@DeadCrowCustoms, this would apply to you as well. The only thing that the Glowforge can do with metal is to remove anodizing, paint, or other finishes applied on top of a metal surface.
I am going to use Titanium, guess I should have said that. and my definition of “engraving” is marking (i.e. a faux Damascus pattern, mathematical patterns, initials, logos, etc"…
Not talking about “deep cuts” that would be able to accept another material as a filler that @sdevadas has referring to. I’m tempted to spend a little more and go with the fiber laser route given the delays.
edit: and BTW, I appreciate your dialogue here, I’m definitely not defending anything either way, so please don’t take my replies as argumentative if the text of the interwebs comes off as such
It turned out to be “just shoot us an email, then we’ll find that it isn’t the email you ordered with, then you exchange three more emails with customer service…” we built the online tool so you could do it quickly and simply.
If the four questions we ask are frustrating, I apologize - you can just skip to the bottom, they are not required.
The titanium we’ve experimented with looks amazing when engraved. Fiber lasers have a very different appearance, it’s worth comparing both to see what you’re looking for.
How many STEM teachers out there went out on a limb to requisition the funds from their schools to purchase a Glowforge and now have to explain this delay which will change their curriculum for the next school year? There was a buffer in there for you to be a little late on delivery but 6 months is hard to swallow…
You’re correct, Simply. Truth be known, I’m holding off on buying the ventilation base because I’m not sure how well it will work. I know something about venting shop hoods and I’m not sure whether this option will achieve the effect I want for an indoor unit. So, I’m waiting for others to use and report back. If it doesn’t work, I’ll end up keeping my dryer hose.
If the current education system is allowing tax dollars to be used in crowd funding campaigns, and development of curricula without having the units in hand and someone expert enough to teach them, we have a serious problem, and it’s time for an overhaul.
It will be four or five months of school, right? You could buy or borrow a used digital cutter for the first semester you’re without to teach them how to design SVG files, think from 2d to 3d, prototype, etc. If a digital cutter is out of the question (used would be about $100), they can accomplish the same thing cutting out the designs by hand, which would be time consuming but not a waste if time.
It would be super cool for the students to be able to take a design from concept to prototype to execution with different materials.
The fact that the cost of these units didn’t immediately jump to the estimated retail pricing is something to be concerned about, me having $5000+ dollars floating around somewhere is concerning, the fact that the Beta tester(s) is a singular beta tester is concerning, and the fact that I am receiving a March 17th shipping date is even more so concerning.
I don’t see the need for new fresh materials such as Proofgrade, because as a buyer I purchased this unit expecting to be able to grab whatever stock is around me and fits, and etch or cut it within reason. This is another stream of revenue being eaten up.
I’m not too interested in gift certificates, because well, it’s not something I expected on purchasing to begin with, some of us want to work on our own designs.
The fact that I would lose my spot on the shipping list and the price not be honored should I want to secure my $5000, is kind of insulting to be honest. All the freebies and add on’s can be taken away, I’d rather keep my name on the list in order and be able to repurchase once a unit is boxed up and ready to go.
I’d personally rather see that $1.5M worth of reservation money go to increase manpower for assembly, shipping, and additional beta testers or programmers instead of shipping pieces of wood to people.
And per that email I still have an entire year to sit around waiting hoping some company in Seattle doesn’t flounder due to excessive spending. I’m just being honest, not trying to be overbearing, but I’m seriously on the fence.
I already lost $ with being on “the cutting edge” when Mt. Gox went down…I’m still trying to get some of that cash back through the bankruptcy website. A year is a LONG time. Waiting for Kickstarter’s is a normal thing, I’ve backed a few larger projects. But I’m disappointed with this one right now.
Right. They got a ton more money than they asked for originally. One would think that would have provided the ability to speed things up and do more testing and hire more people because the making and shipping isn’t the issue…but it hasn’t. I can’t wrap my mind around a 14 MONTH delay. I’m glad everyone else can be so who cares about it. I’m frustrated. I also think their concessions are measly. That is a drop in the bucket for these people who only have enough money to create this product because of us, but for our constant let downs and delays on the thousands we paid each for a product we trusted them to deliver with maybe a few month delay… I kinda feel there should be more than a10% discount for a year. Without us there would be no product… I feel like 25% to 50% on the catalog and 25% on materials for life would be a little more appropriate. Maybe it’s just me…
Wow. This has been a brutal read. So much emotion. So many sorrys. More than a fair amount of support, too.
For several reasons, this process of developing the Glowforge gives the the impression of the development of an Apple product (when Steve Jobs was doing it,) but with more public knowledge and involvement.
I think we’re somewhere near the bottom now. Maybe swinging up, hopefully?
What I like:
The free stuff (except, potentially, death fabric) and discounts
The indication that the big hurdle of the power supply seems to be on a much better trajectory
A bit of info on the Proofgrade materials
US assembly (for quality control reasons as well as domestic economy reasons)
Live forum replies and I really liked the live YouTube stream
The continued commitment to allow for refunds (which I will not need)
The amount of positive support that so many in this forum give
What I don’t:
Waiting
Watching (reading about) the suffering that this has caused people
The delay is unfortunate, but I would rather have a fully working product later, then a questionable product now. Thanks for the updates and all the added bonuses. I will be putting those materials to good use.
P.S. You can definitely expect to see me at the Bay Area Maker Faire.
The pre-order revenue stream has essentially zero to do with actual product development. Solvency isn’t really an issue since the R&D phase is fully capitalized from outside investment. The money to get to manufacturing was already in place; our money is essentially funding the manufacturing phase, reserving a spot in line and paying for our own machines to be built.
I think we are all disappointed and frustrated to some degree but can also feel some degree of relief that they are trying to make sure the hardware is right. Can you imagine a known PSU issue, deciding to ship the units anyways or try and make due to meet delivery promises and then a deluge of blown glowforges out there all needing warranty work and driving the company into bankruptcy? Ouch. Your money is definitely gone then.
I think that is lose-lose then. My point is, at least give your backers the option of WHICH materials we want, to the same value and send out small (100x100mm?) samples of all the available GF materials, which I am sure you had planned anyway? Does that not make more sense?
The design catalog discount isn’t going to be much X higher than 10% because they need to pay the designer, too, assuming that it’s a third party submission.
I would be disappointed if the company filled the catalog with their own designs and charged for them all on top of it.
