Glowforge catalog will have step by step instructions

If the catalog items aren’t going to come with instructions anymore, although it would be EXTREMELY useful especially for items with tabs and slots to know what thickness materials they were designed for at minimum, perhaps the default description should be changed.


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image This abbreviates to floral leather wrap bra which makes me laugh.
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image Again, no instructions besides attach hardware really needed, but I wonder what thickness material is recommended. I cut some at 0.19" that worked okay.
The pendant blank at least had instructions in the design itself.
image I don’t get how these earrings are supposed to work. It isn’t set up so they can be cut out from 2 different types of wood…
image I didn’t have any proofgrade plywood left, and it is still out of stock, but I tried a store bought wood at proofgrade settings and tada it set some lines to score and then this one made sense.

These are just the ones I found.

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For most of those, it’s pretty easy to guess the material thickness just from the photos. 1/4" would be ridiculously thick for earrings, so you can pretty much assume those are going to be 1/8", for example. And based on that assumption you can extrapolate that the earring holder is 1/8" thick just by comparing it to the earrings hanging on it. Leather is leather; it really won’t matter which you choose for the bracelet. You know how big a business card is, so comparing that to the thickness of the wood in that photo will tell you that’s 1/8" wood; 1/4" would look significantly more clunky.

If you’re really just not sure, then open the pattern and pan over to one of the rulers to see whether the slots are 1/8" or 1/4" wide.

I cut that leather bracelet out of medium proofgrade leather like the catalog said, and parts of it tore out when removing the masking. It was also, even after adding clasps, too small to fit my wrist. And parts of the middle of it that weren’t touching in the image cut into each other so parts stuck out. I wasn’t happy with that one.

1/4 in. birch really isn’t a quarter inch; what I got from … Lowe’s I think it’s been some months is measuring 0.19" and while it looks thicker than some metal earrings, it’s still thinner than the costume gem ones I have and the animal designs I wore as a teenager.

That design should be easy enough to size. There’s no “one size fits all” for bracelets; I don’t think you can hold GF or the designer accountable for that. The interface does, after all, give you measuring tools. :slight_smile: As for the pieces falling out when removing masking, that’s a universal issue with masked leather, and why I prefer to remove the masking before engraving or scoring it. Once you’ve cut through the top layer, you’ve compromised the integrity, and it takes some pretty careful maneuvering to get the masking off cleanly without damaging it.

I’m aware that nominal thicknesses of wood aren’t actual measurements. Still, 1/4" is twice as thick as 1/8", and not too hard to figure out from the photos.

For the earring designs I don’t see anything there that would prevent them from working with 1/4" material if that’s what you prefer. The pieces that matter are the ones where you need to fit things together, and as I said above you can use the rulers and measuring tools in the interface to determine what thickness you need, if it’s not specified and you can’t tell from the photos.

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Oh, yeah – you can also try looking at the catalog entries for the materials, when there are no instructions.

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Personally, if I am purchasing something, I think that it should state what thickness it was designed for (assuming it is something that slots together). Your idea is sound, but I would rather know before I purchase the file. I might be in a hurry and not have the right thickness of material on hand.

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The photo above is from the pre-purchase catalog listing. :slight_smile:

I saw the Sun Flower Earings listing. I haven’t looked to see if all of the other listings have the thickness listed in the description, or not. I’m just stating that I agree that they should, if they do not.

If they do, then my world is a brighter place. Lol.

They do. I’m glad I could make your world brighter today. :smiley:

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I know it is listed in the catalog.
Maybe everyone else is better than me because I have ADD, but I start looking for an item in the catalog and then I see something new, or interesting, or some thing I haven’t cut yet and 30 minutes later I still haven’t put any material in the laser to cut the earrings. And the kids want snacks. And then I notice the dishes need to be done. And 2 hours later I notice the Glowforge is on and wonder what I was planning on making.
If it was listed in the item details, then I could just load the material, cut the thing, be done in 10 minutes and would actually have something accomplished.

Besides it SAYS Designs from the Glowforge catalog will have and then it doesn’t. Jules says he even submitted instructions for the items he designed and they didn’t add them. Maybe they could just change the copy under No instructions available. so that it is a true statement.

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You’re not alone. I don’t have ADD and I do this kind of thing all the time. I pride myself on muti-tasking, but in reality it just more chaos than anything. I suspect they are still working on getting the catalog up to par so patience is the name of the game. And, we’re always hanging around here to help, so just give a shout out.

(BTW…Jules is a she)

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Good to know. I had mentioned something about one of her designs elsewhere, and that’s when she told me she had submitted the instructions.

I’m apparently old enough that I was taught in Jr high English that masculine is the generic, so I naturally revert to that unless I know otherwise. Thus it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, as a female, to be referred to as he. I’m more than happy to use anyone’s preferred pronouns if they mention them, but it still amazes me when a misstep results in outrage, not correction. <not something I’ve seen personally, just keep hearing about in cities>

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I get it…I’m with you. We’re not psychic. Having no one-on-one human interaction online can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings and we the people manage to create enough of those without adding more.

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I’ve had a number of transgendered patients and acquaintances, and stuck my foot in my mouth plenty of times. I just apologize and correct myself, and none of them has ever been anything but gracious about it. I have seen them be hurt and insulted by people who refuse to even try, though.

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Doesn’t bother me at all, just for the record. It is a masculine version of the name in most of the world. (It’s a nickname.) :smile:

I’m also supposed to be taking the week off for the first time in about…ohhhhh…four years or so…so I’m going to go back to trying to relax. (It’s a lot harder than it looks.)

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I’m getting pretty good at it. :slight_smile:

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@lunarfear Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I’ve asked the team to look into the missing instructions and will let you know what I find out.

Aloha from Hawaii. I’m looking for some help - and hope you can do it. I just got my glowforge yesterday - ordered it as I have committed to making as many as 5,000 ear savers for our Rotary Clubs in Hawaii to donate to first responders.

I have not been able to get into Inkscape yet to learn how to remove the Glowforge information and inset: Donated by Rotary Clubs of Hawaii

My wife’s brother passed away yesterday in Boston and we have to make a trip back the beginning of the week - but I need to get started on these ear savers.

Is there anyway you could help me by customizing the ear saver template and sending the file to me? I’d be happy to compensate you for your time.

My email is DJSmith@hawaii.rr.com -

I’ll be happy to, but 5000 earsavers is a huge commitment considering your circumstances. You’ll have to be in front of your Glowforge night and day to get them done in time. You should use the request page to ask for them to be done by some of the other volunteers, so you can focus on your family at this difficult time.

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Don’t believe the hype. (But also, reverting to male as a generic is outdated in most situations)

I don’t think your ask is unreasonable regarding materials, so hopefully GF can make that easy fix!