Finished: Tell us why you bought a Glowforge

  • How did you see it?

If remember correctly, the first time I saw the video of the Glowforge was part of a Facebook post that came across my feed. It was shown to me, probably, because I was just starting to support different Kickstarter campaigns for 3D Printers. It was different than anything else I had seen so far.

  • What did you first think?

I loved the look and simplicity of it. The idea of cutting materials like leather and wood was so enticing, but the price was daunting. It was a lot to invest in and would be the most I had ever spent on a machine.

  • How long did it take you to decide?

To be honest, I went back and forth for a long while. I believe I cut it pretty close, not only in deciding on making a purchase at all, but whether to go with the Basic or the Pro. To add the air filter or not. It was a combination of the price comparison to other laser engravers, the projects shown in the video, and the promise of ease to use that ultimately made up my mind.

  • What, if any, reading did you do or discussions did you have before deciding?

I researched price ranges for other similar laser machines. I wanted to make sure it would be worth it.

  • Was anyone else a part of the decision?

My family helped me with the initial purchase.

  • What do you hope to get from your Glowforge?

I want to expand my business. I make jewelry, and I hope to be able to use the Glowforge to create pieces that not only can be accents, but focal pieces. I can also see myself using the Glowforge to build unique displays for my pieces.

  • If the purchase was wildly successful, tell us why and how you feel about it!

I have my Glowforge Pro, but I haven’t been able to use it just yet due to a medical issue with one of my family members, but once I am able to just watch out. I’ve learned a lot by reading the forums. I can’t wait to use my Glowforge to reach my goals and beyond.

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  1. How did you see it?
    On Facebook from a friend’s post.

  2. What did you first think?
    Immediately excited because I’d wanted a laser for quite a while, but what was currently on the market either wasn’t affordable (to me) or non-engineer-friendly.

  3. How long did it take you to decide?
    About a week of talking pros and cons to myself before deciding I had to have it.

  4. Reading or discussions? No, as I already was updated on laser available at that time.

  5. Anyone else a part of the decision? No

  6. What do you hope to get from your Glowforge? My favorite question. I’ve received my golden email, so very excited to get it soon! I am a jewelry artist working with metal clay. My work can be seen at cindysilas.com. Most of my designs use stencils, stamps, and molds. I’ll be able to make all of these tools and more with the laser! I’m especially excited about the hi-res 3D engrave. Ready to get started!

  7. Please deliver soon and I’ll be able to answer this!

:)) Cindy

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I first heard about the Glowforge from my daughter. Her graphic design teacher in college shared the Kickstarter video to the class. My daughter called me and said: Mom you’re going to want to get this. I went to the Glowforge website and watched the video for myself (the campaign had already ended).

I was blown away! The precision and apparent ease of use was amazing! The demonstration projects were beautiful. I had previously looked into other laser cutters, but the price was beyond my means. I figured I would never own a laser cutter. The Glowforge price range raised my hopes.

For about a week I contemplated whether or not to purchase the Glowforge. I watched and rewatched the videos of what this amazing cutter/printer could do. I talked with my husband about it and shared the videos with him. He was convinced right away and said I should get the Glowforge. Knowing that this machine was well worth the price, I still wrestled with the idea of spending “that much” for a hobby. Then about 11:30pm, one night while laying in bed, I made my decision. Thirty minutes later, I was the proud owner-to-be of a Glowforge.

I am looking forward to creating fun, beautiful, as well as practical projects with the Glowforge. I have a creative family who is just as excited as I am to get forging. I’m glad my daughter called me to let me know about this amazing machine. She was right: I was going to want to get the Glowforge. And I got one.

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I believe I first saw an ad for the Glowforge on facebook. I can’t remember if it was paid or someone I knew shared it.
I instantly wanted it and was trying to figure out how it could be mine! haha!
It took about a week to pull the trigger from when I first saw it.
I had to talk it over with my husband, and I didn’t know anything about Dan or Glowforge at all…but to be honest, I had peace about it. I follow my gut a lot and I didn’t feel any red flags, so we went for it…and I so glad we did!
The biggest discussion was about the funds…and even though it was within the first 30 days…that is a lot of money for us to come up with, and I would have loved to have purchased a pro, but as it was, we were scraping together what we could to at least be able to get a basic.
What I hoped to get from my Glowforge, I already got! My ideas brought to life! :smiley: It is what I was hoping it would be, plus some!
Besides getting an awesome machine, we also got a really awesome company that came with it! You all have surpassed my expectations with customer service, AND have provided a machine that you promised from the start. Yes, I know a bunch is still in beta, like the software, but I have confidence that that will grow into what you promised too. This was a huge undertaking, and it can’t be fulfilled overnight. I am so pleased with the machine and with the company and I would recommend them to anyone! As it is, I rave about you all every chance I get! :wink:

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I saw the Glowforge on Facebook well after the initial campaign was over. The video was slick and the projects featured in it looked like fun. I didn’t immediately order, but I kept seeing the Facebook ad. I discussed it with a coworker who owned a mechanical computer controlled engraving tool. A few weeks passed before I placed my order. I’m not particularly handy–I don’t even have a shop–but I have played around with computer graphics (ray tracing and the like) for decades. I figured I could use it to make personalized gifts for my family and friends. The Glowforge website made it seem easy enough to use, though I don’t have any previous experience with lasers.

The decision to preorder the Glowforge was mine and mine alone. I ordered the Basic version and the added filter unit.

I expect to use it for personalized gifts, and to help my kids with school and personal projects. I’ll soon be building a new home, so I want to use my Glowforge for home decor, such as custom engraved tiles for a kitchen backsplash and wood engraved movie star photos to decorate a home theater. I’m sure I will come up with other uses once I’m comfortable with using it. Perhaps I’ll eventually start making things to sell. Since I placed the order, I have retired, and I could use some “earned” income for tax reasons.

I only wish my father (who passed away a decade ago) could have lived to see this. He WAS handy (a natural engineer), and he would have been thrilled and amazed with the Glowforge.

Today was my Estimated Shipping Notification Date, and I received the email this afternoon. I provided my shipping address, and now I’m waiting for confirmation that my unit has shipped. I hope to be able to report that it was wildly successful.

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Wow, Joe and I have a lot of similarities!

I believe I first saw it through the Tested youtube channel, but it was also coincidentally when I was looking at lasers and 3D printers. When I first saw it, I was just blown away - I had never even seen a laser in person, and the marketing video had me hooked. In fact, I showed everybody that I knew the video and asked if they thought I should get one (which they all obviously did, because your friend getting a laser is just as good as you getting a laser). It took me about a week to decide, as well, but I was lucky enough that I was early in the pre-order campaign.

As for the reading and discussions, these were all things that I had already been doing, but for the epilog brand lasers. I was so captivated by lasers that I had requested some information from Epilog and they sent me their 3D engraved Mayan calendar as well as some veneer (I have the veneer still waiting to be lasered by my glowforge!). Glowforge happened to be doing their marketing campaign during the same time that I was looking at lasers, and because of the price, I couldn’t pass it up. My wife was a big part of the decision making, but we have had an arrangement for a few years that whatever she wants she can buy, and vice versa. She’s certainly not the type of person to randomly buy a laser, though, so you could say our arrangement is a little unfair :sweat_smile:.

My hopes for this machine have constantly changed. When I bought it originally, I had no idea of the capabilities, and at the time it was going to be more for hobby stuff, but as I’ve been making more things, I’ve been really enjoying the idea of making my own business! I suppose I have started small sales and commission work, so you could say I have started a business :+1: My real hope is that the Glowforge team will grandfather my original purchase price and allow me to purchase another machine, because I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one knowing what I do now!

To say that this purchase was successful is putting it mildly. It has literally brought, not only me, but those around me, heaps of joy and amusement. I haven’t necessarily considered myself a very creative person, but this machine has enabled me to consider myself a maker, and that has always been one of my dreams. It’s hard to beat a tool that can open as many doors as this one has.

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I still read blogs. I been reading them for over 15 years. I still read one of the first major blogs boingboing.net every day. I saw a post back in October of 2015 about the Glowforge and wanted to learn more. I had a Silhouette Cameo and used it to make paper models and stencils, but wanted to cut thicker materials. I was looking at CNC machines, a neighbor had a Carvewright that was loud and slow. I looked on instructables about making my own from scratch, or other sites for kits, but just kept waiting.

When I saw the Glowforge I thought it would be the best of both worlds, an indoor machine that also could cut through thicker materials. When I saw the video it was like magic. It was like no other laser cutter that I had ever seen. It looked like something from Cupertino. It took me two weeks to decide, I was close to the wire on the deadline. Mostly of the internal debate was between the Regular and the Pro. It was still a lot of money, but I convinced my wife I would get a few side hustles to pay it off.

I had seen a laser used once in person at a makerspace open house. They had to use a ruler to measure the height and had a computer connected to control it after entering the distance. It looked very industrial and not at all consumer friendly. After I made the decision to buy one, I told everyone I would have one by Christmas (boy, was I wrong). Everyone asked what I was going to do with one, and I said “I don’t know yet.” I still don’t know what I will make tomorrow.

It was a long and grueling wait. The only saving grace was the forums, if it wasn’t for that I am sure I would have asked for a refund. The forum is like a virtual makerspace, the real value isn’t the tools or the space, it is the access to the members.

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I first found out about the Glowforge while I was at a professional development training where we were visiting another high school’s makerspace. After learning all about their makerspace and seeing all of the equipment, the lead teacher of the school told us how much the Epilog lasers he had cost. This put us all off a bit as we didn’t have the budgets to afford them. He however said, let me show you this video of this new product coming out. So we watched the promo video. My first thought was that I really hope this thing is for real, because it looks just absolutely amazing. The school’s makerspace ordered two Pro units that night. It took my wife and I about 3 or 4 more days to check finances and make sure it was in the cards to do it and then we did! We had already started a little silhouette cameo based business and I do woodworking for others occasionally so we just discussed whether or not adding this kind of equipment to our capabilities was a good idea. Ultimately though we decided that we would get it for fun and if we happened to make money from using it then that was just the cherry on top. Since, getting our glowforge we have mostly made personal projects and gifts. It made Christmas amazing this year and everyone loved everything. We have had some smaller paying jobs centered around engraved necklaces and just recently cake toppers and as more and more people see the things we make the more word spreads. My son also won best design in the Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts due to some nice little engraved walnut veneer additions. Overall, I am just completely elated with this machine and can’t wait to keep creating!

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I first saw the Glowforge video on Facebook the last week of the crowdfunding campaign. A friend who thought it looked awesome had posted the video. I thought it looked great. I went and showed my husband the video. I asked him if he wanted it and decided to purchase it as a Christmas present. I placed my order the next day. I had never looked into other lasers and did not do any research other than looking at the Glowforge website.

My husband is a stay at home dad due to a car accident, but was a welder fabricator prior. When we placed the order we lived in Hawaii. The original plan was to make items to sell at farmers markets and our friends jewelry shop. Selling a personalized souvenir seemed like a great market.

Unfortunately, due to the cost of living in hawaii we decided to move back to Washington state. We have had our Glowforge for just over a month now. Since our original business plan is not currently an option we have only made a few things so far. We did just spend the weekend sourcing some materials.

We hope to start and Etsy business with a few ideas we have in mind. We have also made a local contact at a handmade furniture store that said he would be interested in selling some of our items and commissioning a few of his own.

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Would love to see the pictures of the pinewood derby car!

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The Glowforge was first brought to my attention the day the campaign launched by a group of co-makers on a 3D printer forum. I had never thought of getting a laser, and really had no intention of ever buying one, but the Glowforge was interesting to me for a couple of reasons. I liked the idea of having the machine inside, next to me in an office, where I could monitor progress. (It’s a requirement for the machines I buy.) And it looked very well designed with its included cooling and filter setup. In it I could also see an opportunity to expand into natural products like wood (as opposed to plastic) and I could see a lot of benefit to a faster processing time for getting prototypes out…3D printers are wonderful but so slooooooow.

I spent a couple of days doing significant research on it, and lasers in general, and spent a great deal of that time listening to horror stories from the very people who pointed out the machine to me in the first place. Wow, did that little machine trip some people’s triggers! Mostly they dealt with the potential for getting the units out by December of 2015, but that wasn’t something I expected, I knew it would take a couple of years to develop, (and I was busy anyway), so it was a non-issue in the decision making process. I liked the fact that I would be getting enough of a discount as a backer to make what was essentially a “hobby” laser for me feasible. Like I said, I didn’t actually need a laser. But I knew I could figure out how to design for it, and it looked like a fun little addition to the stable.

So, with people essentially trying to talk me out of it, I decided to buy one of these things. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved, and that lasted for a few months while I was working on other commitments, but then I wound up getting rather captivated by the Glowforge team and the customers on the forum, so here we are.

As far as what I hoped to get out of this thing, it has been so eclipsed by what I’ve actually gotten, that I can’t even begin to list them all. The joy I’ve had watching something as intricately detailed as anything I have ever cut on a digital cutter appear on the thick wood in the machine was beyond description. What I’ve made, what I’ve done with it, has gone so far past those fledgling initial ideas that it’s an order of magnitude or two. And there are things that I will be able to do with this machine going forward that I haven’t even had time to fully explore yet – the photo engraving and 3D engraving techniques, and expanding into other materials. I can make anything I can dream up, and it’s going to provide a chance for me to grow. A lot.

I love a machine that grows with me. The people around me are fantastic, clever, artistic people that provide an incredible never-ending pool of inspiration for projects, and it’s going to provide years of enjoyment down the road.

Well worth the wait. Was it a good decision? You betcha!
(And if this winds up as skywriting somwhere… pictures or it never happened! Poor pilot.) :smile:

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My mom first showed me the YouTube promotional video and I instantly knew what a huge blessing it would be to have one of these machines in my home. Didn’t discuss this with my family because I knew they would try to talk me out of it but I knew the huge impact it could have on my families future to be able to produce products in a home setting and be capable of making money at home with my 4 children. 3 months later I had enough money together to get one. My plans for this machine is to use it to launch a small business and help to add to my families finances. I am so excited and despite the fact that I hated the wait as a preorder customer it allowed me to market research and put together a sound business plan. Now that mine is shipping I can say I am ready to be an official Glowforge owner!

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How did you see it?
I got an email from Dan with the subject line “The Sequel to Robot Turtles” :slight_smile:. I remembered that there were some special laser-cut rewards to the Robot Turtles Kickstarter and was interested right away.

What did you first think?
I thought, Sweet! and I could make an awesome Paiko and Pai Sho set (board games) with that. and then started showing people. I showed my wife, and she was interested. She thought something along the lines of, I am creative, but I am unsure of how or what to create, and I think this might be the answer I’m looking for. She immediately began to brainstorm a list of ideas of how to start making with Glowforge.

How long did it take you to decide?
When my wife showed interest and thought that it would let her put her creativity into practice, I wanted a Glowforge. Within a week from hearing about it, I was in. Sometimes things like this seem a little fantastic - wow, that’s cool, but not something I could get - but when a friend mentioned that the price was similar to a high-end computer, it made me think, Oh, I guess it wouldn’t be crazy to get this, after all!

What, if any, reading did you do or discussions did you have before deciding?
We looked through all the Glowforge info we could find, from the examples to the tech specs, and quickly looked for possible similar products. But Glowforge looked like the real deal. My wife and I discussed what ideas we had for things that could be made with it, and talked about how serious we would be about actually using it.

Was anyone else a part of the decision?
It was just my wife and me. Though we shared about Glowforge when we heard about it, we kept it a secret that we had bought one until we actually received it!

What do you hope to get from your Glowforge?
I hope my wife is able to use it as an outlet for her creative ideas, making art, jewelry, etc. I am making and selling awesome boards and tiles for a strategy board game I helped create.

If the purchase was wildly successful, tell us why and how you feel about it!
I’m up and running with an online store selling incredible boards and pieces for a board game I helped create, and I’m sending them all over the world! I never once imagined I would be doing that!

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Completely by happenstance, on the first afternoon of the pre-order campaign, I read a tech article announcing the Glowforge 3D Laser Printer.
I previously have had a small amount of hands-on experience with a far more expensive industrial laser cutter at work. But most of the time instead of operating the laser I would just provide a draft design to the dedicated laser operator for clean-up, rework and production. This work laser unit was not “officially” available for my personal use and I had neither the time or the inclination to spend learning the S/W quirks and machine setup.

After reading about the marketed capabilities of the Glowforge, I realized this product would have a prosumer level laser capability at a price I could finally afford. The idea pushed just the right “Impulse Buy” button. Over the next three hours I read an astonishing number of articles and watched videos about the Glowforge 3D Laser Printer. The critical questions I needed answered were:

  1. Planned Capabilities and Specifications
  2. Company status and financial viability
  3. Where exactly the product was in development.

After satisfying myself that the risks were acceptable, though not zero, I pulled out my credit card and ordered a Basic Unit. 24 Sept 5:58PM Eastern. In providing full disclosure I’m not sure how much of my excitement at that time was because I had just ordered a new tech toy, and how much was because during the entire purchase process I was having beers while reading tech news at the local craft Brewery.

Upon researching further over the next month, and active participation on the forum, I decided that a Pro version with the pass thru and active cooling would be a cost effective upgrade. Either way the unit as delivered has been a joy. Easy to use and reliable. I was lucky enough to be selected to receive a Pre-Release version a year ago, and now have my forever unit.

My original planned use was as your typical high-tech toy. More as an exploration of the technology than a production system. However, several of the items the wife and I have produced were received with considerable interest. As a result, we have sold a small number Glowforge produced items in the local craft stores. Enough to pay for the unit in a matter of months without trying. Honestly, I would rather just go and play with it.

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I happened across an article about it the morning the preorders started.

I have long wanted a laser cutter for myself. However, there were a number of issues which prevented me from being able to get one. Most laser cutters are extremely expensive compared to the Glowforge. Further, a lot of the options at the time required a lot of space and a lot of additional parts (air compressor, external coolant reservoir, etc…). The Glowforge did not require any sort of change to how my workspace was wired. It basically only put the load in a microwave. Lastly, and probably most importantly was the focus on usability. The drag, drop and cut workflow was huge. It is a complete departure from basically every laser on the market at the time.

It really took me no time at all to decide I wanted a Glowforge. I did call my wife and double check with her first though :stuck_out_tongue:. I had already done a lot of research and recognized the value of what the Glowforge offered.

My goal with purchasing a Glowforge was mostly centered around two reasons.

  1. I am a maker and I enjoy making all kinds of things. I really like to be able to take an idea to a physical object quickly. It helped to flesh out a set of digital fabrication tools that currently include a 3d printer (self-built Prusa i3), a small 5 axis CNC machine (PocketNC) , and a CNC router (Shaper Origin).

2, I wanted to have a complete set of prototyping tools for my own business. My goal is to be able to do prototyping for usability testing. Both physical and in software.

If the purchase was wildly successful, tell us why and how you feel about it!
Overall, I have really enjoyed the Glowforge! Once the lead time on orders gets to the point where it is only a few weeks from a unit being ordered to being at the door I think it will be a market leader. I think the focus on usability is probably the most important part of the Glowforge. A lot of digital fabrication products are only focused on the engineering solutions and that makes one of the biggest bottlenecks for many users.

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How did you see it?
Pretty sure it was a Facebook targeted ad, or possibly a share from a friend.

What did you first think?
“I WANT THIS!” The Glowforge looked like the answer to an artistic problem I’d been struggling with for a long time: how to make the process of cutting leather (and some other delicate materials) goofproof, so that I wasn’t spending dozens of hours and hundreds of dollars on a bookbinding or wall-art project only to have a tiny slip of the knife create a bad edge on my leather that could never be fixed or hidden. I had tried using a super-high-end robocutter, the Black Cat Cougar Pro, and it was totally unreliable on the variable consistency of leather and on tiny, delicate curves on paper, the two materials I was working with most. I also instantly saw the possibilities for etching and cutting a huge variety of other materials for other purposes, including clothing and jewelry design, tilework, glass etching, etc. It seemed like a path to putting some of my designs on durable materials in an economical, reliable, immaculate way, which is pretty darned exciting for a visual artist and designer.

How long did it take you to decide?
I think it took about three weeks. I probably saw the ad in the first few days of the crowdfunding campaign, and bought in on the third week.

What, if any, reading did you do or discussions did you have before deciding?
The most important discussion I had was with my fiancee. I definitely would not have spent the money (which was more than I’d spent on anything in my life except one of my cars and my college education) had he not strongly encouraged me to do it. I had plenty in savings to pay for it, but my job at a startup was feeling insecure, so it was a big risk. My partner really wanted to use it, too, though, and wanted me to have the happiness that he saw that I could have with the Glowforge, so he not only strongly encouraged me to buy it, he gave me a fairly large chunk of money as a gift toward its price. As the deadlines for delivery were missed over and over and I lost my job, he also encouraged me to not ask for a refund.
Prior to purchasing the Glowforge, I also read up on Dan and his partners, and I also personally knew Brad Feld and knew he/Foundry were unlikely to have invested in a fly-by-night venture.

Was anyone else a part of the decision?
See above answer about my fiancee.

What do you hope to get from your Glowforge?
I’d like to realize some of the more complex and challenging artist visions I’ve been sketching out over the past few years. I’d also like to continue enjoying the incredible ease and creativity it allows me to engage in, whether I’m making a simple part for a household item or a quick party favor or a truly astonishing gift.

If the purchase was wildly successful, tell us why and how you feel about it!
My Glowforge, Longclaw, is certainly the most amazing object in my toolbox, next to my Macbook, beating out my Cintiq, and competing nicely with my partner’s 3D printer. Its ease of use, especially with Proofgrade materials, is astonishing. Learning to use my robocutter, a machine with a similar purpose and much less power and grace, was far, far harder. Even though I’m VERY busy mothering my one year old son and running my consulting business, I constantly think about my Glowforge and the projects I have planned on it. Even the littlest things I make, like sample chips, make me excited, and the bigger things I’ve been working on are amazing. Its functionality was summed up this weekend when I took my party guests downstairs to watch me make a quick acrylic cake topper for my baby’s first birthday cake. From opening Illustrator to having an adorable cake topper was no more than ten minutes, and as my artistic sister-in-law said as the laser beautifully cut the Proofgrade acrylic, "It’s the dream."
I’ll also say that the Glowforge community has been amazing and inspiring. Being part of a troll-free online environment where people are incredibly generous with their time, expertise, and friendship has been wonderful. The Colorado Glowforge User Group (GFUG) is a delight, and I look forward to seeing them every time I have a chance.

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I saw the Glowforge early in the initial fundraising, but it took me almost the entire campaign to decide to back the product. I’m an avid hobbyist working in leather, foam, wood and photography. I have friends with commercial laser cutters who make a living from their art. I’ve always loved the precision and intricate detail that a laser tool provides, but the price was always out of my reach and borrowing time on someone else’s laser hasn’t been practical. I had no plans to profit from my designs, so it was hard to budget thousands of dollars. I was also very concerned about the cloud computing and need for good Wi-Fi in my shop. Many of my friends suggested that a 3D printer or CNC was a more cost-effective entry point. However, when I saw the cake toppers and trace features in the video my imagination ran wild.
As a father of two small children, it’s very difficult to balance hobbies with parenting. There are sharp knives, heavy tools or little pieces to keep track of in nearly every craft. The Glowforge was the first tool I felt I could easily share with my kids without safety concerns or boredom. I set to work making a list of projects that I wanted to accomplish: household items: like custom drawer inserts in the kitchen, personalized frames and art for my kids, jewelry, wallets, travel items, holiday gifts and more. When the list grew to over thirty items I shared it with my wife and we planned to back the Glowforge.
My Glowforge arrived last December and I’ve started down the list. I’ve made storage units, personalized gifts for everyone and I’m working on a wallet right now. My two favorite experiences have been making a puzzle with my daughter (we peeled back the masking from some proof grade and she colored a picture with crayons before we cut it into a puzzle) and staying up late making personalized valentines to the delight of her preschool classmates.
Since receiving delivery of my Glowforge, I have seen the market on hobby lasers boom. I’ve rarely had any issues with the cloud computing that weren’t user error and any issues with the early software were resolved quickly by support. I was however very intrigues by the competitor which had a removable bottom to allow for etching on pieces of any size, but when I saw the barebones features, rudimentary cooling and venting equipment those lasers were packing underneath their workbenches, I knew I had made the right choice with Glowforge.

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How did you see it?

I had been a member of TechShop before moving in 2012. I made lasered goods to sell on Etsy, and enjoyed a modest success. After the move, I toyed with the idea here and there about getting a laser for myself and found the kickstarter campaign in my Googling and internet browsing.

What did you first think?

Sweet! If only I had even $2k… maybe one day.

How long did it take you to decide?

To decide I wanted a laser – immediately. Then I was busy getting married, changing jobs, buying a house, having a kid…

To decide to pull the trigger and fork over the money – apparently two years. I bought during the two year anniversary period of the kickstarter after checking in on it a couple more times. When I saw things were actually starting to ship, I decided to go for it.

What, if any, reading did you do or discussions did you have before deciding?

I bought the Glowforge before really deciding. For a while I was saying “I bought a laser and may reboot my Etsy shop, but I can cancel at any time.” Then I dove into the forum and spent as much time as I could learning about it, seeing projects, thinking about the potential. It slowly went from “I can cancel any time” to “this really excites me and now I can’t imagine canceling!” It’s this amazing group of users that really sold the machine in the end.

The only major discussion was with my husband about exhaust and fume safety, but we have a plan that we’re both happy with (and it doesn’t involve the spider-filled garage).

Was anyone else a part of the decision?

Other than informing my husband that I bought a laser, and the ensuing conversation about fumes, it was all me.

What do you hope to get from your Glowforge?

I’ve been desperately missing a creative outlet for about 5 years now. I hope the Glowforge gives a tool for creating again and to re-open and expand my Etsy shop (without ditching the day job… for now). Plus, if I can make a little money doing something I enjoy instead of housework, then I can pay someone else to do the housework!

With an engineer for a husband and a little one, I’m sure we’re bound to find all kinds of fun things to do on the home front as well. The forum is a bounty of inspiration. I especially love the “practical cuts” threads and ideas for personalized gifts – cutting boards for everyone!

If the purchase was wildly successful, tell us why and how you feel about it!

Ask me again soon – only a few more weeks until my email date!

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Sometime back it has been widely noted that robots being more productive will outperform humans at many tasks, and it occurred to me that those who owned a robot would be able to produce results at the same level as other robots, but increasingly the creative part will be ever more important as Robots cannot have the same creative ability, and masses of robots even less as the creative part will take the same time no matter how many robots can be turned to production, and so will be the limiting factor. In this, any human can and still will create at individual to individual levels, and as the robots get ever more flexible the power to create in a widening sphere will fall to the individual.

I was looking for something. the 3D printers were not productive enough taking days to make large things and then you had only one, and then days for another etc.
Lasers looked really good at first, but the dangers and technical trickiness of the software made it likely to be more problem than profit. I had spent $7k on a very heavy brick that was claimed to be a cnc.
Wandering the Web I came upon Glowforge and Dan,s long tale with the leather cutting etc and noted that the point was to have it be for the artists and not only geeks could manage them. It was Unique compared to what was out there. It was at the start of the wave instead of after everyone else had come and gone.

The Cloud programming meant that buying or updating to the latest was not an issue. The ability to produce even a complex product in hours and not days meant that there could be reasonable productivity, and lesser stuff printed in minutes meant that experiments would not take the hours. The price of materials per pound was far less than 3d printers, and many like leather and some other stuff I already had. the idea that it worked in the office desktop like inkjet printers was also nice as I have little room.

The filter that was supposed to be there would allow it to work inside and even now I am slow setting up for not having it, and it is in the Dining Room and not the back office that was planned for it as that is the only window to shove a hose out of. Even now It is limited by the exhaust issues but I am chomping at the bit to get going.

I have far more places to go design-wise than time to do it, and the range of the Glowforge is a good start. No matter how big there will be a need for bigger and the passthrough slots are also a good start in that direction but much of my design efforts have been how to make big things from smallish parts.

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So there I was, innocently going about my day doing the stuff I always do at work – namely, trying to avoid said work. I always feel guilty about this, so since I work in IT I try to relieve my guilt by wasting my time on tech sites like Ars Technica. It was there that I stumbled across an article (this one) about this laser cutter thingy that sounded like vaporware but wasn’t. I’ve always wanted a laser cutter, but last I checked they were upwards of $10k which no-way, no-how was going to happen since this would just be a hobby toy to me. This article, though, said I could preorder this unicorn for only $2k and it honest-to-god actually worked. I watched the video on the Glowforge website with the chant “WANT! WANT! WANT!” going through my mind. Discussed with the wife, pulled out the credit card, and boom! – I owned a frickin’ laser (well, preordered a frickin’ laser, at least). Article to video to drool to conversation with wifey took 1 day tops. Done.

As time passed and my Glowforge failed to appear on my doorstep, my confidence that this was a good decision was tested. More than once I came close to cancelling. I mean, $2k may not be much for a laser cutter, but it’s still a lot of money, right? Somehow I held on and lo, my faith was rewarded. The Glowforge may not be perfect (yet), but that creative bug that bites me from time to time now has a wonderful way to express itself. It’s hard to explain how cool it feels to have an idea, whip up a design, and actually hold something in my hand that I only envisioned an hour or so ago. It’s a lot like creating and printing something on your 3D printer except (a) it isn’t made of plastic and (b) it didn’t print for 8 hours and then decide to turn into spaghetti. (Bitter? Nah, not me.)

While I still dream about the day I can quit my corporate job to make a living creating things, right now I’m happy enough to consider this an investment in my personal well-being. Sounds overly dramatic, I know, but I’ve needed a creative outlet like this for years. The Glowforge made it happen.

Edited to add: I completely forgot to mention one of the biggest reasons I held out to the end – the community that has grown around this incredible machine. It wasn’t just the beta users or the pre-release users posting their creations, either. The amount of creative talent that lives here is unbelievable. Had this just been your average, ordinary forum I probably would have cancelled long ago. This forum has become part of my daily routine, has been an invaluable resource to me, and is quite literally a major reason why I’m now a Glowforge owner.

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