Suggestion: give people 3 ātutorial printā options the first time they connect up to the printer service, with a video guide showing them to take a piece of cardboard (with precut perforations for making removal of the square easier) from the box and place it inside.
Additional thoughts; Iād say donāt include wood or leather pieces just because that could cause delays/issues with customs in some countries.
Maybe just a piece of acrylic that has the shape of a nameplate printed on it that will fit on your glowforge. Then you can sign the material or give it a name that can then be cut/ etched and placed on your glowforge. Make it your own kinda thing.
Iād vote for material and a project file that showcases the units capabilities. It would be a great way to start. Something that showcases etching and cutting out of the box. Maybe a Glowforge wallet?
I vote for light weight materials that wonāt push the shipping weights.
Alternatively, if the materials store is online at that point try to offer a coupon via E-mail for materials that could arrive near the same time.
speaking of that. a Conservative estimate $5 million / $4000 put the low end of units ordered around 1250. Anyone think thatās good enough that materials providers should be wanting to get discount codes into the glowforge boxes?
I too would vote for including some kind of starter material to create a project right away, I loved the votive holder in the tested video so I would vote for that. I think the idea of using the packaging material in some creative way should also be considered.
Maybe stating the obvious, but the Glowforge will likely come in a cardboard box, right? What if the inside or outside of the box was pre-printed with a template that could be cut out? How about if the lid, or another part had a little holder for a business card or badge that could be used for the hello world naming?
If you do go with a progression series to educate the user, or to showcase different approaches (write on object, download files, design in art program, design in CAD style parametric program, design from photo)ā¦
I would encourage that each project uses a different type of material. Even if the material isnāt included, but just common enough there would almost certainly be a store with it available near everyone.
Cardboard, fabric (cotton shirt maybe? I know my 60W can easily cut it, havenāt tried to āengraveā yet), leather, wood, acrylic
Also showing some styles of joining (screw holes, tab and slot, wood glue for layers), or changing material properties (flex cut wood)ā¦
Really it just seems like we may be better off having a method on website to have a community curated āintro seriesā of projects. The more time I think about what you can do with laser cutters, the more I come up with. And as Dan saidā¦ It is all pretty easy in the end.
I replied to the email that reached my inbox. I attached a list of tutorial suggestions (in order from simple to complex) to the reply. I am not sure if that was the best way to address the question you posed, but I thought the list was too long to post here and I couldnāt add an attachment to this board. Thanks.
May I suggest that the Glowforge box itself have part of a slot on the lid that one can snap on/off a piece of plastic that can be customized. These removeable plastic tags can be included in the box and used to (1) test the technology as a fun way to get started and (2) used to decorate the Glowforge itself.
Something I could customize quickly to instantly impress the spouse and justify the purchase is a fantastic idea. I suggest we associate some hashtags for when we share our first cuts. Come to think of it #FirstCut
-Acrylic
-Plywood
-The box (cardboard)
The box could have the glowforge logo on it, in black, so the glowforge follows the logo design on the box and cuts it! Prints right out of the box, NO CAD.
Starter projects are wonderful. My wife is being exceptionally patient with the idea of me buying this. It would be very comforting for her if I was able to spit out a project on day 1.
Great idea to include some materials & hopefully a few tutorials to get us started.
I am in the same boat as Rebecca, total novice, no idea about laser cutting, but was inspired by Glowforge to part with my hard earned cash (thatās important for you guys to knowā¦lol) jump in & join the bandwagon.
I would like to see a sample of leather added to the list of samples mentioned as I am very interested in working with leather & the Glowforge but would not restrict myself to leather only. I am SO excited at the possibilities I struggle to switch off & get to sleepā¦like a kid on Christmas eve. Magic.
The outside box would definitely get torn up in the ship, but you have to fill the bed cavity with foam etc anyway right? Might be a god place to stack us some cardboard for testing. Wood etc might damage something.
If we had enough material to cut a book cover for a big printable pdf user guide? That might be handy.
Jumped on the bandwagon last night. Iām also a novice and would absolutely love to have some starter projects included in the box. Even if theyāre just samples of several different materials with various designs to cut or engrave.
