Pre-Release | Car Wash

Made on a Glowforge
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My glowforge had some mileage on it when I got it. Then I added even more mileage since I’ve owned it. The honeycomb has definitely seen some better days.

Discamiler. THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL GUIDE ON HOW TO CLEAN THE BED. You do this and screw thing up. Shame on you.

Okay then.

Play this while reading this. Wait until the 50 sec point then start.

This is what it looked like before I cleaned it.

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This is the after.

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Steps in-between.

  1. Fill a bucket with hot’ish water and add simple green.

Big Bucket.

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  1. Remove the honeycomb from its housing.

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The process is pretty easy. 4 philips screws and 4 M3 screws.

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  1. Insert honeycomb in bucket.

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Depending of the size of the vessel let soak 5mins per side. Then agitate the bed in the bucket similar to a washing machine.

Use a plastic bristle brush to scrub surfaces. Set aside to dry.

Then grab the pan and the bed chassis and clean them.

  1. Allow everything to dry.

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  1. After everything is DRY reassemble.

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Once again- This is not an official guide. This is mostly to show it possible to clean the bed to a like new condition.

Possible FAQ’s

  1. !!Does this mean I can clean the bed and then use food in my Glowforge?!

No. As this process only cleans the bed and not the rest of the machine.

  1. Can I stick the honeycomb in the dishwasher?

No. High heat can warp the bed. Plus, why would you want stuff with vaporized whatever in your dishwasher? Yeah, I know its a dishwasher- and it washes stuff… but like food.

  1. Can I use the cleaning function on my oven?

No. High heat can warp the bed.

  1. Why use Simplegreen? Acme brand is better…

I used Simple Green as it’s cheap and it’s non-toxic. And it’s pretty readily available in the US. You can use whatever you want. But if you screw it up- That’s all you. This is a ‘It’s possible post’. Not a guide.

It’s been a couple months since I’ve done this and everything is still okay.

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In a lot of applications I have seen Simple Green specifically recommended (for instance for cleaning carbon fiber bikes) where since the ingredients are known, you know it will work and will not cause corrosion or dissolve a component coating. Be careful as I noted recently that Simple Green has scented ones, which I would not use as god knows what they are, and whether they undergo some ugly chemical reaction when struck by a laser. I use it for cleaning all sorts of things that need a real solvent, but be gentle at the same time, like new guide rods/rails for CNCs or printers. Saving 15 cents to potentially damage a $4000 device is silly.

One exception (nothing to do with laser beds, but very useful for 3D printers, etc) if you want to clean linear bearings of the shipping anti-rust oil (like the Misumi LMUW8) which you must do prior to use, you should not use simple green. Those should be cleaned ultrasonically specifically with aircraft grade part cleaner (even simple green apparently can damage the guides). I followed the directions from Misumi and worked great although that cleaner was much more expensive than SG.

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Machine shop relied on simple green when I worked there I believe for the reasons @henryhbk mention it’s really good stuff

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How much Simple Green did you add to the tub?

The label says 1:1 for heavy duty and 1:10 for normal use.

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Great musical selection.

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Bargain alert!

If you have a Meijer store near you, they have the 67 oz (2L) size of Simple Green for $5.99-$1 peel off coupon = $4.99. It’s in the automotive section (even though it’s the “All Purpose” variety).

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dang, that beats the costco price! I have plenty for now… it can take a while to get through the gallon jugs.

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If the bed is stainless steel it should stand up to an enthusiastic cleaning. Do we know what alloy they are using? They are standardized with reference numbers, and if they can tell us that information we’ll know exactly how to care for that metal.

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This handy guide comes just in time. After burning through several sheets of Proofgrade to make the latest box mine is looking a bit like your before shot.

Thanks

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As a reminder.

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Gotcha

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LOL, I love that you included a soundtrack :wink:

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We regularly use simple green to degrease engines and to clean the outside AND inside of radiators. Just not the varieties with the added scent.

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I heard that when Simple Green first started selling to the automotive repair shops, the salesmen would take a drink right from the bottle to show how safe it was.

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so that’s why we have so many 3 legged kids running around. :slight_smile:

simple green is AWESOME for cleaning the grease and goo out of your smoker. :slight_smile:

if you ever need to.

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That’s called flavor :grinning:

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hi! i’ve seen this before, but have also seen posts where people have rusty honeycomb beds afterwards. anyone have this issue?

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They eventually get a little rust spot or two, but it doesn’t hurt anything. I haven’t had to wash mine yet, but I try to brush the surface gunk off with a stiff brush once in a while. Keeps the gunk from building up too badly. (Been running it for about a year and a half, but just for hobby use.) :slightly_smiling_face:

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Great share and thread and music selection!:slightly_smiling_face::upside_down_face:

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So my honeycomb didn’t look bad at all but I started getting burnt backs of my masked PG acrylic where little sections just melted and ruined my project. Just put the honeycomb in the bath and the grossness of the water is very telling. Thank you so much for this! Hopefully I’ll be back in cutting heaven shortly.

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