We have always had this problem with the unit. The smell is fine…until we do acrylic. Either when doing the portable filter or the hose outside.
Any thoughts why? Is this common etc? How to remedy this? Cleaning makes no difference.
Acrylic can stink very badly when you are using extruded (cheaper - HomeDepot) versus cast (Proofgrade). And the smell can linger for a while.
Since that corner is where the smoke gets sucked, if you burn a lot of acrylic, the residue is going to land on that side on it’s way out.
Cast acrylic (Proofgrade) is better than extruded, but it still stinks. I think it’s worse than leather.
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Do you mean the left front corner? I find acrylic is always stinkier than anything else, but I admit I’ve not associated it to a specific corner of my unit. The air assist does blow towards the front of the unit, and as exhaust is pulling it to the back left, so it’s not surprising the left front gets more smelly than the right side of the machine…
(edit as see @Jules note–I never use extruded in my machine, and only cast acrylic, and likely varies a bit w/ manufacturer, but it’s far stinkier than organic materials --e.g. wood, leather, paper. And the more material you’re removing via cutting thickness or etching area, the stickier the job is vs same sheet but smaller cut & less engraved out).
You might want to check to make sure the hose is sealed air tight around the port too…aluminum tape can help with that. Other tapes are not air tight.
Any solutions? Yeah proofgrade doesnt stink as bad, but i mean ill open the door to my classroom and you will smell it in the entire hallway. My classroom is recesses back in like 20 feet as well.
Just not practical and my middle schoolers cant stand the smell. But we are doing some cool ball maze projects with 3-D printing and acrylic so its worth it.
I found that the Compact Filter handles it better than venting outside…that smell is just OVERPOWERING. Some of the mirrored acrylic I cut at the beginning gave me a headache, and I could smell it afterwards on the machine for a couple of days, so I think it’s the extra chemicals in certain kinds of acrylic.
It just has to wear off over time though…I tried pointing a fan at it…that just blew it all over the house. Keeping the machine closed and running the fan on the Compact Filter for a while after the print reduces it somewhat.
TheBlu-Dri is primarily sold to remove smoke and smells from a room and does a good job of it.
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That would be a good use for it if you’re cutting a lot of extruded acrylic for sure.
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I’m sorry for the strong smell!
Acrylic materials can leave a very powerful oder if the used materials are stored near your Glowforge, or inside for long periods of time after printing. Making sure to clean the inside of your Glowforge and Exhaust configuration can help reduce the smell. You can find more information about what to clean and where to clean here
I hope this information helps. I will now close this topic.