really enjoyed it @iliketomakestuff. thanks for taking the time to make this and share it. Looking forward to seeing what the pro will do when it finally gets here. (sooooo looking forward… 
)
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Also what he said about engraving metals was incorrect. He said it would engrave most metals except steel. I think the only metal it can actually engrave is stainless steel. All other metals it can only mark with Cermark or similar.
You’re right, but I’ve foud most people tend to confuse marking with engraving when it comes to metal.
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Since he “knew” it was going to take a couple of years of development when he first ordered I wish he’d told Glowforge that. Otherwise great job as always.
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@iliketomakestuff … That was a fantastic overview and review! (Best one I’ve seen at explaining what’s going on.) 
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Pretty sure titanium too…
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It only marks titanium I think, but without needing Cermark, but I don’t count that as engraving. It actually melts stainless steel.
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Great review! Thanks for sharing.
And I’m pretty sure he said it would engrave aluminum and brass. May be mistaken.
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I believe heat from laser + titanium + oxygen produces various oxidation layers of color change. I’ve seen blues, yellows/golds, and pinks/purples in the mix. I suspect due to amount of heat and availability of oxygen.
I do wonder which other metals oxidize with heat. And I must confess to having little to no understanding of the processes that would be required to heat color metals.
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Makes me wonder how introducing oxygen to the intake might affect the patina. I love the colors titanium produces.
An oxygen enriched atmosphere would present an enhanced environment for combustion, but that wouldn’t be an issue with most metal.
Having seen a class D fire, I would never even think about trying to do anything with magnesium.
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Even though there wasn’t much lasing (not sure if that’s a word, but I like it) happening, this was by far the most/best explanation of the Glowforge I’ve seen yet. Great video Bob.
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Great review, I loved seeing some hand lettering being engraved on a glowforge!
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Nice review but that hand calligraphy turned out wonderful!
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Excellent. Best review I have seen so far. So much energy and detail. A little unclear about the use of color or black and gray when it comes to cutting and scoring.
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Yes he seemed to imply the colour of vectors sets the cut depth but I thought it just decides which group it goes in and you can assign whatever operation you want. Does a certain colour default to scoring instead of cutting?
Sat down for lunch in front of the TV and fired up YouTube. This was the first recommended video for me. @iliketomakestuff did a great job explaining what the Glowforge can do. I have to agree with @rpegg that it would feel more balanced if it wasn’t 99% positive but it’s a great review of what there is to love about it.
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To the average user what it doesn’t do isn’t really relevant. The reason rotary attachments are options/accessories on other machines is because most people don’t use them. Ditto the adjustable beds/Z-axis. I bet 90% of what people do in our Makerspace is less than a half inch thick. The laser there also has the rear pass-thru door blocked by a wall (and it’s not on casters so it’s not moving) so I don’t think anyone is using the pass-thru either. For a mass-market medium like YouTube and his channel, I don’t know that it’s his responsibility to point out everything the GF can’t do.
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I wonder if there was another way to do it. There are so many unknown unknowns with a v1 project with this much ambition. I’m a bit of a pessimist looking forward (and an optimist, or rose colored glassesist, looking backward), so when I put my money down, I figured there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a Glowforge for quite some time (and maybe never).
Now it’s looking likely to me that I’ll get one before Christmas depending on how many gotchas they see in ramping up production rates and also making the pro.
But if they’d been as pessimistic (or realistic?) as me and others, would they have been able to build this community, get all of the backing, etc.? Probably not. As painful as it has been to see people borrow money, invest hopes and dreams for income and then have to deal with delays, perhaps it’s the only way to do it if you’re trying to start something new?
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Not slamming the video at all. But it was a review intended to portray his sense of a thumbs up or thumbs down. He liked the machine so that is what the video was saying. There were things he described that are not in his unit or even released yet so in those areas it bordered a review of only the possibilities. I lke the Basic Glowforge laser cutter too, but can’t really speak to functions I have not seen.
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Well to be fair, I never called it a review. This was an overview of the tool. I can’t feel good about reviewing a beta unit as it’s technically unfinished. Once I get my pro unit and can thoroughly test it and find issues, then I can really review details.
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