matter in theory. Does the air assist cause enough turbulent flow to allow it to leak? One could try sealing the lid with masking tape to see if it makes any difference but I expect as soon as you open it to remove the object you would get far more smell than when it is running.
Might get smells after the fans have stopped through lid gaps but if the vent is short, taped well and has no obstruction like a flap then there shouldn’t be any way for the smell to exit through cracks during operation. Even big gaps.
My machine definitely has air gaps where the lower and upper doors meet each other and where they meet the vertical surfaces of the rest of the case. These area do not have any type of gasket material to close up the gap. Its just a plastic on plastic fit and the fit is fairly tight, but air can get through. The fit between the glass sections on the top of the unit has rubber seals to close up the gaps and my machine does have the slight bow in the glass on the right side, which does seem to affect that seal. I stuck a piece of paper in the gap and closed the door and it was tough to pull that paper out. Not a great test, but good enough for me. I like @palmercr theory about lid alignment going out of whack on an unlevel surface, so I tested it and stuck a shim under one of the front legs and my unit did not sag on the unsupported side. The lid alignment seems to stay the same, pretty solid construction for a design with a big door right down the middle.
I have not noticed smoke or fumes leaking out of the machine during operation. During cutting you can watch the fan suck the smoke with gusto out of the machine. When the cut is done if you open the lid too soon there will be some smoke let behind. I would never be able to notice from smell alone if the machine is leaking. I have made a lot of cuts since receiving it monday, so the machine stinks of burnt wood and all the the off cut and finished work surrounding the machine smells as well like a camp fire. The whole area smells like burnt wood.
I also like @palmercr theory about the air assist pushing fumes out of gaps. I can imagine if the head is cutting close to the front door it could probably overpower the draft created by the fan and pouch some fumes throughout the gaps. I haven’t test it but Ill masking tape those gaps on my next test.
I think the machine does a sufficeint job congaing and expelling the smoke and fumes. I cut acrylic regularly in my shop and the odor is terrible even with all of my vacuums going. The best way to keep down the odor is large fans blowing through the whole room. I have barley noticed the odor when cutting acrylic on the glowforge. Granted the cutting processes are different from the router or table saw in my shop which spews fumes in all direction to the laser with its tiny kerf, but if the smell was the same in my house with the glowforge as in my shop, my family would be falling over from the smell and they have badly noticed it.
I suppose if you want a machine that totally contains all smoke and fumes then you might want to, inquire about and wait for further improvements down the line. Maybe they’ll add more gasketing material?
With that said, I love this machine, Well done Team Glowforge!
Given that he cut the box open to take that picture instead of lifting it out lends me to think he tries to solo move it smacked the corner (the scratch looks like a drab mark after hitting a wall) and tweaked the while chassis. And then said o crud and shoved it all back together and made a post to blame gf on it. Then again we may never know the truth of it because he didn’t do a on boxing vid un edited. So we leave it to a higher being to know and sort out
I just got my unit yesterday and am returning it for a replacement. I had many of the same issues minus the large scratch. I had glue blobs all over and paint chipped away.
I wouldn’t be so quick to question QC issues from flex at this point.
Side note @jrnelson was right about the “crack” it was just glue residue. I felt it as a protrusion with my nail and assumed it was a crack but it was just more crud.
That’s probably why Glowforge put that stuff about mars and scratches in the pre-shipping agreement (oops, I mean the post-shipping, pre-manufacturing-and-then-later-entrusting-a-shipping-company-to-deliver-the-machine-once-it-is-built agreement). Glowforge knows the machines are going out in perfect condition just as well as we do, but being the generous company that they are, they’re giving customers one more chance to defer their shipments until the machines are perfect (which I bet will be next week). That is truly going above and beyond!
I don’t think you can blame all of these defects on shipping. I don’t know much about a manufacturing line, but it seems like a lot of this little cosmetic stuff would be picked in a final test and quality inspection. I realize they are rushing to push these out and I,we signed on the dotted line for an early model, but giving the units a final wipe down and blowing off the dust is maybe not part of the process yet? I was surprised to open the box and find that the outer case and glass top are not protected. A lot of effort went into designing the protection for the entire unit and, bravo, its well protected, love the silicon bumpers between the v-grooves rollers and track, but no cling film material on the top glass or a bag around the entire unit to protect it from the elements? Surprising.
One step further, the outer carton is great with the handle/locks, but they are big opening for stuff to fall into the box and since the unit has no bag or film to protect it it can get damaged.
Again, I agreed to take delivery now and I like my unit so I’m not complaining, I just want help those who have received their email decide if they are going to receive now or delay.
Why? It’s a Support Ticket and it’s been resolved.
Problems and Support is an official Glowforge Help Desk. New threads create Support Tickets. It’s not a place for discussion, per se. When the issue is resolved (which it was), the topic is closed.
Briefly, cosmetic issues (small misalignment to glass designs or scratches) are still permitted for shipment; functional problems (lid refuses to close, cracks in the plastic) are not.
Sorry I never mentioned it.
It wasn’t a big deal to me. Some time between agreeing and receiving my unit, Dan dropped the news that there would be a black crumb tray.
I never had the opportunity for declining my machine in favor of that.
I never told you all that my offer email included information that some parts were likely to be updated in later machines as they were likely to switch suppliers for parts as they ramp up. I got assurances that this machine was indeed a production machine; but not the final production machine. It gets the warranty and the guarantee; but it may not be exactly parts-matched to the machines that will roll off the line in several months.
My apologies, all. I didn’t mean to be hiding that.
I thought it was no real news, or I would have shared.
I buy 8-year old and 11-year old cars pre-scratched and worn in, and I’m happy that I didn’t have to make the pie. I’m a clearance rack shopper at the thrift store.
Truth be told, I feel like my [edit: not-black] crumb tray is a pretty neat thing, because it is rare. I know… scratches aren’t rare features and they don’t up your value. I acknowledge that people like shiny and are willing to pay for it.
I will here and now tell any reader:
My forever Glowforge was built with non-final parts.
That means that I’ve been using this fantastic tool for 3 months, rather than wondering if it’s going to arrive in 2018 or not.
Thanks for that. BTW, the crumb tray is steel, aluminum is non-ferrous so magnets won’t stick to it.
Yeah, I have thought about asking to keep the original tray and just paying for it for the same reason. It reflects the battle scars of my education, and my very first products using a laser.
Thanks so much for that! I really appreciate hearing about the “inside scoop” of Dan’s communications with the production machine recipients. Makes me feel more connected.
I think this comes down to how people see their machines. Some people have a shop type environment, where only care about it working and know its going to get dirty, scratched, dented, etc. Others have a home/retail environment in mind like the video, where the unit is part workhorse, part show piece. For the latter group, they do care about things not looking good, or the unit not looking great when they receive it. Not all of the latter users will care, but for those who do, they should know these things in advance.
Call me old fashioned but you don’t start mass production until the design is finished and pre-production units are easy to make and work properly. Then you make thousands of production units that are all the identical.
If you are making small batches, waiting for feedback, halting production to implement engineering change orders then making another batch these are not production machines.
But GF always try to hide how far behind they so they call the first machines produced back in May “production machines”. They aren’t if they aren’t the final design and this explains why they haven’t ramped up to mass production volumes yet.