As the time comes for shipping I’m trying to figure out where to put it.
How much space is needed around the unit?
Is there any safety recommendations for surrounding space?
Where does the filter vent?
How far from the wall?
What about the top opening? Is clearance needed for the lid to open in the rear? Some products (like my ink jet printer) has the hinge low and when the top is opened, space is required behind.
That’s all I can think of now but any other info, if anything anyone else can think of I would appreciate it… stuff like how much surrounding space do the beta users feel is the best for working with the glowforge.
You will definitely want the Glowforge in an open area (I.E. not in a cabinet) that can get good airflow for both cooling and venting.
The filter unit will vent out the bottom and go more or less in all directions. The main consideration would be to not have the Glowforge + vent sitting on anything soft (like a bed).
Without the vent, you need about 6 or so inches of space to allow for the 4 inch dryer hose room to bend without kinking. With the vent, there is going to be some sort of elbow connector that hasn’t been shown yet, but I suspect it will need about as much room as the dryer hose.
Clearance for the dryer hose will be more than what you will need for the top door.
Oh, and another question. If I am going to build a table for it, what would be the best height. I’m short, 5’ 6". Should the top of the unit be around my elbow height? A bit lower? My assumption is I would be standing next to a table with enough space for the unit with maybe 6 inches all around.
As far as table height goes, I think the most important thing would be having it low enough that you can see into the Glowforge while it is printing to ensure everything is going well and nothing is on fire.
Standard kitchen countertop height should work pretty nicely. I will try to pay attention next weekend to how high the tables are, and how it “feels” for ideal positioning. I remember in the previous Maker Faire they were at a very comfortable height, and the tables seemed a normal countertop design.
I’m also about 5’6" and ordered the basic+filter. While kitchen counter height may be okay for the GF as shown in the videos, they haven’t included the filter.
Adding the 7+ inches needed would put the lid about chin-high. A bit high for me, but others may want to be closer to the action.
Here’s the work table I built for the GF. It’s 28" high, so the lid of the GF should be about as high as the top of my UM2 printer.
Just for fun, I knocked together a quick & dirty* model in SketchUp to show the basic + filter option on top of a 27" bench, with a 5’6" (~168cm) user for scale.
I used the BEKANT legs — I used them in my home office and they are amazingly stable, so didn’t hesitate to start with them. The top is a TORNLIDEN. I drilled out the mounting holes and use lag bolts to connect them. Chose the TORNLIDEN as it was about the only top that was deep enough to support the GF without overhang.
Can’t see it in the photo I posted, but I actually made two of these – one for the GF that will go under the window (giving me the in/out vent option), and another for my 3D printer. I’m currently using the other as a build table for R/C planes.
We had a brownbag at lunch today where @terence walked the whole company through the design of the filter from CAD to chemistry. He reminded me of something I forgot to share that may be useful.
The Glowforge air intake is on the bottom-right. Since the air filter sits under the Glowforge, it covers the intake. The part of interest is this: the filter actually has a separate fresh air intake of its own in the back of the filter that pushes clean and cool air from behind the filter/glowforge stack across the filter’s electronics (for cooling), then up into the Glowforge’s air intake (without going through the filter, since it’s clean air). From there the clean air goes across your material, out the exhaust, back into the main filter cartridge for cleaning/filtering, and out the right side of the filter.
I can’t share CAD diagrams with you but if someone wants to sketch up a draft of what I just described, I’m happy to confirm or correct it.
Well, that raises a question in my mind. You are using ambient air to cool the filter electronics and the Glowforge. If you add in the filter electronics into the flow, does that mean the ambient air has to be cooler (<70DegF) to run the Glowforge optimally?
Here’s the link to the model in Fusion 360 if anyone wants to use it.
One of the things that I noticed in making this, the filter Tech Specs say that it is 7" in height, but the filter shown in the video and in the images above the tech specs looks to be about 1/2 the height of the GF, not a mere 1.25" shorter. Interesting.
Then again, the video was promotional and everything was prototype, so that filter form has likely changed. No biggie, it was just an interesting observation.
