This particular topic has been beaten into the ground. They have it clearly stated in several parts of the site and @dan has not been shy to say what the plan is in interviews (and here on the community site).
Ugh… what? I was thinking when they said they would roll out units and December that I would get mine around January at the latest. If its much past January I might have to just cancel I seriously cant wait that long I have work for this thing to do…
Ya there is no way you will be getting one by January, unless you run a maker space or school in the Seattle area.
I do wish the main site had been more clear to keep folks from misunderstanding. The order page does have smallish lawyer print that says: “You are pre-ordering a product that has not yet been manufactured. We’ve tried to accurately describe it, but we may make changes before it’s delivered.” The only place shipping dates were described was in the FAQ under “When will my Glowforge ship?” which states first units in December and rollout of the rest over the next few quarters. External site videos, interviews and reviews had that information upfront.
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If you were one of the first to order it might be a possibility… but if you ordered later in the month it sounds like youll be waiting a few months…
Dan said they had a solid plan to ensure all units were shipped before August of next year. Lots of details here: $8 mil to date, roughly 3,000 units sold
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I have operated several laser systems and countless software programs that make them run since the early 90’s (Epilog and Universal) when the technology was still in it’s infancy (compact commercial use). I appreciate the transparency, attention detail, (high voltage wires, etc… this is a major issue, believe me) and the “hate me because it’s late and not because it does not work” attitude of GlowForge.
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Yeah…August of NEXT year? So they are going to tie up our cash for THAT long? When the pre-order stated December 2015 ship date…I dunno how I feel about all of this. Starting to sound more like a bait and switch.
They said the first shipments will be in December and the rest will follow
Understand how you could feel that way but don’t want to leave the impression that there has been any change in delivery status. “…ship the first units in December 2015 and roll out the rest of the units over the next few quarters as production ramps up.” Those words or a paraphrase of the same thing are the only suggestions we have ever heard from GF. Not in anyway dismissing your disappointment. Wouldn’t be surprised with future changes but everything so far has been consistent as far as I can find.
I have to say I was pretty… surprised when I read it was coming as late as August. But, they seem to be pretty free with handing out refunds, so if that’s not to your liking, you can always go buy something else.
People need to stop speculating. Dan said that would be the worst case scenario if really bad things happen during manufacture. Or if the initial recipients of the units find major defects.
I’m happy to give them the time to test the designs and dial them in so I can hit the ground running.
That said, I’m half-seriously considering getting myself hypnotized so I forget I ordered it and can just be surprised when it shows up. =P
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I am going to be using the time to do some cleaning up so that I have a place to put it when it shows up. If it arrived today, I would not be prepared 
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I don’t care if its out December 2016. Just don’t send them till you get it right. This could be the start of amazing things that we can make in our homes. Get it right the first time.
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For myself I would caveat with “don’t send them till you get the H/W right”. Even if initially the GF only did little more than cut and engrave with power and speed control I could find a gazillion things to do with it while waiting for additional S/W features to launch. Other than burning through my warranty period while waiting for added capabilities there wouldn’t be a downside. Of course there are always a small number of owners who will complain about what they see as broken promises on still evolving S/W, causing the rest of us to wait many, many more months while the S/W matures.
Hey I will gladly volunteer to be a guinea pig as long as the H/W is production ready.
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I agree with most of the last few comments. I can wait for the machine to be working correctly, and the local makerspaces to be guinea pigs so when I get mine it works flawlessly. The only way I would cancel my order before it ships is if I saw another company like Epilog integrate the same sort of optical recognition and camera features into one of their units with a larger pass-through slot, and it was ready to ship the next day when I pay my money.
Those things alone are what’s keeping me on the list. Anyone can make a laser. I want one with the pass-through (even though GF only has a 1/4 inch pass-though) and optical recognition so when I push the material in more on a continued job, it picks up where it left off. And I love that it has a camera in the lid for material alignment.
I don’t know why so many are having issues with not getting it in Dec… I thought they did a great job of letting us know that most of us wouldn’t…
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My thoughts exactly. I got on board about 1/3 into the pre-sale campaign and it was well-noted then. Not sure if it wasn’t made clear at the start or not, but it was pretty clear in everything I’ve seen about the GF.
I told my husband I was buying this for myself for next Christmas. August would be a welcome surprise. I imagine I’m about 8000 down the list and I’m international which will add to delivery time.
My kids are both terribly excited that we are getting one, and horribly disappointed that it might not be here for a year… my six year old understands, but my four year old seems unable to grasp the concept of ‘pre-order’. He now thinks I’m crazy for buying something ‘invisible’, but in the meantime he’s being kept happy by a bunch of laser-cut fluoro acrylic hexagons from the dead space in my last Ponoko order and a UV finger torch.
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