I purchased insulation for a vent hose and its around the hose near the machine. I definitely notice a dampening of sound.
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I took mine off after putting in the new shelving, and ran a job without putting it back on… never again haha
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I’ve read on other forums people will leave finished pieces of laser cut leather or wood to air out for 2-3 days to lose all of the smell before shipping it to someone. I imagine even if it doesn’t smell in a room, after being confined in a box for a couple of days the off gassing builds up.
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I just stumbled on to a cool maker video (I think she was called Play it Again Sam or something similar) where she did leather jewelry from beginning to end. She mixed vinegar and water and soaked it after the laser and I assume that gets rid of the smell… it is horrendous. I smelled the thing I cut 3 days ago and it was still awful. I will try it and let you know. lol
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I would have to agree with you. The laser I currently use at my makerspace has no filter. They have it hooked up to an air compressor and it is vented out of the wall with a dust collector pulling out the air and there is zero smell… until you open the lid. Nothing can save you when the air is off and the cover is open. lol
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I cut and engraved my first piece of leather the other day. It smelled exactly like that smell you smell when the dentist is drilling your tooth. Pretty gross. I rubbed the edges down with a soapy rag and it cleaned right up. Smell gone by the morning. The engraving looks pretty good too!
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meet your new best mess free, quick stain friends! I grab mine at my local 99 Cent Only store for a buck, but you can find them anywhere 
I really only use the darker one, but others might use them all.
I really only use the darker one, but others might use them all.
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I’ve got a bunch of those around here somewhere! Never occurred to me to use them! Awesomesauce! 
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I just remembered some work I did for a local company. They had invented a series of special fragrances that actually reacted with key noxious odors such as found in hospitals. I was sceptical of this claim until I actually tested some of them. When I get the Glowforge, I could test these against smells like burnt leather.
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Febreze maybe? Similar development. (They added the fragrance after consumer testing resulted in requests not to just kill the odor but also make it smell “fresher”.)
I’m on the road for the next two weeks so won’t have a chance to test it but I’ll add it to my list for my next laser session.
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Pointing a fan at it helps a LOT. So does removing the masking and getting it into a closed container, or out of the house, as quickly as possible.
The smell seems to be on that residue.
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The Fabreze story is great. Like most inventions, it was an accident, but once discovered was considered the holy grail - it could actually make bad odors go away, not just mask them with perfume. Problem was, with no smell there was no lingering “reward” when the customer used it, leading to poor testing. Once the odor was gone there was no desire to use the product again. They then spent a lot of time and money to create a perfume strong enough to survive the Fabreze formula so that it would have a smell in the end. If you ever get the chance to read on the story of how it came to market it’s a great read.
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Kinda like the Post-it note invention at 3M (why on earth would anybody want a temporary adhesive?). The original inventor had to fight to get it commercialized.
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Very cool, mixing materials is a great thing to do. My favorite is wood and metal but this is fantastic.
Jules, is there easy access to the space under the grid panel to clean up debris?
Yes indeed! The front panel is hinged, and it lowers down, allowing you to slide out the crumb tray and then tilt it to shake all the crumbs right out onto the floor.
(We really do need a tongue-in-cheek emoti.)
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Great. I was worried that it was the absence of that is what caused you to use tape to try to remove everything intact after the cut.
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Oh no, that was just an experiment. I used the method on the latest one I just finished though for real…
It had dozens of tiny similar cuts that needed to be kept exactly where they belonged. (Still missed a few, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.)
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omg you genius
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This is pretty cool… nice little craft project