I previously asked about the bed size being incapable of handling 24" material, and was told it was due to shipping cost. Would it be possible to have a survey to determine how many people would prefer to pay more on shipping (I’d gladly pay triple) if it meant 24" material could be cut? 20" is not a standard material size and many people (like me) enjoy the simplicity of the laser cutter and do not wish to purchase an electric saw just to cut down material. I can’t picture a person wanting to buy that convenience and capability if it is only more on shipping.
At this point in the design phase, making a change like that is likely too late, and would cause a huge delay.
A jigsaw is a simple and affordable option to cut your material down to size. A compound sliding miter saw would the the ideal tool though.
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~12" X 20" (well, 300mm x 500 or 11.811" x 19.685") is a very common CNC laser bed size; some parts (bed, gantry assembly, etc.) may even use off the shelf parts to keep cost down. It’s the largely the cloud computing/camera driven setup/filtration system/stylish case design that sets the Glowforge apart from its competitors.
That probably contributed heavily to the decision to make the Glowforge this same size. It makes its bed/wattage/features comparable to other laser rigs so you can get an idea of other products on the market and see what makes the Glowforge stand out.
I was wondering about the bed size also. It seems most bulk material comes in 12"x24" sizes. I was wondering if 12"x20" was a hardware limitation. Like the size of monitors is dictated by the common sizes sheet glass come in. I was then going to suggest if there is a physical reason behind 12"x20" cutting area that doesn’t have the change if you can still fit a 12"x24" piece of material in the bed. Just have the camera align the pattern after the material is moved around just like when flipping over for a thicker cut.
It’s been said here before that the 12x20 size was influenced by the shipping costs. Any bigger and it moved up to an oversize charge. Don’t know, just relaying what we were told by the company.