I’ve been asked alot why am I getting a Glowforge since I already own 2 large bed lasers.
Two reasons… cost (my other lasers cost 15K each) and the camera.
Most of the work I do with my lasers is cut templates and stencils for my business. I manufacture stencils and templates for airbrush face and body painting. But I also do alot of individual etching of objects like phones, knives, guns and other irregular shapes objects as well as custom shaped printed paper crafts.
The process consists of scanning the object, creating an outline on the computer, then cutting or etching the shape on a piece of cardboard, then placing the object in the outline and then engraving the object.
I have a red dot locator to line up registration marks on things like paper to cut out printed objects, but it’s still tricky to get it just right.
With the camera, i can place the irregular object onto the bed and move the image to be etched right on the object.
This will save lots of time imo.
I also plan to do local craft and tradeshows so I can cut the blank shapes of products like ornaments or name tags on my industrial lasers and use the GF to do the engraving on site, saving alot of time.
Thank you for that insight, The cameras were a major point in my decision.
No experience with a laser, and I was hesitant…I always wanted a laser and this one was within my financial reach, but the scan feature sealed it.
I would have one.
In my younger days I was pretty good with pencil or rapidograph, and the ability to place my own drawing on the bed is nothing short of awesome!
If I may ask, what is the rating and replacement cost of your laser tubes?
It was the cameras, and therefore the ease of use that hooked me - along with the price of course.
Also, the delivery dates of this summer suit me too.
$800 to recharge my newer machine and $2000 to replace the tube in the older one since they dont make them anymore…havent had to replace either yet
100% agree that the camera was what finally convinced me to pull the trigger. I’ll never forget the hours spent trying to configure the laser cutter at my university to make sure the file was cutting in the right place- aligning flip-side patterns was almost impossible!
I’m really looking forward to your workflow and user experience comparisons between the software tools provided by ULS and Glowforge. Aside from cost, the main reason I went with a Glowforge is it looks like the software experience is much cleaner and more modern. I’m excited to see your insights as while I’ve had a lot of exposure to trotec and epilog, I’ve only had limited experience using ULS.
I have not worked with trotec or epilog, but my experiences with ULS has been great. Very easy to use. I design in CorelDraw and just send over the file via the print port. I have full functions to direct each cut with different colors and can control the direction and order of each cut as well which is great when cutting lines close to each other.
I will definitely be posting the differences and making requests for bettering the software when needed… 