Why is everyone on this forum an electrical engineer…and how do the know so much about physics? 
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idk im a Ph.D in Physics . and im sure many people know just as much if not more than me on this forum! Maybe you need a Ph.D to run these machines
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I have a degree in electrical engineering. We had to learn a LOT of physics.
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I think the Glowforge attracts the type of people who are creative engineering types. I am a mechanical engineer and I use it for both business and hobby. I also worked in IT for several years and currently work in developing integrated mechanical and electrical systems, so knowledge of this type of thing is pretty important for that.
i hate physics and math. i stopped math after algebra II and trig in HS.
i mean, i’ve always been pretty good at math, i just hate doing it. 
i do work with a lot of (architectural) engineers, tho.
I know, I’m in literally the same boat. I was making fun of everyone throwing around their degrees like it means something. My friend studied pastry and she is one of the best computer scientists I’ve met, all self taught to boot.
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some of that i think can be generational. it seems harder to break into fields now without degrees.
i studied history and political science. and changed to the graphic design field at 30. i did take some design classes afterward, but still don’t have a design degree. and i’ve been pretty successful for the past 25 years. but i don’t know how easy it would be for someone to replicate my path in today’s job market.
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Everyone has their own path for sure
That’s absolutely correct
Yep, worked for me too 
Best thing I’ve done on a GF. Wait,… What???
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In the electronics industry we don’t use “Static”. The term is “ESD” for “Electro-Static Discharge”. 
The concern about a vacuum cleaner generating ESD is a non-issue. Air flowing over the fan doesn’t care whether it’s because the fan is turning or an external source is sucking. And air flowing over the fan doesn’t cause an ESD problem when the fan is actually running under power, so it won’t when the fan is running under the influence of an external vacuum.
Touching the GF and getting a zap is also unlikely to cause the GF any problems. Anything you can touch on the exterior, that also conducts electricity, is grounded (or the GF would have failed UL certification). If the GF is plugged in, the discharge goes right to earth ground. If it’s not plugged in, it dissipates in to the structure of the GF, and because there’s no place for it to go, no current flows and no damage can ensue. The charge would slowly leak away, or someone else with a lower charge would touch the machine and draw the charge off, or you’d plug the machine in and the charge would go to earth ground through the cord.
The only way I can think of you should be able to wreck a GF with ESD is to build up a nice big charge and then reach in to the open machine to touch a component on a circuit board.
The concern is that during use a vacuum cleaner generates a lot of static charge. This is due to the dust flowing over and through the nozzle. If you get the nozzle charged and close enough to a PCB it may discharge. For this reason, vacuum cleaners and blowers used for electronics cleaning are designed to dissipate the static charge from the wand or nozzle to prevent this risk. Someone using a shopvac in a Glowforge stands the chance of touching one of the exposed components with a charged wand, hence the warning about it.
Exactly sir
I thought the proposed use of the shop vac was to suck the exhaust fan clean from the outside. I wouldn’t recommend a shop vac to clean a PCBA if for no other reason that you’re likely to knock components off the PCBA with the hard end of the vacuum hose…
There is no knocking
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