Take a quick look at the customer gallery from the Glowforge home page. Beautiful lamps, house signs, miniatures, vases, boxes, musical instruments, purses, dice towers organizational tools - to name a few.
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Thank you, I shall mosey on over and check it out.
I’ve spent countless hours watching over my husband’s shoulders. Not that that should need to be said.
Sure it does. So you have a bunch more time on the forums than your profile would indicate… I’m surprised you haven’t seen more finished examples. They’re definitely out there. Now, whether or not they fit your biz model, that’s another issue. I’ll butt out now.
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While limited on depth, height and width, and also materials, there are some great examples from all different kinds of domains where the Glowforge’s precision in cutting is valuable:
@jae has some amazing items.
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As apparently etching glass was your first interest it is safe to assume they were not apparel. Earrings alone could be an entire business but I am building pendants, belt buckles, and even belts in wood to say nothing of what you might do in leather. Even hats in part or whole are possible.
In the home front: coasters are like the ashtrays of a former era that is the first go to design, but serving trays of the sort @evansd2 has done so many exquisite examples or the tea boxes I have recently experimented with or with a collection of the many LED tea lights and candles there are so many decorative ideas.
You might even work out ways to mix acrylic or wood bent into the exterior of the glass that could look bland with just an engraved design. As others have mentioned a wander through the gallery could send you off to a hundred rabbit holes.
A few of my examples
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Most machines don’t evolve. You buy a tool for what it can do. Either you know what it can do … Or you research before buying, so that you know what it can do.
Call me crazy, but I research even smaller dollar purchases. I don’t have money to throw away.
Hope you can do some research to learn some fabulous uses for your Glowforge … Or a buyer to take it off your hands. Good luck!
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This one would actually have to grow. That would be something!
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Have you thought of custom hangers for clothing made from wood? (Think of the hanger as adverstising. Could just be a tag on an inexpensive wire hanger attached with string or made of leather to go over the hook?).
Business cards?
Key chain tags (again as advertising).
Custom Product displays? ( saw a pegboard design in the forum today).
Perhaps you are thinking just about your product line and not so much about auxiliary uses for a laser cutter?
Offering a customization service is also a possibility. Custom name tags are easy to do in a few minutes with a graphics program and quick to engrave in a jig if precut. Putting a first name tag on a purse. Makes the item more personal.
Amazon sells blank anodized aluminum dog tags.
Quick to engrave. Easy to attach with ball chain (also available on Amazon) to a purse.
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It would seem to make applique a bit less labor intensive. Of course, so would any other laser cutter.
I certainly understand the, “I thought this would impact my business more,” result. Unfortunately it happens.
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Thank you, Robert! You’ve given me some wonderful ideas as well as a different way of looking at the machine. I will take some time to tool around with it and see what works best. I love the idea of making jigs. They re are something I use often for a variety of applications. I know some other makers that have trouble locating the right jig. I could be a conduit for them.
Thank you again! I really appreciate your feedback. 
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