Looks like smell is the prize to pay for this kind of awesomeness 
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I was thinking how it’s look painted white for sharp contrast. Either way, post the results. This is grat work!
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You know, that is an outstanding idea! I’ll bet it would eliminate the plastic smell completely. 
(I think I’m going to try it…when you hear the ka-boom, you’ll know it didn’t work. Chuckle!)
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Maybe keeping a little pack of used coffe grounds tucked away in the corner of the GF would work? It works great in a smelly fridge! 
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I don’t see how the filter could be better than venting outside. When venting all the exhaust goes outside (assuming no leaks or blowback). When using the filter it all goes into the room, so unless the filter is perfect, it will not be as good as venting outside.
Seems like there should be an option to run the exhaust fan for an extended period of time for smelly materials. Or perhaps it should always run until a second after you open the lid as you are supposed to be standing next to the machine.
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Have no information on how well the filter will remove gases or odors, but the additional fans running in the filter should increase the negative pressure inside the main unit and “might” in theory work better. Only hands on experience will answer that question. My pre-release Basic vented to an external vent that was not perfectly sealed. The standard dryer type vent flap created just enough back pressure to force some fumes into the room. Even the cut maple filled the room with smell. Used metal foil tape to fix that problem at the vent connector. It’s not a problem now.
The Glowforge fans do run for 6-10 seconds after the cut is complete to clear any residual smoke. Even fairly benign materials can give off a strong smell for hours.
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I’ve also noted (I am assuming the GF is similar) that the parts themselves also continue to offgas the smell for quite some time. Acrylic smelled for almost a day too…
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I was wondering about this. I have a window insert with a standard dryer vent with the little flip door and I’ve been worrying about the strength of that little spring being too much for the GF fan. With your aluminum tape did you just seal the hose to vent connection, or did you tape up the flip door so there would be no back pressure?
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Yeah, they can be stinky for a while. I found that getting that residue out of the house (peel and pitch the masking as soon as possible) helps to air the place out a lot quicker.
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Just taped around the connection at the wall vent. Must have had small leaks where the hose slips over the wall vent lip. The external vent seemed to be venting about the same pressure as a standard clothes dryer. The flap was up just fine. But fumes are going to find the path of least resistance, so some was getting into the room. Fixed now.
BTW: Glowforge only sent one 4" adjustable clamp with the dryer vent. Since we need to buy or build a vent, might be wise to just pick up another $1.79 clamp. Had one in my junk drawer. Not sure whether you will receive one or two with the included flexible metal hose.
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Good advice, thanks!
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Yesterday I noticed a hole in my vent hose. My hose is exposed along the back of the Glowforge and it is in a traffic way as I have the front facing my desk. I must have dropped some material on it. No defect in the hose, they just aren’t made for repeated contact and manipulation. They are meant to go behind a drier and not get further movement. Duct tape to the rescue. I’ll probably wrap the whole thing in duct tape to give some protection to the foil. Will also look for an insulation sleeve to go around the whole thing for sound proofing as @takitus suggests.
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It makes such a huge difference.
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Interestingly, I have found that ducting is one of the places that duct tape does not work particularly well. I have had much better luck with aluminum foil tape on ducting.
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Discovered the true name of it was truly Duck Tape – like water-off-a-duck’s-back – originally created to seal closed military ammo boxes 
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Funny, so I can remember being chastised for calling it ducktape. “That’s the name of a brand, not of the product!” I remember being annoyed that there was Duck Brand Duct Tape. This kinda clears up the issue for me.
So how did “Duck” tape eventually come to be known as “Duct” tape and be sold primarily silver in color instead of army green? When the soldiers of WWII came home, they brought “Duck” tape with them. Shortly after their return, the housing market was booming. Some manufacture then got the bright idea to start selling it as a means to connect heating and air conditioning ducts; this idea caught on among home manufacturers and they started using it in many of the new homes being built. To allow for this usage, the tapes primary color was switched from green to silver, so that it would match the ducts. Soon the tape began being referred to as “Duct” tape instead of “Duck” tape.
Ironically, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Division concluded that you should never use Duct tape to seal ducts. Their tests showed that under typical duct conditions, duct tape becomes brittle and will fail quickly. Duct tape also can catch on fire or just smolder and produce toxic smoke. Because of this, it’s usage on ducts has been prohibited by the state of California as well as in building codes in most of the U.S.
-Source-
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Very cool – thank you
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It will forever be eb green or 100 mph tape to me. And the only stuff that comes close to the mill spec is gorilla tape.
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Everyone has already said what I am thinking…wonderful!
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