Some tidbits for would-be modders…
Beam width is about 5mm. The focal length of the lens is 50mm. 0.5" is the distance it can move. You can do some math and figure out how fast it diverges once it’s out of range.
If you remove structure from your Glowforge, it loses strength. This can have dire repercussions in repeat-ability and accuracy, not to mention safety.