I left work early on Wednesday to prepare for Thanksgiving.
Right before I left, I received a notification from UPS that my Glowforge hath arrived.
Almost immediately after, I received this image via text from my wife:
A closer look revealed that it was the Glowforge’s second package (ie. the one with the crumb tray).
Not a good omen.
It’s a good think that you can’t prank a prankster. I didn’t fall for it… No sir!
I came home to not only find that smashed up boxed empty, I also found my Glowforge unboxed and placed on its custom-made table in my office / MAKERspace.
Talk about incredible service!
I spent the last ~4 days learning to tame Drachenfeuer to the best of my abilities.
It is most certainly trial and error, but I’m getting the hang of things.
The biggest issue so far is the noise. Simply put, the Glowforge is loud!
I read somewhere on the forum to wrap the exhaust tube with an towel and I have to admit that it helps quite a bit.
However, it still sounds like a loud vacuum cleaner while it’s running.
One of the walls of my office has a huge opening into our dining room so that the house feels really open.
Result: you can hear the Glowforge running (loudly) from virtually anywhere in the house.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, this is a serious piece of equipment.
To remedy the situation, I’m thinking that I’m going to have to purchase a giant pane of glass and caulk it in that opening to at least contain the noise to only the office. I think you’ll still get most of the open feeling, but certainly a lot less of the noise.
FYI: My desk itself is about 2.5 feet away from the Glowforge and I spend a lot of time there. My goal is to be laser cutting whenever I’m at my desk. Result: my Bose noise cancelling headphones are going to practically live on my head.
The Proofgrade material seems pretty awesome, but weeding the sticky tape is not my jam. I’ve been removing the masking BEFORE I start lasering to save time. I don’t mind the smokiness.
Simply put, Proofgrade makes getting up and running easy and quick. That in itself is amazing.
I don’t necessarily agree with all of the Proofgrade settings, so I’ve been tweaking them a little and keeping track of what works best.
In other news, I purchased a thickness planer on Friday (no it was not on sale even though it was Black Friday) so that I can thin out virtually any old wood boards I want and use it in the Glowforge. I figure that the $375 on the planer will pay for itself in just a few months of lasering free scrap wood. So, here is my first project:
These coasters are made from scrap 3/4" blue stain pine (also called Colorado Beetle Kill) tongue and groove boards I have laying around.
I ran them through the thickness planer until they were 1/2" thick because that’s what Glowforge advertises as the thickest material you can cut.
I think the engraving itself came out great. No complaints.
Cutting the perimeter/outline was tough. After all, these coasters are 1/2" thick!
I used full power, 115 for speed and 2x passes. It definitely cut through, but there was A LOT of charring.
I am considering just scoring the perimeter/outline for the next batch and using my scroll saw.
It would be more work and less accurate, but the clean outer edge would be so nice…
So, what on Earth is POW HAUS?
A few months ago, my wife and I purchased a beautiful rental property across the street from Beaver Creek, one of the best ski mountains in Colorado.
It is our dream come true.
We spent the last 3 months getting it ready for the ski season, which started just this weekend. Perfect timing!
If any of you are planning to visit the Beaver Creek area, please consider staying at POW HAUS.
You can learn more here: www.powhaus.com
Lastly, for anyone that is tracking progress: I ordered a Pro on Oct 19th 2015 and received my “golden email” on October 26th.
Cheers,
Jason (@Secret_Sauce)
