Interestingly enough, my eyes first read that “Mall” as “Mac”. Perhaps because I remember how people with Real Computer-based whatevers (drafting, typesetting, word processing, you name it) considered macs to be not real computers or not real professional machines even as they got their lunches eaten.
There’s going to be a lot of crap produced on glowforges in the next few years along with a lot of really cool stuff. Simply because the barrier to entry is so much lower, both for cost and for learning how to operate the tools. So yeah.
I would also be surprised in in the next few year someone doesn’t figure out how to port a much-more-usable workflow to the cheap chinese lasers, and maybe compensation for at least some of the bad-tolerance hardware.
This isn’t the case though. the glowforge is making more and more people realise that these things exist but the barrier to entry has been low for quite a long time now. Functional machines can be bought for much less than the glowforge so I can see why these kinds of statements bug people.
The glowforge hasn’t reinvented the wheel and a lot of people who are late to the party think they are early to it
The “barrier” I was referring to is actually three things: the software needed to cut/engrave, the amount of work needed to get the hardware to function properly, and the cost of the laser cutter. Case in point: @karaelena started using his Glowforge 22 minutes (IIRC) after opening the box. To me that says that both the hardware and software are refined to a point that no other cutter under $10,000 can reach. I’m pretty certain that what he accomplished doesn’t happen with a Chinese laser.
All of this is just my opinion, though. I’ve never used a laser cutter in my life despite the fact I’ve researched them on and off for several years. The Glowforge is the first laser cutter that made me think I could own it without spending a fortune in both time and money.
I can do all of those things with the Chinese import machines we sell and on a good day any one of our customers can do too. If the machine doesn’t work then it can be a bit more complex but it’s too soon to say if all the glowforges will work that well off the bat (but I have high hopes for them).
The glowforge has done an excellent job of marketing and all those other laser cutter companies who can do the same should have been shouting out about it too. Lasers aren’t complicated machines to set up and run even if you have a fixed tube and full alignment. Many of our customers have never used a laser either and after reading a few manuals they are aligning their own machines and cutting wonderful things.
It’s just an experience thing I suppose, if you don’t know it already exists then you’re going to think that way.
Let me add some clarification to my ‘22 min’ statement.
Glowforge shipped a 77lb box that has laser tube and optical equipment in it. I live in VA. They are as you guys already know are in Seattle. The method it traveled was by FedEx. It arrived at my front doorstep needing some mild assembly and some ‘stop blocks’ removed to keep stuff from moving.
I powered it up. I had the setup page already open. Did what the page said- Then it did its magic. Couple mins later I saw a picture of the bed.
Since I had access to the page a couple days before I got the unit. I had couple things already loaded.
Loaded a sheet of proofgrade. It detected it. I clicked the things that need to be cut then the things that need to be engraved. Clicked 'Print". It spooled up like a 767 and lasing was in progress.
So my statement was mostly about the fact that a precision optical device needed no calibration when it exited it box. That’s the underdog feature if you ask me.
I guess I’ve been reluctant to buy a Chinese laser because of all of the negative things I’ve heard about them (poor software, poor support, cheap hardware, etc.). I agree that Glowforge’s marketing has been excellent and some of my enthusiasm about the product comes directly from this. I also agree that the Glowforge experience won’t always be rainbows and unicorns, but I still think they’ll come closer to anyone else for the foreseeable future. In any case, they’re the first laser manufacturer to convince me to finally open my wallet.
Actually many of the weike machines are aligned straight out of the box from China. I’ve also manhandled one of them up 2 flights of stairs and it was still aligned at the top (They’re awkward to move on your own). Alignment straight out the box isn’t new either, but you get a lot of horror stories that put people off.
These forums are the wrong place to be arguing from a neutral view point
How many people with a Chinese laser were cutting/engraving 23 minutes after unboxing? ( not me- that’s for sure!!!). The guy at the Tucson makerspace literally called the GF vaporware… I so look forward to recieving mine . Everyone’s entitled to their opinion I guess.
I can bottle some of that vaporware coming out my exhaust and ship it to him. The walnut smells the best, the acrylic is intriguing. The cotton fabrics were hardly noticeable in the cutting, but during the engrave, especially the darkest, it was smoking good.
I do have to start thinking about an airtight coupler since the rings on the supplied exhaust tube are getting a bit loose. At least the CO2 detector nor the smoke detector hasn’t buzzed yet, so I’m good.
Edit: spring in the hose on the window side are loosening from repeated removal.
Definitely. I got the same vibe from the FSL Muse “order info” they emailed me. Very defensive which is unfortunate because they do have some good things going for them. Just very unprofessional.
The Glowforge end is just fine with the ring clamp. I’m talking about the other end that goes onto my tin can in the celotex that is just loose slipped over. I take that end on and off, which is out of the use specs for a vent hose. The large spiral spring does expand and loosen over time in cases like this. I’ll let @rita know this to reinforce the necessity of ring clamps for the user controlled end.
That’s why I would like to make a magnetic plate coupling that seals so I can do a quick disconnect and put a plug into the can. I didn’t have an extra ring clamp and don’t want to mess with screw drivers each time I disconnect.
I think I have the materials now and am ready to tackle this job. I couldn’t find them in my workshop so I cleaned everything this morning of laser detritus and offcuts and there they were in a plastic bag.
