Suggestion: The big button should stop the laser while it’s running in case of an emergency situation. It could glow red while lasering (lasing? laser engagementing.)
The only way I knew to stop the laser it run to the computer and hit cancel (hoping the computer is working properly, didn’t go into a screensaver with a password that the user doesn’t know, LAN and Internet are working okay, etc). Maybe it would stop if I opened the lid, but that seems like a bad idea as I’d still want the fans to continue.
That doesn’t seem like as good of an idea as now the lid is open with smoke potentially coming out, especially teaching others to do it (and only open the lid a little bit). Would just be easier and seem safer to press the button.
Just enough to break the interlock. The lid is not open, well not much. This is the way the unit is currently set up. Of course, if something is going catastrophically wrong, unplug the unit first and then go to whatever the next step is depending on how many !!! are in catastrophic.
Also, the ventilation is set up where smoke is pulled away from the door until the fan shuts down. Again, I’m not saying pop the top, just lift it enough to break the interlock and trigger the shutdown.
The second push of the button is a bad idea as it can be pressed inadvertently, lifting the lid a half inch, not so much.
That said, similar has been suggested and where the company goes with it is up to them. Just wanted you to know how to do it for now.
Hmm. Maybe you could do that with a popup in the UI: “If you paused this print because of a real glowforge-related emergency, click here to cancel the job. If it was just your cat walking on the lid, press the blinking button again to continue.”
+1 to being careful about WHY the button was pressed. I have a very curious almost 3yr old who likes to push buttons…She loves to be involved whenever the Laser is being used. Makes certain things a bit more…entertaining to do.
I’ve got nearly a decade on you and I can tell you that that enjoyment doesn’t go away.
When I first got my Glowforge I pushed the button in the middle of a job. Actually, my cat pushed it first. But then I wasn’t sure if he actually pushed it, so I pushed it on purpose to make sure the button doesn’t stop a job. And every once in a while I still push the button in the middle of a job and imagine it’s a turbo button to make the job finish faster.
It is. But the secret is you have to make the corresponding noise for the speaker to receive the command. That’s what @scott.wiederhold told me in private.
I have had several occasions where I saw a print not doing what I expected and raised the lid a half inch for an instant to cancel the print.
The only emergency I can think of in the laser is fire. If that’s the case, ignition has already occurred and pushing a button to kill the power would be an extra step in solving that problem. To put the fire out you have to open the lid, so having the interlocks to kill the power is ideal.
If your laser is on fire a little smoke is the least of your problems.
Edit- a kill switch would also leave the head parked over the fire, killing the print by cracking the lid immediately withdraws the head and parks it in the corner.
I like the idea of a distinct E-Stop, though - a big red button wired up to shut down the printer, stuck on the wall where cats and kids won’t hit it. Given the way the Pro is wired, do we need an E-Stop for switching “mains” power, or just a control voltage switch?
If you want a true panic button I’d get one from someone like Rockler and it will cut all power. You could wire this to the filter as well if you are getting one.
Was it ever determined just what functions are halted when that safety plug is pulled out on the back of the Pro? Maybe a mechanical push-button mechanism could be designed to physically pull that little plug?
I think the Pro has a cutoff build into the power supply, controlled by a clip you can pull out. I’m thinking of replacing the clip with a big shiny red switch, so shutting the GF off is super-obvious. Reaching over the GF to reach the power switch might not be fun in the event of a fire. And the plug is behind the printer.
Can we just take the word “emergency” out of the original request so this isn’t completely derailed by the discussion of e-stops?
The button should pause or abort the job. It’s a perfectly reasonable and convenient thing to do. I’ve wanted it numerous times. It’s sitting there uselessly while the machine is running, so it should do what most people would expect it to do.
I don’t want the functionality of my machine reduced because someone else owns a cat that they let jump on the machine. How about an option in the settings where you can disable the pause function, or even choose whether the button is pause or cancel? Personally I’d like pause by default, hold it down for a few seconds to cancel.
