JB's Glowforge is Here

And it doesn’t have a fancy name - just JB’s Glowforge. Nor does it yet have a fancy escutcheon. I wasn’t planning on making any kind of a post because we’ve all seen the Founders Ruler by now (and some cool variations of it), and we’ve seen unboxing videos (that are better than the effort that I would put into it). We’ve also seen or heard of the damaged units that have arrived. Or maybe about alignment not yet being as precise as we’d hoped.

But, I am so damn impressed with the ease of this machine, I felt that I should post something to assuage those who are waiting for their machines still. First, the box arrived in a condition I would rate about 7.5-8/10. It was missing (1) plastic handle. The tape was in good shape as was the outer boxing. I watched my UPS guy stand it up on the dolly and then cartwheel it up the 4 steps to my front porch. Thanks, Brown. I wasn’t too worried about it though - others have experienced similar and while the packaging may not be perfect, it was designed for an imperfect world.

I haven’t yet bought a dedicated table for the Glowforge. Crazy, huh? After 2 years? Shame. But, I also wanted to get a feel for the size of the actual machine and how I will use it before I bought or built a table for it. Do I want onboard storage, or as small of a footprint as possible that I can move to utilize the passthrough easier, etc.? Those questions will be answered while it sits temporarily on my dining room table. Good thing I’m a bachelor and eat in the living room.

Set up was mostly flawless. Load up the instructions on the Glowforge website, take some foam out, pop her up on the table and get going. I don’t know how strong the WiFi receiver is; the first scan didn’t pick up my primary network. I typed in the SSID and it complained for a minute, rescanned, and found my primary SSID. The only wireless signals I can pick up out here in the boondocks are my own, and I’m not too far from the unit (25 ft and a wall?). Maybe it just had a hiccup. A signal indicator in the GFUI might be nice, just a simple dBi number somewhere?

After 23 months, I think I’m just about ready to print the glorious Founder’s Ruler. Not. Sitting in a 95 degree truck all day left the unit a little warm, I believe. Not to mention, I had it at probably 81f or so in the dining room area. Turned the unit off, dropped the AC a couple of degrees and grabbed some dinner; 30 minutes later, I was golden. Founders Ruler done and perfect.

UPS delivered my ProofGrade yesterday at about 10:45AM, so I was hoping for a repeat performance of being at the front of the daily delivery line. Wrong. I was the very last 2 packages on the truck. The point of telling you that is that I was supposed to go help my sister out and tear some palettes down for some project she’s working on - thanks Pinterest. Needless to say, I didn’t get a chance to do that. To make up for it, I grabbed a crappy low-res jpeg of the logo from her and her business partners store here in Wimberley, TX (come shop, y’all!), did a quick image trace in Illustrator and reversed it, plopped in some freebie Medium Clear Acrylic and sent it on its way to the magic cloud.

I’m impressed. A few minutes later, I had a coaster that will make amends. The only nitpick I could make about the engrave is that a section of the ropes for the swing didn’t seem to make it through. I measured the thickness in Illustrator of that part and they came out to .01". But, a 500% view in Illustrator showed a couple of problems in the trace (which is typical) which corresponded exactly with the missing areas. For literally less than 30 seconds of “design” work and 10 minutes of printing, color me impressed. Or, is that, I’m clearly impressed. Sorry, bad acrylic joke.

Oh, how accurate was it? Well, I shoved that design way up in the upper left side of the bed, just for the heck of it. The only thing you’re seeing that’s “off” is shadow. Dead. Spot. On. As far as I’m concerned.

The closer you get to the finish line, the tougher this wait gets. Time is relative. And it can be tough watching other people make on their units when you don’t have yours yet. I know. That’s how I felt. Then I kicked myself in the derriere and told myself to quit being childish and petty. It’s coming. It’s real. And it’s awesome.

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So happy for you, and that it’s all you were hoping for!

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Great write up but, Um, you might want to go back and read the fine print. It stops working in ten days unless there is a custom escutcheon installed! :laughing:

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This. SO much this.

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Oh, that looks great! I’m thrilled your wait is over! :grinning:
(Looking forward to seeing more great things!)

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Likewise…I am thrilled for you. I know the feelings that you’re experiencing…firsthand. Nothing quite like it.

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I sent a quick video to a buddy of mine of the Glowforge doing its magic on the Founders Ruler, captioned simple: Pew. Pew. Pew. Lasers. His first question was, “what are you printing?”

I’d say the focus groups that Dan and crew went through were spot on in calling the thing a printer, as far as appealing to the masses.

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HashbrownCongrats

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Out standing. You made it. Held out for the long run. :sunglasses::tada:

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Fantastic post and congrats on getting your Glowforge!
I’m curious, how do you break down pallets? What is your preferred method? If you’re wanting to keep the boards as intact and long as then can be, I have found a reciprocating saw with a “wood with nails” blade to be best, running it parallel to the slats, actually cutting through the nails. Then, simply pop out the nail heads with a nail set and you’re done.

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I have no idea! I was going to just load up a few tools and see exactly what kind they were. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Sawzall. That would definitely make it go easy!

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You use a little on the ends, but using a circular saw to cut along the stretchers can be another easy way. If they are the ones with just 3 stretchers, after you sever both ends with the circular saw, you only have to content with the center one. Those nails are really something…they are spiral nails, so they do NOT want to back out! ha

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Glad to see an acrylic pun squeezed in there! I’m so happy you can make fast amends now - make sure to show us what you make next!

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Very happy for you!!! Also, I’m sure your sister will love the coaster! It looks great!! So nice to key in on what someone is into … and with little effort … give them a wow!

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Congratulations. Have my email, waiting on tracking, then there will be two (+?) in south/central Texas :slight_smile:

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Congratulations! :grinning::boom::confetti_ball::tada:

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I’m upgrading the lights on my button and sizing up the batman logo for a button cover/escutcheon. Be sure to look up. :wink:

Hope to see @Jules be #3 soon! The Golden Scalene Triangle.

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I’m perfectly content playing with this little monster until they get mine ready. (They have yet to let me down. I can be patient.) :smile:

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Already 2 in central Texas.

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I have been harvesting pallet wood lately in anticipation to receiving my GF. I have been using a replicating saw too but have been just cutting the wood discarding the pieces with nails . My buddy has a pallet breaker that I will be trying out. Its basically a forked pry bar. I’m not looking forward to having to remove all the nails though.

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