I think you should test it by sending one here to Hawaii!! I get Amazon packages multiple times a week and have had great packages and destroyed packages. I promise to provide great feedback.
(Don’t want to test it by just dropping it on the corners though, that’s the strongest point of the box from a force redistribution standpoint - drop it on each side as well. Roll it over. Pitch it over a fence. Drop it at weird angles.)
Have some fun with it, then send it on to the next beta tester. (Chuckle!)
I’ll apologize to the first real postal service worker that complains. (My mail carrier would be the first to laugh at that joke, she’s a great gal, with a very secure ego.)
So I realize you have a lot of experience shipping stuff @Dan, but I was shocked on receiving my BigBox that there was cracked 5mm acrylic (and others with similar issues) inside despite them having final videos of the fully packed printer sailing down flights of stairs, etc. (which was also cringe worthy). And that was acrylic still with the coating on, packed in deep molded foam and peanuts. Those shippers (this was FedEx) are gorillas!
Yes. Ultimately some Glowforge units will get broken; our job is to minimize how often it happens and the pain it causes the few unlucky people affected.