There are certain things that we can help with. File related issues, reminding people to enter the thickness, showing them how to use the Trace tools, working with non-PG stuff…that sort of thing.
I do believe that there are some things they are just not going to post the results here though, for the reasons I gave above.
And I wouldn’t want them to if I were just getting started with it. I’d hate to acccidentally damage something on my new toy. 
Sure. Normally the laser emits a fairly fat beam (is it 5mm in diam?). The lens in the head focuses it to a point, but ahead of, and after that point, the bundle of rays are fatter.
My thought is that if two lenses are used, the fat beam could initially be converged tighter, then a negative lens could be used to realign those rays to be parallel again, but in a much tighter bundle.
That way, the beam coming out of the head doesn’t have to be focused and could potentially be used without setting a focus distance.
Again, this is based on a simplistic physics 101 understanding. I’d love to learn more about why this won’t work.
On the head assembly, the opening on the left side is basically a window. It’s there mostly to keep the optics in the head assembly clean. The focusing happens after the main mirror in the head. Then it travels down through the lens that has a stepper/servo to control focus.
The resolution was handled via email.
If the user wants to post the emails, then we will see what got resolved.
What’s the point of emailing AND posting in the forum? Unless the issue was a private matter I wouldn’t submit an e-mail.
As far as I know, we can’t search the resolutions to problems people have e-mailed about, only what’s here on the forum.
Posting issues only in the forum keeps everyone informed. Closing posts without sharing a brief synopsis of the resolution is more frustrating than it is helpful.
It seems to me that the goal is to “close tickets” rather than “provide a resolution to an issue.” Which, IMHO, is really the way wrong way to run a support system.
i’m sure when people do that, they’re hoping that by doing it in both places, it will get noticed faster.
i prefer posting here. mostly because i’ll often see responses from other forum members sooner than from staff, so I may get a resolution faster. the only thing i’ve used email for is to ask where my inventables code was (because i didn’t realize at the time it would come as part of the PG material shipping email).
Despite being locked, I believe the OP of a thread can still edit both the 1st post and the title to reflect it being solved.
@dan, is the support area of the forums one of the areas a poster can choose “solved” to label a post? I know someplace around here is.
What’s the point of emailing AND posting in the forum? Unless the issue was a private matter I wouldn’t submit an e-mail.
The manual says to email. but emails typically take 1-3 days to respond.
The forum usually gets a response faster. And the forum is better for having other people identify possible workarounds.
In my case, the glass from the side window popped out. The initial response I got via email support was that they were replacing it. However, that didn’t happen until long after I received replies from the forum.
The forum told me that it wasn’t a lens – it’s a window. The forum told me that it is a screw on bolt; it doesn’t require replacing the entire head. The forum told me NOT to use it until the replacement part arrives. The forum told me that the purpose is to keep dust out of the head.
Meanwhile, the email support told me that they will let me know when the replacement part has been shipped. I’m still waiting to hear from them. So far and in my experience, turnaround for the emails is typically 1-3 days.
In my opinion: Doing both (email and forum) is a good thing. The forums will be informative, while the emails are authoritative.
While opinions are always welcome, I don’t want anybody to be confused. Glowforge has stated multiple times that one should only do one or the other. Not both. Opening 2 tickets for the same issue has tended to cause confusion and frustration for almost everybody involved. Most of the time, if duplicates exist, it appears they’ll simply close the forum request in favor of the e-mail request.
One benefit one gets by opening a forum request is responses from forum members. Often much sooner than Support can respond.
yup. and it may actually result in you falling further down the queue. here’s the relevant passage from @dan 's december update.
Thanks! I was going to search for one of the earlier mentions. I forgot it was also just recently in the Dec update. 
That’s from the December update, which was posted 2 days before I posted my problem. (AFAICT, it wasn’t a long-term policy.)
It’s been stated multiple times over the past couple months. But it doesn’t matter. As long as everybody’s clear now.
yeah, it probably wasn’t clearly stated in a place where everyone could see it as easily as the update.
It’s just a window to prevent dust entry.
I understand that. I was brainstorming alternatives.
This is exactly correct - if someone opens a ticket in both places, the resolution will be much less satisfying for everyone.
Since this is in P&S, the proper way to resolve this is saying “thanks for the feedback!” and closing it. Given the topic, I’m not going to do that. I’ll move it to Everything Else so the conversation can continue.
One more update:
To recap: My first GF seemed to work, but the head hit the front door, so they had me return it. (Manufacturer warranty replacement.)
The 2nd GF arrived, but the “window lens” (located on the side of the head) wasn’t in the head. It looks like it either popped out or was never in in the first place.
It took nearly a week, but the replacement “window lens” arrived 2 days ago. It looked correct, fit correctly, but I couldn’t use the GF because it was snowing outside (couldn’t open the window without freezing the entire house).
Today it wasn’t snowing (it was about 38’F outside and 70’F inside). I tried my first cut (the GF “Good Measure Keychain”). The engrave looks great, the score looks great. The cut failed to cut through PG medium maple. I cleaned the lenses (big laser lens, side window, and the other window located on the far left side of the GF, and the camera) using the towelettes and tried again on PG draftboard. Again: failed to cut through.
I took photos and sent them to GF’s support email address. They usually take a few days to respond. And given the holidays, it may take them longer. Looks like no GF gifts this holiday season for me.