I have no idea what I’m doing, frankly. But I wasn’t gonna let that stop me from learning.
Set her up after 2 long years of yearning and pushed a couple projects through the pipeline. I’ve got some great plans, even some more complicated models almost ready, but I needed to figure everything out first, so these are pretty simple.
First I just made some coasters. I had drawn these pieces long, long ago, assuming they would be laser-engraved. Finally got to see that happen.
With that done, I went strait to playing with power setting on some bulk card stock I have laying around (since it’s not proofgrade). I just used my personal studio logo as a test image. I wish the software was bit more intuitive, especially with saving designs, power settings, etc. For now, I’m just compiling a notebook. Oh, and because I got frustrated desperately hunting down people’s power settings (I’m totally novice so all the sliders and number presented far too many variables for me to understand): This was thick cardstock (.063"), full speed, 25ish power, 270 lines per inch, 1 pass.
Then, just because I was having trouble walking away, I decided I would throw myself into something that would teach me some lessons. I wanted to see one project from start to finish, so I drew a three layered earring concept on the spot that really didn’t turn out very good, but was a great learning tool. I wanted to really blast out the detail, see how busy I could make it, see if the laser was true and if it would look too cluttered (sure does). I didn’t want it to be maple-on-maple, for contrast, but maple is the only proofgrade ply they sent, so I thought I’d try to sand one piece and stain it. As somebody else said on a different project, sanding through the finish to the wood for staining is a pain in the ass, and even with just these two little pieces, it felt like a ridiculous labor for something that obviously wasn’t turning out anyhow, so I moved on. They make interesting pendents, anyhow.
Last thing I’ll say. My glowforge arrived pretty dirty. It looked like it was used a few times, and then cleaned in a hurry, with lots of fingerprints and smears all over the glass top. Not a big deal, I just cleaned it. Also, the door sticks pretty hard to the left side, some friction and grind when you open it, definitely doesn’t feel like you’re opening a premium device. I think I saw someone else mention that, too. Is that a standard complaint? Anyhow, it all made me think again when I noticed that in the software, after linking up to my glowforge with wifi, there was another approved user right from the beginning, a name I did not know. Googled the person and they seem to exist but aren’t affiliated with GF from what I can see. Maybe I’m missing something, but it made me wonder if my unit is a refurbished unit or something?
Either way, I’m super excited to move onto the fun stuff.
is that you don’t need to know what you are doing to get started, but the more you do, the more you know.
Coasters