It would be awesome if everybody (including me at times) could express themselves as well as you did. I don’t think anybody will be annoyed/offended/etc. unless they just really want to be and you can’t control that.
What you described is exactly how mine arrived. Clean, clear, well packaged
Thanks! I’m not really worried about offending anyone as that’s out of my control. I just see many of us get into little arguments or unnecessary debates and speculations which is wearing as a reader. That’s with any forum, not just this one.
The quality issues bothers me alot so I had to write something. These are things that I have confidence that Flex can fix. I live in Canada so logistically it’s a pain if I need to reject the unit if it’s defective or damaged (I’m picking up in the USA)
And for expressing myself, I actually suck at it on a personal level. I’m typing as if I’m working at my day job 
I disagree. The intent and attitude in your communication came through crystal.
I write much better than I speak, (probably because I actually think about it) but I talk like a sailor 
That’s how I sent my first one back with only 1 handle. I taped the bottom of the handheld to the bottom of the box, the top upwards and both sides outward(all about 2" inside the box) with the side closest to the end wrapped around the corner.
Ditto (on both counts). At least online you have the option to think/delete/reword. There is no verbal backspace - just a big ol’ foot in the mouth.
Exactly. 
Maybe the names left on the accounts are the virtual equivalent of those inspector stickers you sometimes get on products, that identifies who inspected that item so they can track any problems.
Glowforge should use that really thin film thats fun to peel off of new appliances. That way, we get to peel a film and the units aren’t fingerprinty.
After reading this post it does give me pause on the quality of product that I will receive. I work in a facility that does very similar things as Flex. When I told one of my coworkers that was a former Flex engineer that glowforge was being made there. His first reaction was to tell me to disassemble the unit and reassemble it. Because the line level employees that do the assembly aren’t that great from his experience. While i won’t go to that extreme because of it violating my warranty. It’s worries me that it may be only a matter of time before it breaks.
I mean… Its only a matter of time before everything breaks.
True but depending on quality of the install that may speed the chance of it occurring. I’ve seen plenty of tech’s perform a job to get it past quality control but knowing it will break shortly there after. Again my concern was because of a former Flex engineer didn’t feel like there was a good chance everything would be done correctly. With the number of posts about issues. This concern has just been amplified. Before anyone goes into the “you can get a refund” I understand that. I’m excited to get my GF in my shop but just have reservations on the build.
I have no idea how any manufacturing really works, or any relevant experience, or any friends who are former flex employees, or any friends.
Maybe you should totally be concerned, or maybe the former experiences of a former employee aren’t necessarily the most accurate or up-to-date. Or maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Plus side, if you have the capability to take it apart and put it back together, warranty issues aside, you’re a lot better off than some of me us. Some of us.
I work with several former Flex employees and I disagree with your colleagues assessment of their line workers. Mind you the cosmetic issues is an issue originating from the line so there will be some who are not as good as others. I just don’t think it’s fair to generalize the group. Best to hope for for the best
After the warranty ends, my hubby becomes the official tech.
Will GF at a later date be able to offer us schematics for technical use, or is that a nono to ask.
( years back, I needed to order a schematic to fix a receiver I had, no problem with that, but this is something different, I understand )
You never know. But I will be surprised they wouldn’t give it to you as anyone could reverse engineer it. Maybe after they seeded the market before the competition
Could be completely wrong, but seems to me the only companies that release electrical or CAD drawings are those that officially support 3rd party repair. GF isn’t saying yet.
Keeping a positive attitude is a good thing, but it shouldn’t replace due diligence and careful research. There are a lot of issues being reported. Many of them repeat occurences. GF and Flex need to get a handle on that.
You’re kidding, right?
Able? Yes. Will they? There’s a better chance that monkeys will fly out of my butt.
Like I said, I have bought schematics before for repairing something.
It stands to reason that I might want to know if someday down the line, GF may offer the schematics for technicians and troubleshooting. I do not think they are going to have a one stop GF repair shop in every town.
ANY tech worth their salt is not going to delve into something without at LEAST having a clue or at least asking if they can have a copy of the schematics, which YOU pay for out of pocket, and give to the tech with your machinery so they can figure out what is wrong and repair it.
Yes, that is what someone who is technically inclined in the ways of such things would request/require. Come repair time, if you don’t know WHO you can trust to open up that forge, well, there are a lot of people who might be able to help, but they TOO will be asking for a schematic, a clue to what they are going to undertake. If you give it to someone who never even HEARD of a glowforge, you have no
schematic, and they say they can/will do it, well…as Booker DeWitt would say Good luck with that
I am trying to be a realist. It is gonna get costly if people have to send in for repairs, and that is just the shipping alone 
The schematics would not be cheap.
but they wouldn’t be ridiculously priced either, otherwise, someone might feel compelled to just once try recouping some $ by sharing with a neighbor lol
No harm in at least asking.
Maybe it is something they will consider down the road.
I am not very technical, but it occurred to me that the most delicate part of this unit has a life of approx 2K hours. That piece was shipped, installed in the device. This is not going to be like changing out a light bulb on a DLP television. (otherwise, it would have been in it’s own concrete box )
I’m just saying.
You’re right, there’s pretty-much no harm in asking. And I agree that it would benefit us customers if they were willing to release the schematics.
It would just be so out of character for the company that refuses to clarify what setting the power to “100” actually means, and refuses to disclose the revision number of their software, to then release virtual blueprints of their main product.
Oh I don’t expect them to be available today, I just meant down the road. Like after the end of the warranty, we could have the option to pay for a set of schematics so that we could be able to troubleshoot problems.
A tech can’t just open up a forge and read a board. Boards are anonymous, the schematics that detail what does what is required to do a repair.
I can’t imagine when these stop working, they are going to wait for us to line up the shelves with repairs 
They may decide to make schematics available in the future. We won’t be the first humans to see them.
They are useless but to technicians who can use them to troubleshoot. ( well, I don’t know that for sure but I am just saying in general ) Your repair will only be as good as your tech can be. They aren’t going to pay for the schematics, that is on you.
@dan have they discussed this for an option in the future possibly?