The 3rd and 6th flexi rows look like they’re missing vertical cuts between the flexi end and the regular earsaver.
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Yup fixed I think
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IMHO not true. That’s why you see this sort of flex cable used where constant flexing is unavoidable. Look inside any inkjet printer. That being said, the cable must be free to “flex” and certainly not be stressed at their connection points. 
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I do it when the Glowforge isn’t looking…
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In my case I can’t since there is a display shelf about it, so I can never open it straight up anyway (I mean in a quantum sense I can, but something is getting smashed)
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I know right? I just ordered a new one for $19.13 USD. The shipping is $49.71 USD. That shipping price kind of stings.
Neat!
Although strangely the ribbon cable for the head which moves back and forth constantly potentially thousands of times/hour doesn’t have these problems… Now admittedly that is a rolling bend rather than flexing at a single hinge point.
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The cable for the head is stranded wire designed specifically for repeated flexing. The black cable is solid metal <1.mm thick deposited onto a stiff nylon backing.
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There is a hinge point - at least on mine. About 10.5" from the left it ceases to be glued to the rail and begins its rolling bend. That is a visible & tactile crease on mine.
The Glowforge is always looking. (maniacal laughter…)
That type of ribbon cable is definitely meant to flex along one dimension, but they do not want to be twisted or crimped. I would think the contact with the back edge of the printer at full lid extension is what causes the real trouble.
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Mine just failed and it has never touched the metal in back of it. I have never, from day one, opened the lid that far.
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Metal fatigue combined with work hardening will do the damage. All it takes is enough cycles. Is the solution used on the Glowforge lid cable up to the job? Well, not really. I bet that the design team would not select that cable on Glowforge 2.0
Youd think they could…I dunno just start using a higher grade and longer cable instead of one that’s just longer?
I think that something with a coil, or a cable that twists axially would be the ticket. The trick is to avoid high stress areas. You can have a super quality cable but if the bending is localized it will fail. Cable strain reliefs are a fascinating design challenge. (If you saw how my kids treat cords you would realize it is a battle you cannot win.)
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While none of my own, many friends who do and even armored, anti-knot cables with the magnetic connection ends are no match for exuberant 3-5 year olds!
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The cost of tooling up to manufacture a custom part like this is significant. I can’t see them changing it.
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It probably depends how far you are from Shenzhen, but I take your point.
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Yeah I joined the broken black cable club late. I paid $20 for the cable and $30 for overnight shipping (“overnight” as in, paid an invoice on Thursday morning, but didn’t actually ship until Friday evening and now arriving Monday 
). Next time I will not use the forums and go straight to email. I also want to ask to buy like 5 because I’d rather spend $100 on spare parts than go another week with disruptions and stress.
My current fix is to keep everything off overnight, don’t touch a thing and especially do not open the lid, then power it on and it’ll boot normally and do one job before getting stuck again.
edit: and speak of the devil, now it is working normally again! I now only lift the lid like 5 degrees to stick my arms inside to retrieve stuff.
edit: new cable came in, installed it and it looks like it works again!
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