I want a visible laser and mirror system that can point upward so when the work is done I can pop the lid and get a laser light show on the ceiling as I chill with my tunes.
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My first thought was the ability to change out the focus lens. I use two different lenses on each machineā¦one has a 1.5" lens, shorter focal length but higher detail. And the standard 2" which is better at cutting thicker materials.
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What about a versatile ink/sublimation printer head? Or a vinyl plotter head?
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would a CNC driven sandblasting head be of value?
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YES!!! What a great idea!
Better yet, an articulated mirror system in the head that would accommodate a 5" FL lens, which gives excellent perpendicular cuts for butt joints.
Edit: No, not articulated. Thatās the wrong word. I mean a mirror arrangement that folds the 5" focal length laser beam within the head and focuses it at the same place where the 1.5" lens would focus. Not sure how to say that succinctly.
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Oooooā¦messy. There are exposed belt drives in there that would not like the debris.
Iām having trouble coming up with a compelling use case for it.
- 3d extruder: Sure, if you want to print an object thatās only 2" tall. Also, whereās it going to get power from? That little ribbon cable may be hard pressed to power something that can melt plastic. You also need to feed in the monofilament from somewhere, so I guess the lid would have to be open.
- Inkjet head: Maybe? Having to hold 4 cartridges (C/M/Y/K) would certainly cut down on the printable area.
- Vinyl cutting head: Why, when large vinyl cutting machines that feed off of a roll are only a couple hundred bucks?
- Router head: Would make a big mess, so only if you never want to use your glowforge for anything else. Same power problem as the extruder.
- Tilt-head laser: Maybe. I guess you might be able to engrave some overhangs or do angled cuts through thin material.
The only thing I can think of that DOES make sense, although with a very limited market, is a vacuum pick-and-place machine.
EDIT: I suppose they could go after the lucrative pancake printer marketā¦
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As long as you can cook the bacon too!!!
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Just spit-balling here: Plasma Cutter, and Water-jet heads. Yes I know theyāre not possible but thatās what I want. A leather cutting drag knife would be cool but no idea if the machine could handle it.
Problem with an airbrush would be the paint particles getting all over the mirrors and lens covers etc. I airbrushā¦and trust me, even with a good fan and ventilationā¦you still get lots of overspray.
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So much depends on the price point, of course, but it seems that an X-Y positioning system with 20-micron resolution ought to be useful for something in addition to zapping.
Ooh, I know, Iāll just put a phototransistor head on it pointing upward, enclose it in a box and make the pinhole camera from hell.
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So miffed Iām OOL ATM. Great ideas.
Iāve been rethinking my position on flatbed printer head ā¦ there have been any number of times all I wanted to do was print on heavy cardstock ā¦
Yes, yes, yes. Imagine, no more plain architectural models, colourful features left right and centre. I foresee a boom in GF produced model railway structures, doll houses, think of all those little boxes with coffee, cornflakes and a cornucopia of other products populating model pantries, model shops model anything. My head is literally spinning with the possibilities.
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Fantastic timing, get everybody excited about the GF all over again!
Go team.
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I feel like you guys could get a lot of what you think an inkjet would provide just by using a pen plotter. Having a glowforge addon for that would be comparatively easier to accomplish, I think.
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Put an electrical potential on the tray and there is no stray paint.
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OOL, 
I agree with you there and it would, likely, be a whole lot cheaper. I think itās the palette of colours a CMYK head would give you access to that makes it desirable.
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Oh for sure, Iām just thinking of relative feasibility. Also after playing sharpies on my CNC thereās something really satisfying about the saturation of the result.
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I have a couple plotters already, but Iām most stoked about a 3d print extruder head. Most of my 3d print jobs that I do en masse for clients arenāt taller than 1cm.
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Wow. You could potentially plot them across the entire working area of the bed. That would be nice!
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EXACTLY. It would save me a ton of headache and time. Or even just to do one at a time on a stable body.
Granted, Iām also waiting on a Tiko3D, but one of the reasons I liked Glowforge was its portability, and only having to bring one machine to conventions would be way better.
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that is one of the projects I have in mind for my glowforge: make a sharpie-holder for my plotter. Currently the pen attachment only fits Lumocolors. Totally agree about saturation from a fiber-tipped, ink pen.
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