Transportability

Hi we are a mobile company that does a lot of things on site. Is the glowforge able to be moved regularly? Willit damage anything if moved regularly?

Thanks

Check out this thread it may help:

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Welcome @missdikreations to the forum. There are have been several discussions about portability, what kind of case would work, weight and dimensions. From what I recall of the discussions, while fairly large, there will be a robustness enough of the Glowforge to transport with care. Glowforge is definitely taking them around to different venues. Many on the forum hope to travel to different Maker fairs and tradeshows with the Glowforge in tow.

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what about case box with foam? http://www.caseclub.com/shipping-cases.htm

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Configuring a pelicase for the glowforge would take a very big pelicase. Building a flightcase around it will result in a pretty big and heavy box. Preferably on coasters but it will be a heavy sob to haul into a car or truckbed. I’ve been pushing flightcases around for the last 10 years and I can come up with a pretty cool enclosure for the forge, but it would mean driving around a van or bigger for transport :frowning:

I’ll wait and see the first couple of months of what others notice transporting the forge. I still have nightmares transporting PC’s. It would work, unplug it, move it 2 meters to another table, plug it in and total chaos would ensue. So I try not to carry around big electronics.

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How about a wagon? (like a Radio Flyer)

One with pneumatic tires might be good to reduce shocks/vibrations. Prolly want to deflate them a little too.

Do “they” still make those bed-style baby strollers? Maybe there’s one there that has shock absorbers, that’d be cool!

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There’s a largeish pelican we use that fits as a checked bag. I may have posted a link here about it before.

(sorry, on boring conference call, could not help myself)

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Curious - for those fortunates who are using the pre-release… any thoughts on this thread as to transporability for the units. Do you think they could be transported safely in a large “pelican-type” box with appropriate cushioning? Do they seem bigger than you imagined(smaller)?

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Certainly they are much larger than the image most have in their heads. They are built very well. Everything seems tight, not loose, hefty. But in my head I have always assumed that 5% of them will arrive broken. Shipping equipment is tough. Multiply that for every time you pack and unpack it, bounce it, etc. Each time we shipped something large for a conference it was like Russian Roulette. But I could be surprised.

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Depends on where/how you’re planning to transport it. If it’s local by car, I’d say no problem. If it’s long distance via airplane it’s definitely doable considering how the original box was packed. But I’d be worried about how baggage handlers would treat it. Not sure there’s a Pelican big enough - add 4" to the machine dimensions for foam padding and see if you can find a case that big.

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There are a couple of Pelican cases that would fit it. I don’t know that you’d need 4" of foam though? Is that an arbitrary number or based on something?

Pelican will also make custom cases.

It’s based on the packing the GF was nestled in coming to me. If less was reliably safe I would expect they’d have gone with less.

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(That wasn’t meant to doubt what you say, btw)

I know the replacement closed cell foam is really expensive. But, all in all it’s cheaper than a new Glowforge. If you wanted to get really crazy, Pelican will even design custom cases with cradle suspensions.

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We do this regularly. I don’t remember the size Pelican we use but I think it’s been posted here before.

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Pelican Interior Dimensions:
47.57" x 24.07" x 17.68" (120.8 x 61.1 x 44.9 cm)

Glowforge Chassis Dimensions:

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Pricey ($600 to $750), but needed to protect the GF :glowforge: investment.

If you have any thoughts of traveling and doing setups (maker faire, product shows, special events), shipping or airplane methods would destroy the original shipping box (after a few trips).

Thanks for the link.

The great thing is we save $15 because we can laser our own nameplate! :rolling_eyes:

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Now we need to revive @takitus’s (?) thread on modifying a coffin or morgue gurney for safe transport and setup :grinning:

(Might have been @jacobturner’s thread. I’m old. I don’t remember well :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:)

Not looking for it, but was @jacobturner.

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