Entertaining video.
Two things. Is there ANYWAY you can vent outside? Sounds like long term the filter is going to be expensive to you.
If not, a prefilter that is cheap and easy to change would be a good idea.
Thx @markevans36301
You are absolutely correct!
We and the GF Community more or less have all come to the conclusion we need to vent certain materials outside and use compact filter sparingly as filter cartridges life span may be compromised by certain materials.
This post is meant to #1 thank Glowforge! They are super cool!! Also, Poppy wanted to provide an update to his panicked situation. We also like to add our experience to the knowledge base.
*Further conclusions were drawn and shared in the original topic thread “dense smoke!..” from last week…I will try to mend a link…tons of useful information!!!
This was a great learning experience for Poppy and he sends his sincerest thanks to all his helpers for getting him through it. 
Either you need a filter or you don’t. I had similar smoke when the exhaust fan died on my previous machine and bought a Vivosun to take up the job. In situations like yours, were it was cutting through the wood with a lot of smoke near the front even the Vivosun was not enough and it still smoked through the gap between the lid and the front, I had some thin foam tape and was able to stop that part as the head fan was blowing the heavy smoke directly at that surface.
Still for most work I was running the Blu-Dri to scavenge up whatever smoke did escape. Now with a working exhaust fan and the Vivosun working together the smoke is cleared out faster than ever and there is even less smoke hanging around to build up gunk so there is less need of cleanup.
But to your needs, I think those filters they sell for the front of room air conditioners that are about a half inch thick open cell foam could fit on the intake face of your expensive filters and only slightly retard air volume, and can be washed out in the sink, every time they clog. This should extend the life of your other filters a very great deal. I have been using them in the central-air for many years to extend the life of those filters as well.
The Blu-dri seems to be the way to go to clear the room best. We really like that add on to the room health.
In the end we really do not have an option to exhaust outdoors…thus the push for as much info as possible on the filter cartridges. The price point of $249 is just not equalling it’s value per usable minutes even with the add ons like washable prefilters which marginally extend life . Yes we got them now but it’s just another expense to delay the inevitable purchase of a new filter cartridge. If filter cartridges were more affordable, I may have different feelings about it’s longevity.
Also, we still may have a sour taste in our mouth from our hopefully disfunctional first filter cartridge and it’s pour lifespan…and may not have enough information to contribute a valid point…lol we shall see…
All that said, we are still looking to find a way to exhaust outside one day…human safety and environmental protection are the tantamount concerns. 
Just a feeling but I think that the pre-filters could extend the life of anything a great deal. many times I can feel that the AC intake has all but stopped and just removing the clogged pre-filter I have felt the rush of air like a weight has been lifted. I wash it out and could plant something in the dirt that pours out and return it and it no longer makes much difference in the air flow.
That said there was not an option with the Pro when I bought mine and I have not minded that it has taken so long as I am ambivalent about accepting it when the time comes, and will make my final choice when the time is closer. I have already figured out what I want to do to make the blue monster specifically filtering the Glowforge as it has eaten the Dining room as that was the only place I could go to the outside and that made it the defacto shop area. But redesigning were everything is in a house is a giant PITA and then will have to have the filter reliable.
So… I used to work in chemical manufacturing, so removing bad things from airflows was a pretty big part of daily routine.
The problem you’re dealing with here is that there’s a number of elements you’re dealing with:
- type of materials: you’ve got off-gassing from combustion and then tiny particulate matter (smoke)
- airflow: the glow forge doesn’t have a laminar flow throughput (this could be made into the design, but you’re looking at a much large footprint. )
- varying materials: wood smoke is different from perspex smoke
These three variations mean that air filtration to prevent ending up with a smoke filled room is not going to be easy. [thank you Cpt Obvious…]
So prefiltration is the key, the first thing to get rid of is the fine particulate matter, normally you’d use HEPA filters for this, but you’re dealing with smoke, so you need to move air fast. I’d try a series of metal mesh filters (like the ones in a stove, check amazon)
Should be a pretty cheap experiment and these won’t clog quickly and if you design the casing right, you should be able to pull them out and clean them easily.
Thank you sir! We were thinking about the series of metal mesh filter.
No question we have to add in the room cleaner too. 
Thank you @rbtdanforth this is very relieving news about the prefilters.
Yes also to the giant PITA of moving things around to make it all work. I fully empathize.
We just want to get up and running so we can see what else we have to contend with after 6 more hours of use. We’re still waiting to get tracking info from GF on the replacement filter cartridge they said they were shipping last Monday. 
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