Now that a bunch of machines are out there, have people moved these things around much yet? I’m thinking more along the lines of taking it to a school or a Maker Faire or something rather than from the dining room to the garage. What is the procedure for this? If you are just going across town, does it still need to go back in the shipping box? Are all of the little orange things used for shipping from Flex able to be put back on to re-secure stuff? I realize that many of the folks that had tables at the couple of bigger Maker Faires used loaners and didn’t have to transport. Any thoughts from folks with machines would be appreciated. Thoughts from the rest of you also appreciated.
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I haven’t moved it, but would think a requisite would be the gantry lock knobs, the rail cushions and probably pack the head in its original shipping configuration for a local transport.
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I suggest @PrintToLaser is correct. But I’d say that includes moving it from the dining room to the garage. The last thing you want is for the gantry to fall off the rails and some wire get ripped off or, worse, your tube get cracked. I’d put the knobs in to move it anywhere.
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Have not yet moved it. Certainly will within the year.
Absolutely plan to re-pack like I was sending in for warranty repairs each time. Only part I might skip is the strange brace that clips under the gantry… not sure what that was doing.
However, from initial setup I have determined that I am comfortable with moving the Glowforge by myself from box to desktop and back (I am just shy of 6’ tall, and found that holding two diagonally opposing corners was within comfort range). And that once the Glowforge is in the box with all foam in place, I am quite willing to ignore the “this side up” to allow myself the use of a dolly to transport the now far larger box. I actually prefer Dolly to two-man-carry with the specific dimensions and weight involved in the boxed unit.
Since I intend to violate the “this side up” guidelines, I would also be sure to remove the honeycomb. Not sure if the head mount or the honeycomb would be damaged when those two collide, but I wouldn’t be happy with either outcome (also doubt the original foam case for the head unit would fit without removing the honeycomb)
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That prevents the head sled from moving back and forth on the X axis.
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Ah! Makes perfect sense, but didn’t occur to me. Very likely would not have put that on correctly.
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Either a pelican style traveling case or the orginal packaging. I’ve had to move/transport/ship a 'forge 15 or 16 times now and a couple car trips. The orginal packaging handles well (all verisons). The big thing is, don’t chuck the lock pins & co. that came with the machine.
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Speaking of which, is there a feasible way to glue the rubber O-rings onto the lock pins to keep them from disappearing? I can’t imagine the lock pins staying in place without them there to provide friction from loosening.
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I’m moving it this weekend to a Makerfaire about an hour and a half away. I’m going to be packin it like I received it including screw locks. Wrapping the baby back up in its blankie should prevent any jarring or job jabs from bumps and jumps. I’m eventually going to make a road case for it.
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