Congrats and Forge On!!
Oooh! I had to do the same thing with the PRU…good luck! (And congrats!) 
Update: all seems well so far but hubby is making dinner. Must go eat and then I’m on baby duty. Founder ruler tomorrow.
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One upgrade a number of people have suggested and now so do I, get at least one of those screwing clamps for the back of the 
. It makes a much tighter and waaaay easier cinch around the vent hose.
I like the worm gear ones but a regular screw one works too.
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Three things:
- Easy to crack the case by over-tightening (that’s why we stopped providing them)
- The finger-tighten-able ones have a big finger-flange that can get in the way of sliding it right up next to the case, so they may not hold as well
- With all three, you might find best results by adding some extra sealing with foil tape.
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My vote is keep the current clamps. I like not needing a tool to take the hose on and off.
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Additionally, since the connection needs to be taped pretty much no matter what, better the connector having the least potential to cause damage.
Does anyone have the Inner/Outer diameter of the Glowforge vent measured with calipers? I’d really like to 3D print a 1-inch extension sleeve I could slip into it and act as the sacrificial over-tightened hose material…
@palmercr even has an OpenSCAD design all ready to print, which I did. Haven’t tried the fit. The one I designed and printed works so well and is so tight that it’s just going to stay on there.
This is the topic you’ll want to read about an extender flange for the exhaust port.
Caliper measurements are here:
Wait a minute. I’m reading that topic over and you posted in it. Am I missing something here or did you forget about it.
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Ugh, the last month has been horrible for keeping up with posts.
I read it, I recalled something about it, but search failed me. 
Thanks for that!
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My method for using the provided clamps worked out pretty well:
A) Squeeze the sharp little ends of the clamp with one hand while holding the exhaust hose in the other hand.
B) Curse loudly each time the ends twist and snap out of my grasp.
C) Examine wounds and apply CA glue as necessary to put the flaps back into place
D) Wipe up the blood.
E) Put on safety glasses.
F) Throw the wire-clamps into the scrap metal pile.
G) Use a worm-drive clamp to secure the exhaust hose, tightened to “finger-tight” using a stubby driver.
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My method was similar, but when the wire clamps twisted out of my grasp they flew across the room and landed in parts unknown. Just as well for them because my next plan was to melt them down into something potentially useful.
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The spring clamps actually aren’t too bad if you have an exhaust extender flange. It’s the tight space of the exhaust flange on the Glowforge itself that does not allow one to to easily squeeze the clamps. Strong fingers with thick callouses work well (my carpenter brother did the spring clamp work at BAMF. He used them like they were no harder than clothes pins). I myself of little strength in the index and thumb combo couldn’t do it easily on the normal setup. With the flange extender it was not an issue because I could get the correct leverage and positioning.
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I found the spring clamps to be not that bad if I stretched them out a bit before using them. As shipped they’re far tighter than is reasonable for a normal human to work with.
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Don Knotts and Andy Griffith showing us how it’s done.
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One of my favorite movies. 
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Is this flange only available as a 3d printed item? Is there a commercial product that would serve the same purpose? It seems like other Glowforge users would like to obtain this solution to the short exhaust connection that GF designed into their Glowforge product.
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There are many adapter fittings available for plumbing and duct work but I do not know if there are off the shelf adaptors that would fit. Perhaps a niche market that folks can fill who have 3D printers.
The existing flange does work just fine. It is easier to secure the hose with a worm drive clamp but the spring clamps function fine. Just a little tricky at the start. If you are removing the hose from the Glowforge frequently, it might be worn looking at helpful solutions.
I too spent about a minute cursing while trying to get those things on before tossing them and grabbing a couple of worm-drive clamps from the magic closet full of junk I don’t remember how I got.
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I ended up just not using clamps at all, just put the hose on. So far it’s only slipped off once!
(I do have some worm drive clamps ready, I’m just super lazy)