Ahhh Milan! A beautiful city. I miss her very much.
I respectfully disagree. To be clear, I’m not demanding anything, I’m asking for clarity on the issue and I don’t how that’s counter-productive - regardless of whether I fully understand all the legal counter arguments.
Yeh, there’s a risk Glowforge might decide not to ship replacement tubes, but I think that’s unlikely, because the last time the community spoke loudly and clearly on this issue, GF did exactly the opposite. It decided that the lawyer advised original decision was bad for the community and the business and went against it. So there’s desire inside the business to stay honest and do what’s right. I don’t think this time is any different.
My belief is that ‘where there’s a will, there’s {usually} a way’. I’m sure the lawyers will default to ‘don’t go there, it’s got mess written all over it’ but plenty of businesses have made good money finding workable solutions through legal minefields. Perhaps with a few ideas from the community and a bit of a push in the right direction Glowforge and its lawyers will find that way (I mean, Full Spectrum clearly thought they could risk it…).
And that’s the argument for no instructions. Lasers have tubes that last a very long time. Some have easily replaceable tubes. Just like phone batteries though, some lasers don’t have easily replaceable tubes (e.g. GF) and customers can but they need to figure out how (look to YouTube).
“Demand” was an inaccurate term on my part. It was this…
Getting a lawyer to agree to something by pointing out all solutions have company risk is a great way to get no for an answer.
My comments are completely self serving. I have zero doubt that I could replace the tube and align, if necessary, as is. The alignment process is likely to be more of a pain without simple setup firmware, but can’t see an issue. So even if the risk is 1%, it’s 1% chance of screwing me.
We’ll just have to disagree as to the best carrot and stick approach.
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I’m in the same boat. I’m a service engineer. It’s not that I think I can’t do it. It’s just that I know there’s a risk, to me and to the instrument. That risk exists every time I open an instrument but being appraised of those risks helps me mitigate them. I just feel like if they know what the risks are they should just tell people, and help them avoid them. Again, other businesses have done this, so it is possible.
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What about people who are local to Seattle will there be the option to drop it off with your techs to get work done to it? Like the tube replacement and other not easy to the average person things? So that we don’t have to pay to ship it and risk it being damaged?
No, refurbishment happens at the factory, not at our office.
Another example where Glowforge has already stepped up to do something they didn’t need to do and that likely gave the FNLs fits: the Laser Safety Officer training guide that provides information teaching us how to use the Pro Class 4 laser in Class 1 conditions.
I believe they will do the right thing with the tubes.
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I can hear the support calls now…
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That was hilarious. Fun 3 minutes.
That sounds very familiar. Unfortunately. 
I wouldn’t hesitate for a second on a Chinese laser, but then that’s honestly because there is a bunch of user created content to read (and plenty of people who’ve done it before that can tell you the things that go wrong so you don’t make the same mistakes). Here’s hoping I’m not one of the first ones who need a tube replacement, and that by the time it’s my time there’s a lot of reading material out there about things to watch out for and avoid.
I imagine it has to be harder on the Glowforge though since there’s no test fire button on the actual Glowforge machine. You’d have to be going back and forth from your computer telling it to do a tiny dot, waiting for it to generate the gcode, then going back to your machine to hit start, and comparing the size to see if things are aligned.
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Also there doesn’t seem to be any easy adjustment if it does need realigning. Factory alignment seems to be done by shimming the mirror box on the far left with precision shims.
Yeah, that is significantly different from the typical mirror alignment of the cheaper units where you just move the mirror as needed until you’re happy with how small the spot beam is.
Honestly - I’ll probably just pay for Glowforge to do it when the time comes, I’ll have to request new shipping materials. I kept mine, but they were heavily damaged when I received it, only 1 handle and the tape along one side was keeping the whole box from coming open, 1 handle was not latched at all but somebody had just put it back in the box, and 2 handles were completely gone/torn out. I had customer service notate my account so hopefully I won’t have to pay for a new cardboard box (I kept all the inside foam and the box itself even though it would not survive a 2nd trip through UPS) when the time comes. It’s $500 for them to do it right?
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It is not as simple as that. You move mirrors so that the beam always hits the centre of the next mirror or lens regardless of where the head is. In the case of the GF so that the beam is exactly parallel to the gantry and hits the entry window dead centre at both ends.
It appears what is important is the foam. I imagine they see/will be seeing lots of packing tape on the cardboard to keep it all together.
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