It’s gorgeous in this case. I can see that in some cases you might want precisely the same thickness; but I don’t see it as a failure here.
Josh, it’s stunning. Thanks for sharing.
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If you’re removing material, you’re leaving a kerf, doesn’t matter if you’re talking wire EDM, waterjet, or a hacksaw. Cutting on one side of the line or the other is, like, subtractive manufacturing 101.
If most laser cutter software is too stupid to simply offset the cut path by the radius of the cutting tool it’s no wonder there’s a gaping hole in the market that can be filled by more advanced machines like the Glowforge (I hope).
Forcing users to rely on crib notes (like an Excel spreadsheet) has been against the Glowforge philosophy from the beginning. A variable-width kerf from different materials, different thicknesses of the same material, and resulting from focusing at different levels are all things that should be easily calculable within the software fairly precisely.
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I think I understand what you’re asking and I was confused about the trip to illustrator at first too. But then I realized he needed 2 identical cuts lined up exactly the same, and the wood pieces are way, way smaller than his doodle (I’m fairly sure).
So, he couldn’t have cut directly over the sharpie drawing (even if that feature is enabled) because it wouldn’t have worked.
Gorgeous, Josh! Love the contrast in wood colors.
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I guess i could be specific and say all the entry level laser cutting software i have used. I definitely know what you talking about in mastercam or other tool path generating software.
I havent seen it, but im all for hoping that they have it 
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Awesome contrast…are those the mats Dan speaks of in his writing to us?
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Beautiful work @jkopel!!! The contrast of the two woods is stunning, I could see something like this hanging on the wall of a swanky penthouse loft 
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Holy smokes, that is very, very cool. Already have a few woodworking friends saving different woodtypes for me to play. This is all sorts of BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!
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This is incredibly inspiring, that something as simple as a doodle can be converted into an incredible work of art like this so quickly and easily! Kudos, Josh!
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Thank you for all the kind words. I have not gotten to make much “fancy shmancy artsy stuff” lately (to quote @smcgathyfay ) so it was fun to just play a bit.
I could probably have used the trace and cut to do something similar, but I am way to persnickety for that. Instead I had to trace it in illustrator so I could clean up a few details and rearrange a few elements.
@davidgal2 the dots are little cut holes that are part of the drawing. They are very small, but I managed to find one of the tiny “dots” that got cut out and stick it in the corresponding spot. Not sure it came out in the photos though.
@smcgathyfay I am not sure that being the laser doodler advances my cause much as far as my wife is concerned, but thanks nonetheless.
@marvelgirl2010 the black line is the edge of the Walnut, and is just the carbon from cutting.
@chrisgray1313 I am not sure which mats you are asking about. There was a thread about matte cutting for framing pictures, but this is not using any special matte material.
@steph Thanks, please send all those swanky penthouse loft people my way, I need to start selling things!
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i had been wondering about the doodles on your laptop, the ones right above your trackpad were visible in a previous shot… I was convinced that it was something written in stylized Elvish or somesuch!
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Yeah, they are just doodles, I never got around to learning Elvish.
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A solid thumbs up to your beautiful work! …and a nod/smile to the arduino on your desk!
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I noticed the artwork on your laptop, as well. Adds a very nice touch.
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@jkopel! That turned out fantastic! So simple, but incredibly beautiful!
ALSO! I spy a TI LaunchPad kit on your desk! I am the product manager for the TI LaunchPad products haha, so its great to see it being used by a fellow glowforger!
Cheers!
Adrian
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Wow that’s pretty cool! 
I am using one to build a TouchDRO for my milling machine and lathe (http://www.yuriystoys.com/). I like working with it so far, although the lack of a direct firmware flasher utility for the mac is a pain.
I am actually in the midst of drawing up a box to hold it and the scale reader circuits with all the cable cutouts, so I can cut them on the Glowforge.
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@jkopel I haven’t been able to find an answer to this elsewhere in the forums (perhaps it’s not one of the hundreds of responses I’ve read, or I could just be clueless). Perhaps you or @Dan can clarify? You say that you “took a picture with your phone”. To what extent is a phone required for the use of the glowforge? I have a scanner, a desktop computer, and an actual digital camera—but my smartphone camera isn’t that great at all.
I don’t believe your phone is necessary at all. It’s more of an option. For instance, while I was in Italy I took some pictures in Venice. These pics I will download and etch onto to something. Nothing you couldn’t do with your camera and desktop.
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I think what @Dan was suggesting was that if you had some sort of graphic showing on the screen of your phone you wished to duplicate – say an image of some type that you didn’t otherwise have a way of displaying or printing – that laying the phone as it displays the photo inside the Glowforge to allow it to scan the display is an option. He was joking that if you did that, to make sure you remove your phone first before you turn on the laser. 
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A phone is not required, unless you want to txt pictures of your marvelous creations to your mom.
As many people have noted, I could have put the image in the Glowforge and used the camera to take a picture. I could also have used a flat bed scanner. I used my phone because I wanted to bring the image into Illustrator, our scanner is down in the basement in my wife’s studio, and I am lazy.
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