for what it’s worth i rank it about par with a stove, i.e., reasonably safe if you aren’t foolish. i only take issue with suggesting it’s on the level of anything you plug in like a regular printer.
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TELL ROOMMATES TO MAN UP
/sarcasm
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Having had a house fire caused by a more traditional plug-in, and received some shocking revelations from a state fire marshal, I’d still have to place them pretty close to level. If anything, I’d place the regular laser printer slightly higher, only in that you are more likely to leave it completely unattended compared to the laser.
Do you? I’ve gotta say… If I was experimenting with my laser I’d keep an eye on it. But if I was experimenting with my stove I’d do the same thing. So, for me, and I’m not condoning any behavior at all, if I was engraving 
, I’d walk away from it the same as I’d walk away from my stove while cooking ravioli. If I was working with a new material, or cooking candy, I’d be watching carefully. Mmmm… I should make some fudge this weekend. Oh, and try that mirrored acrylic I got last week.
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I’ve had living a living situation like yours.
I’d start shopping for new digs. Even if this works out, it’ll be brought up again during discussions about something else.
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Any time you’re using a laser cutter there are potentially toxic gases released, regardless of what you’re trying to do with a laser cutter and what material you’re trying to cut or engrave.
What makes a substance toxic is not the material itself but the concentration of exposure to it. Laser cutters have powerful exhaust systems to move those gases away so the exposure level doesn’t reach a toxic point.
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Toxin. Toxic. Detox. Natural. Chemical.
All words, all obfuscated with impunity by advertisers, flim-flam men, con-artists, well-meaning doctors, environmentalists, and everyone else who feels it’s advantageous.
The truth, as always, lies hidden somewhere beneath the mountain of bullshit.
Too much water can kill you. Too much anything can kill you.
Even if you decided to create the “perfect” environment, you’d have trouble designing it because you’d need to decide which experts you felt were right.
Life’s too short. Do what you can to feel healthy, listen to those you trust, and don’t worry so much about the rest.
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mpipes, this is not aimed at you, more intended to “yes, and” if you’ll pardon the improv reference. 
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@davidandmaraya haha yeah I was reading your response like “dude that’s just what I said” I even had a reference to arsenic levels in drinking water in my post but decided not to go there.
No worries, I’m not a rabid internet guru or TV Doctor follower so I’m fairly BS-free but I’ve given up trying to convince others that the media is just hyping up “toxins” to sell them more stuff.
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Wait… the GF is certified gluten free, isn’t it?! If not then I may have to cancel my order.
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The only intestinal distress I have experienced from the GF is waiting for jobs to finish before running (sprinting) to the bathroom so it’s not running unsupervised.
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When it’s burning a material I have used with settings I have used, I have considered my Glowforge supervised if I am around. There’s a bathroom next door and my main computer is in the adjacent family room. Kitchen is half a flight up with open railings so I can see.
I am not offering safety advice, only stating that I may have started dinner and/or gone to the bathroom while an engrave and/or cut was running.
I take responsibility for my risks. I picked the insurance plan.
Someone will do something stupid.
Everything carries risks… including staying on your couch.
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I’m surprised this thread hasn’t been shut down yet. Safety is a No-go topic I t think.
Offering safety advice about the Glowforge is, but everything here has been pretty generic and @dan already moved it to “Beyond the Manual.”
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Just like how oxygen can be toxic at higher concentrations…
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I think I agree with the point that you are probably never going to be able to convince them. There will probably always be something else, Fire Safety, Off Gassing, then move to Noise, and just the overall smell. There may not be anything to do to convince them and trying to might just cause them to “dig in” and become adversarial to you being their roommate.
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i mean i think there’s a lot of “oh they’re just looking for excuses” going on in this thread, but there’s also a big difference between a theoretical laser cutter that will show up some day and a three foot box that sounds like a vacuum cleaner and sometimes smells up the room in your apartment. it’s entirely possible that they’re just a little freaked out, and deserve a little “there, there, see, it’s okay,” before giving up on them entirely.
sure, they may still be whiners and you ultimately get a new apartment, but let’s not jump the gun.
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As has been stated, it is the dose that makes the poison.
Fear stands ready to fill in the blanks of ignorance. If you really like your roommates, enlist them in the creating process. If they can’t see the glory of this tool, then you should find roommates who would revel in the ability of your glowforge. Good luck.
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this is sort of what i mean; i agree that in an ideal world your roommates would be beyond stoked (obviously i would be) but it’s also not reasonable to just assume it’s okay to use this. i think we’d all tell stories about a weird roommate who liked to randomly vacuum at all hours of the day. i feel for the roommates, until / unless we hear a story about them being really unreasonable.
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Agree, but I feel more for the owner who has been waiting so long for his delivery only to be cornered by the room mates.
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