Full Power

[evansd2]

Hmm:

Laser replacements after using the GF

It does remove gasses, and notify you of time to change. We’re working with specialized environmental and toxicology experts on this - we’ll publish detailed instructions before we ship production filters. Since it’s a safety related matter, I won’t provide interim information. No, but that’s a neat feature idea for the hopper. Thanks! Information on this is spotty. We’ve been discussing with a number of experts. The best estimate we have right now is that tubes lose 5% of their power powe…

Picking the right Laser for the User

One simple sanity check to the Wattage Wars is to find out the tube length. There are high and low quality tubes, and some processes that can squeeze extra juice per millimeter, but to a first approximation, tube length is a great indicator of power. For example, if someone’s selling a 1000mm tube, it’s reasonably going to clock in at ~50W but you sometimes see them sold as 80! (The Glowforge is an 850mm tube, if you’re curious).

Discussion of (early!) July update

Definitely not. The full power setting is optimized for both maximum cutting ability and maximum tube life. No, we just had very stretched limits that would allow the cut quality to suffer and some risk of long-term loss of tube life. If they were critically overtemperature, they’d shut off. It’s in the hopper to allow for you to opt for an older version, but it’s not a capability we’ve implemented yet. I was struggling for language to give a sense of where we took your Glowforge withou…

Pro Parts

Laser tube ratings are interpreted differently by different companies. For example, some companies sell 750mm tubes as 40W or even 45W. That’s accomplished by turning up the current past rated limits - either once on the test bench to justify the number, or in the product permanently, with predictable effects on tube life. We also have a lot of other magic going on that improves cutting efficiency beyond watts, much of which we don’t talk about. Doubly so over time - for example, dirty outp…

and probably more places.