Portable Protective Case for full time travel?

Hey ya’ll! This topic has been slightly referenced a few times but 1) its been a while and 2) noone discussed my exact question.

I’m looking at taking my little shop on the road. I have purchased a 24’ travel trailer and have begun renovations. Since I will be traveling solo, the idea of having to “set up” the glowforge every time I park is daunting. My plan is to construct a wooden crate almost the exact dimensions of the shipping box and use the very same foam inserts to provide a similar but more permanent and more durable storable box. Ideally, the box would have clasped sides that I could remove and (with no lifting of the machine) power and run while still on the foam. I will still be venting out the side of the camper (with a filter attached), will have an inline fan to keep noise down and and will be making sure the air intake on the bottom right is clear. But is there anything else I’m missing that would make this setup problematic? Thank you!

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Boy do I have a @jbmanning5 for you!

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The GF shipping protection is designed to allow carriers to roll and throw the box up your driveway without destroying the machine.

If it’s on a table/shelf in a trailer, unless you plan to go racing on a motocross track, it’ll be just fine sitting there.

Put another way, are you planning to pack all your plates and glasses in bubbles wrap every time you move?

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All my dishes are bamboo :rofl:. These campers do bounce around quite a bit when rolling and I will be on gravel and other unfinished roads that (in my experience) have a bad habit of shaking my most sturdy builds to pieces. I don’t think being extra cautious securing the tool responsible for my entire livelihood is over-kill.

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Haha, as someone who used to pull a trailer over rough roads to camp I can completely understand where you are coming from. I think your idea is a sound one.

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So much this - go through his old posts, reading both the top and the responses. He talks about exactly this (and here he even talks about continuing to use the packing material while in motion).

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Whew! I started the thread and will try to finish it up tonight. I was searching “camper” in the posts and looks like he calls his rig and RV so I might have missed it. Thank you for linking it! What I’ve gathered is that step one is to get a dog so I’m doing good so far! :blush:

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I packed it back in the original box with the motion system locked down whenever I moved (usually once a week or so) and then traveled with it on the floor. It’s spot when I was set up and working was on top of a bunk bed platform. Not the easiest place to move it up and down from, given that the system can be a little bulky - especially when in relatively tight quarters - so I can understand why you wouldn’t want to do that.

Honestly, it would have been fine traveling in that spot so long as the motion system was locked up while in transit, and the lid was taped down very securely. I didn’t really want to tempt fate though.

I did get down some pretty bad roads - thanks Google Maps… but never had an issue.

As far as the box itself - I wanted to bring that with me in case it needed to go back for repairs, tube replacement, etc. Eventually I did get a warranty replacement so I was glad that I had it with me.

As far as building out a box, etc for it… :man_shrugging:t2: I guess it kind of depends on how it’s all set up. The biggest things I think are keeping it from jumping around or sliding around, the lid jumping, and the motion system from moving.

What I probably would have done if I kept it set up in the same place would be just get 4 D-rings and then strap it across length and width and just strap it with the foam and all. Probably a blanket or some kind of thick padding across the cover for the front to back strap. And I wouldn’t strap it down real hard - it’s not a metal case. Just enough to constrain movement.

I actually did just that when I bought the larger Universal laser… that thing is like 250-270 lbs, but on locking caster wheels. I installed d-rings and slid it up against a wall, then ratchet strapped it tight (motion system also secure).

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You got some great answers. I just wanted to say that when I did a quick read of your post’s title I thought you had somehow mastered time travel…

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note: this is all the orange bits
you could also make the wooden crate such that the cardboard box will fit in :thinking:

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haha I suppose a hyphen would have been helpful :rofl:

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