I dont know if anyone else noticed this in the post from @jae but this is really cool (IMHO).
An extra sheet of draftboard purely to be kept and used as part of a troubleshoot process.
Thank you, this is excellent forethought.
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Hey Jrnelson,
Did you note the comment about the material cost going up and only a few pieces left but I canāt get the lower cost material (no access). It may be that it will still be there, but the implied comments is they replaced it with prefinished material at a higher cost. It just rubs me the wrong way.
Hey palmercr,
That is an interesting comment and I didnāt think about it because I canāt/donāt even know what you mean by dashboard because I cant get oneā¦ but there are those not involved over the last 2 years who can. I also plan to invite family and friends to use the machine, but wouldnāt adding 5 or 10 people really stackup the use of the store anyway. Seems to me that they should just open it up or sell through a local retailer.
This is a little disappointing. I do woodworking and planned to incorporate the veneer into pieces with wood from other sources, and itās important that they all have the same finish, for a consistent look. Now Iāll have to use non-Proofgrade.
But those who were using Proofgrade hardwood or plywood used to have the problem that Proofgrade veneers didnāt match the rest of the Proofgrade products. That didnāt make much sense.
Now if you use all Proofgrade, itāll all match. (Assuming the finish on the new veneers matches the finish on the hardwood and plywood.)
Itās probably best in general to get veneer from the same source as the rest of your wood, if possible.
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I totally agree. Itās better for probably 98% of users and the way they use it, but not me. I only wanted to pout and grumble a little. 
Iām glad I got an order in a few days ago while they were still unfinished.
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Hi PFI-guy,
Yep you sure could, but the dealer who sold it to you isnāt telling the next guy he canāt even come on the parking lot to take a look.
great analogy, although to take a bit further itās like letting your friend drive it and buy their own set of floormats for use in it.
i did. as i understand it, a veneer you knew little about besides having seen in pictures is now being replaced by a slightly higher priced version that you still know very little about. iām trying hard to sympathize with being upset by this but iām having a hard time.
but you are upset that someone who isnāt even going to own a glowforge, maybe they canāt afford one and got to borrow a family memberās, might get access to a storefront youāve never seen to purchase veneers you canāt use for an undetermined number of weeks, simply because you got here first. i donāt think youāre necessarily being fair to other customers here; i mean, letās say i had my laser. what if my fake brother wanted to use the glowforge to make me a present, but didnāt want to ask me to make a specific proofgrade order?
i really feel like there are much bigger glowforge hills upon which to make a stand.
agree; they should make a change to the manual - such as it is - to make it clear to people (basically, use at your own risk but weāll probably ask you to pull it out for troubleshooting). itās a smart move because it costs them pennies but could potentially make support go much quicker.
the glowforge UI, basically. the web page you bring up when youāre interacting with your laser. you get access, like everything else, once your laser fulfillment process starts.
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Currently something like only 1/8 of the customers have access to the PG store. As they get their machines and start using them GF can develop a good model of how much PG they need to be able to supply per customer and scale up procurement and staff to match. If they just give 10000 people access and we all stock up on PG they might run out and the few people that actually have machines might be left short.
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@jae Thanks for the update! I just have a quick question.
I received my email about 2 weeks ago and I expected my starter kit to come with my unit, but it arrived at my door just days later. Now I am still (somewhat patiently) waiting for my GF, but it looks like I will be without draft board because of the early shipment of the PG supplies.
Any chance that the draft board will come whenever my GF is shipped? Thanks!
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obviously support knows best but iām guessing whatever you got in your pg pack is what you get. fortunately draftboard is cheap as chips.
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I guess we will agree to disagree. I find it unpleasant that I am effectively blocked from even seeing that material and to make it worse i now have to pay a higher price.
I have plans for the machine as much as the next guy and like I said I plan to invite family and friends etc. But if the material is only accessible after i get the email I may have to make adjustments for cost as someone else stated especially if the ship time drops to 2 weeks like some people have reported. If I had access I could make plans for the use and arrival of materials over a period of time and I could build up for the glow party when I do finally get the machine. I have to point out that the analogy miss one thing If the floor-mats are after market and the car wonāt work right your official mechanic wont helpā¦ your on your own, and at the glow party when everyoneās expectations are high not having material that works will suck.
If it makes you happy you should know that I checked the shop immediately after that announcement, and the old veneer had already disappeared. 15 minutes later the new veneer showed up in the shop. So the old veneer is available to nobody.
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you keep bringing up this price increase and act like this was a plan by glowforge all along to raise costs.
(well, his name is danā¦)
does anyone have the pricing delta at hand so we can put this part of the argument to rest, i hope?
well, no, because the analogy wasnāt about how a laser works, it was about people being upset that someone who isnāt them got to buy some floormats for a car that the first people ordered but havenāt received yet.
you arenāt blocked, they stopped carrying the material. iām honestly mystified at this reaction. they could have just quietly done it, and you never would have known. even if someone pointed it out in the forums, dan couldāve quietly commented, āoh now it matches the other wood, thatās nice, eh?ā
again, the power of messaging.
i think everyone is a little antsy on the other side of a two-year wait. weāve obviously gained some new people in the meantime and lost a few on the other side. everyone wants their laser. but i think youād be happier if you focused on what you and others might eventually make with the proofgrade materials instead of staying dialed in on your unfairness.
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PM me your address. Iāll send you a sheet of the old PG veneer.
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Or letting your friend drive it and put gas in itā¦
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Where do you see that I said it was a plan, its an opinion and if you have your glowforge maybe you see it differently like some others have pointed out. The analogy doesnāt work and to quote Dan " You would be surprised at how many times the material is the issue"
I am not actually upset just disappointed as others have pointed out having access to the GFUI has made some things easier to understand. Again its an opinion. I donāt really care about the veneer it not having the same access. Its like sitting outside the greenhouse seeing all the great things going on inside an being told nope no matter whats happening you can get inside or through the door without the golden ticket.
HI Cynd11,
Thanks for checking I appreciate it. It is really not about the veneer really its about access, I read some comments on how having access the the UI let some things fall into place for the writer. Some of the features made sense.
HI Jamesdhatch,
Thanks, but it not about the material its about the access.
Proofgrade material is sitting in stock in a ginormous procurement/fulfillment center and typically ships within 24-48 hours of ordering. It ships from Tennessee which is 3-4 days from everywhere.
GF units seem to take a week+ to go through production after you respond to your golden ticket email.
The chances of you receiving a glowforge unit before you receive proofgrade material are so rare.
I can see where people would be put off by not having access to a store that others who have not purchased a machine can access. I think the store should have always at least been visible to everyone even if they were locked out from actually buying anything if for no other reason than generating anticipation and interest.
The other side of this isā¦ you are getting worked up over PG materialsā¦ which are in BETA and are clearly labeled as suchā¦ and which did not exist until Glowforge made them availableā¦ and which work fabulously most of the time but being BETA there are times they donāt. So your dreams of your glow party and perfect prints every time, at least at the time being, are way over-romanticized.
At any rate, youāre going to receive PG material way before you receive your GF unit.
And I would not schedule a glow party for the day you receive your GF. UPS has been hard on them.
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