Hello!
I am the happy owner of a Glowforge and am eagerly awaiting the exhaust system. In the meantime, I do have a question. Currently, I am unable to vent the exhaust outdoors so I have not used my Glowforge yet! Can you believe it! I spent months working on stuff to print, too. I do not want to negatively impact any of the other artists in our building. Anyway, I was wondering if there was a work around I could use until the exhaust system arrives or am I stuck? Will the exhaust system negate the necessity of venting to the outside? I hope so or I will have to find another studio.
Thank you so much!
You can buy another kind of CO2 laser filter, but they tend to run about the cost of the Basic, and are big and bulky. 
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If by exhaust system you mean the Glowforge filter, my understanding is that it will allow use of the Glowforge without outside venting. You may find that it will be more costly to run if you have a high production rate, due to the need to change out internal filter material.
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That’s a bummer, Jules, but thank you for the information. I will just have to patient.
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Thank you, cynd11. I will just have to wait for the filter and purchase a bunch of filter material. That would probably be cheaper than finding a new studio. Le sigh.
Can’t punch a hole anywhere in the wall? Really might be cheaper.
LOL! Unfortunately, none of the walls leads to the outside. I may have to look around for a studio with access to the outside.
You could look at renting a fume extractor for the short term. I’m not sure how much they go for, though.
Thank you, Joe! I will look into that.
BOFA is the big name brand. We have one at work. It’s the size of a refrigerator but you can’t smell anything when the laser is going.
IIRC, that’s the brand that Glowforge The Company uses at shows. At some show too long ago an attendee (or maybe it was Dan) posted which model was used. I tried searching for this post, but couldn’t find it.
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yes, BOFAs are beasts. they aren’t small, they’re not quiet (it’s louder than the universal laser it’s hooked up to at my office), and they aren’t cheap, but they work great.
Thanks for the assist @cynd11 and @Jules!
If you do vent outside, we recommend ventilating your Glowforge as described in the user manual. If you take a different approach, I’m afraid we can’t provide support for that. Our amazing community that may be able to offer advice or suggestions, though - you can ask in our Beyond the Manual section of the forum. Please note, information posted in that section of the forum is not reviewed or endorsed by Glowforge staff.
I’m going to close this thread - if you have another question, go ahead and post a new topic. Thanks for letting us know about this!