Briefly pictured disembodied chins bouncing around trying to gnaw things… That was…interesting.
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I don’t believe we know - we’re still shipping beta materials as we’re not 100% happy yet with everything.
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are you going to share?
, don’t know it I want any of that stuff. HAH
OK, I know it is a bad drug joke.
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@Clone…is there nothing you can saturate the wood with that will keep them from chewing on it?
(Like the bitter apple spray my folks have to use on the furniture to keep their female pup from eating it…she chews everything to bits, up to and including rocks from the driveway.) 
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not even in the least and would defeat the purpose. That spray is candy to a rabbit or chinchilla. In addition to that every thing you give them is sacrificial in the name of dental health. They have continually growing teeth they never stop growing so they need things to chew on. They can chew through wood, stone, and aluminum and everything between. So if you give them something you expect it to be destroyed. So low cost and safe is the way to go treating something doesn’t prevent the problem of the wood or adhesive being toxic because no matter what they will put teeth to it
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That’s too bad! 
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I like that acronym! (QBQ)
Is it generally the case that things that are human-safe are also chinchilla-safe? I ask because I know some things that are safe for us are unsafe for other animals (like how Xylitol (sweetener) is unsafe for dogs).
Maybe you could make some chinchilla-safe plywood by cutting and gluing some veneers together using a glue you know is safe. If you’re making stuff for sale it could be a way to differentiate your product from the competition. You could even just make the plywood and sell it. You could call it… “Toothgrade”. 
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Ya so great question. So there is woods that are toxic and I have a list for that for instance birch is not safe.
But adhesives is a little tougher as well that would niche research. So was hoping that Dan with working with his glue gods maybe the glue gods would know animals safe or not. I found some research that the soy based may be safe but from what I could find i can’t buy it unless a manufacturer
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I searched for edible glue and it took me to this cake decorating page. https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/11/how-to-make-edible-glue/ It talks about gluing cake decorations, but wonder if either of the “recipes” would work for gluing veneers. They may not be super permanent, but said the Chins destroy stuff anyway, so may last until they chew it up. Would have to see if Tylose powder is safe for animals. Surprised that birch causes issues. Apparently beavers aren’t close relatives to Chinchillas.
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I appreciate people trying to find a glue. But I have no interest in making my own veneers to make 1/4-1/2 plywood I can’t imagine that would be cost or time effective. Just was hopping Dan knew given that laser safe may have over lap with eating safe or that the manufacturer may know etc…
Safe woods:
apple
arbutus
ash
aspen
bamboo
blackberry
blackcurrant
cholla
cottonwood
crabapple
dogwood
elm
grapevine
hawthorn
hazelnut
kiwi
magnolia
manzanita
mulberry
pear
pecan
pine - kiln-dried white
poplar
quince
rose hip
sycamore
willow (but not white willow)
Toxic Woods:
almond
apricot
beech
birch
black locust
black lotus
blackwood
box elder
buckthorn
cashew
cedar
cherry
chestnut
China berry Chinese snake tree chokeberry
citrus woods - orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc.
See Also: 6 Things Your Chinchilla Needs to Stay Happy
cypress
ebony
elderberry
eucalyptus
fir
ginkgo
hemlock
holly
honey locust
hydrangea
juniper
kumquat
laurel
mahogany
mango
manufactured/glued woods like plywood or fiberboard
maple
mesquite
myrtle
nectarine
oak
oleander
peach
pine - fresh, pressure treated, red – kiln dried is thought to be safe
pinecones
pistachio
plum
redwood
sandalwood
sequoia
spruce
teak
walnut
weeping fig
white willow
yew
This shows promise but need more details like wood type and some type of safety sheet
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As I understand it, Proofgrade materials are materials sold by Glowforge that will have been tested and recognized by the machine to automatically load cutting/ engraving profiles, right?
Stuff I will cut frequently that I would like pre-defined profiles for:
- Cardboard- almost all my prototyping starts on cardboard because it is cheap and easy.
- Foam core- this is often used as a rough prototyping material as well as a finished material (RC Airplanes)
- Felt- I’ve been making a lot of things out of felt lately, both 1/4" and 1/8". Lasered felt smells awful even when it’s dialed in and if you are off on your settings then it smells exponentially more like death.
- Thin (1/16" ish) polystyrene sheets- these are great for building small box molds out of, making stencils, errything!
- Acrylic- obviously
- Plywood- like everyone else
- Leather would be cool…
- Canvas and other fabrics- I need to do more softgoods but I hate cutting out patters and pattern making. Iterating on a laser cutter would be so nice.
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What about balsa wood? Aren’t most hamster chew toys just colored balsa wood? They don’t last long as they are soft and made to be chewed…
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At the top of my list of materials I’d like to play with are:
- Vegetable tanned garment and shoe Leather
- Delrin preferably in Black
I’m super curious to see if I can make corsets or bodices, through carefully measured cuts to get around the need for leather working tools. I’m interested trying to use Delrin as a metal replacement to make custom clasps and findings. I don’t know if it’ll work but I’m going to attempt to make sturdy leather boots, (like combat or jumper boots not moccasins) and do customized buckles and straps for them.
Also on my list would be:
-
various hardwoods (to make jewelry boxes, planters, engraved furniture veneers, and well wood is just so versatile and pretty)
-
colored glass (for making frosted patterned panels for candle holders, and other light fixtures) …colored acrylic wood be okay to, but I’d rather reuse old plastics than use new stuff.
-
silicone (for stamps, food safe molds, and maybe soles for shoes)
-
a thin, yet fairly durable material for stencils (I want it to stand up to sandblasting), I’d ask that it was a natural renewable material but I get that there might not be many options on the front
I’m so excited that we’re getting close now! My husband is super supportive and has decided I can just focus on the Glowforge when it comes in, and he’ll support us until my engraving business is off the ground. I couldn’t be luckier! Thank You to the Glowforge staff, for all your hard work, and to @Dan for seeing what we needed to take the DIY movement to the next level! I believe Glowforge, will make great strides in democratizing small scale manufacturing, making it possible for small business to be far more competitive with some larger corporations. I know small businesses have been using laser cutters and CNC for a long time now, but the act of simplifying the designing and cutting process will make it so much faster and more accessible that I think we’ll see a huge expansion in successful home business because of the awesome product you’ve been working so hard to get to us!
So that’s my very long winded way of saying Thank You!! Thank You for your hard work! Thank you for your dedication!
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Hello!
Hmm I certain don’t even know if it’s possible but silver would be nice 
I’m a designer so creating jewelry made out of sliver would honestly be amazing!!
If not then it would be awesome to find some material that you can put over a plaque of silver or any other material that’s not installed in the GF that would be automatically read by the GF …
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I’m pretty sure you need a fiber laser to mark silver.
You will certainly not be able to cut or engrave silver with a 40w C02 laser.
This thread on SMC asks about marking sterling with cermark, and they seem to say No.
Maybe you can etch designs into silver using a glowforge-cut masking material and a chemical etching product, as discussed on another thread here on our forum.
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Thanks !! 
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How about vegan leather (http://inhabitat.com/muskin-is-a-100-biodegradable-vegan-leather-made-from-mushroom-caps/) and different sizes and colors of acrylic discs?
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Ditto for this list.
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Thread for some discussion I started before posting in here: Color layered proof grade plywood
So I recently went out of lurking, and actually made myself a profile now that we’re approaching actual release! 
But I wanted to request a possibility for color layered plywood
In the original post you mentioned that there will likely be two toned acrylic that you can engrave into for another color, but i was curious about a similar idea of having different layers of dyed wood, or perhaps a gradient of colors. Then having a proofgrade setup that knows exactly how deep to engrave for a certain color, or shade
Not sure if this would bypass the issue of charring hiding the colors of the wood, but possibly using a dremel brush to take off the char would show the layered colors of the wood
Thanks for reading my thoughts, and hopefully it’s not too far fetched xD
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