Veneer will knock your socks off, Draftboard in the starter pack, and referrals round the world 9/5/17

[Mike13]

@mpipes

And I would not schedule a glow party for the day you receive your GF. UPS has been hard on them.

Plus setup & taking some time to tweak designs & get your sea legs

[dan]

@jacobturner

Seems like this should be in Announcements instead of P&S.

It’ll be in the next monthly announcement. More to the point, it’s going in the email to new deliveries, which is the thing we actually expect everyone to read.

@jrnelson

all these minor updates having been going in p&s so they’ve clearly got a philosophy about it.

These are actually links to Latest Improvements, which is ‘where’ they’re going - we’re just adding them to the forum right now until we surface LI better (you all had some great suggestions about that).

@soldiercoleman

Since the contents of the Starter Pack have changed could you post an updated list? It really helped my choose how to use my store credit.

We send those when the pack goes out - we don’t commit to those broadly.

@dpruitt

@dan if you doing this you should open it to all.

I appreciate the feedback.

@palmercr

I imagine they don’t let you have store access until you get your forge so the demand ramps up slowly and doesn’t swamp the store.

This is exactly correct. The production of some of our materials has long lead times.

@nathan_p

This is a little disappointing. I do woodworking and planned to incorporate the veneer into pieces with wood from other sources, and it’s important that they all have the same finish, for a consistent look. Now I’ll have to use non-Proofgrade.

That’s great feedback - we’ve thought about offering a full line of unfinished materials for just that case.

@tim1724

But those who were using Proofgrade hardwood or plywood used to have the problem that Proofgrade veneers didn’t match the rest of the Proofgrade products. That didn’t make much sense.

Now if you use all Proofgrade, it’ll all match. (Assuming the finish on the new veneers matches the finish on the hardwood and plywood.)

Exactly right.

@nathan_p

I totally agree. It’s better for probably 98% of users and the way they use it, but not me. I only wanted to pout and grumble a little.

We always appreciate the feedback!

[jrnelson]

@dan

These are actually links to Latest Improvements, which is ‘where’ they’re going - we’re just adding them to the forum right now until we surface LI better (you all had some great suggestions about that).

yes. obviously, but that doesn’t really change my comment any. regardless they clearly get discovered and disseminated so i’m not sure it matters too much where they ultimately go.

[whalley_jeff]

Wording on this says we can opt to receive the $100 referral bonus as cash instead of as proof grade certificates. Shouldn’t this be the reverse? I’d prefer to get the cash as initially stated and not have to remember to opt into getting it.

[rpegg]

Don’t care one way or the other since it’s likely I will use the store credit and could always use cash. But each of us has an opinion of one. So who is to say which way it should be?

[Mike13]

You don’t need to remember. The Sept update said that each time one of your referral machines ships, GF will email you asking if you want the $ or if you want the credit.

[palmercr]

I don’t think it matters if you cancel. You have still helped to sell another Glowforge for them. It is only if they cancel that you don’t get it, so it has to be after theirs ships, not yours.

[Xabbess]

You just may be pleasantly surprised to find out that the generous gift of proofgrade that will arrive BEFORE your Glowforge arrives, will be plenty enough to make many things with your friends and family. And on the day you get your laser, you can order more. It arrives in good time.

[jbv]

my starter pack arrived yesterday, it had no draftboard.

[Jules]

See? They expect you to have no problems. It’s the highest of compliments.

[jbv]

…right. Yeah. Cause I mever ness thing sup.

just a tiny bit annoying to read about new veneer finishes and more materials in the starter pack, then go over and open the package to discover that I have an older pack without these new additions.

Pricing what I received shows it to be $136 worth of material, using the new (higher?) pricing for finished veneer. Three sheets of draftboard would get it a bit closer to the $150 starter pack that was promised.

[nathan_p]

Mine that arrived last week came to $145 of material (but no draftboard), which is close enough for me. I wonder what yours was missing.

[jbv]

$14 could just be price adjustments since they shipped it… but it could also be three sheets of draftboard.

[nathan_p]

Not sure about changes in the price of other materials, but I ordered more sheets of veneer as soon as I got the original shipment. They’re the old, unfinished style and only cost $1 less per sheet than the new, finished ones do now.

[buschtrent]

@mpipes

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.

That has been my experience as well. I’ve ordered over 50 sheets of Draftboard and it comes quickly.

[buschtrent]

My limited experience is this. The proofgrade materials are nice. They take one more complication out of the equation. Glowforge settings and quality of materials. Plus, they get you materials that may be hard to come by for the casual hobbyist. Thin, high quality veneered plywood, is a good example.
I am ambivalent about the veneers. Too limited of species, cut, etc. to be of much use to me. I don’t want a preadhesive back either but understand the allure. I don’t want a prefinished veneer. But that is because of the type of work I do.

My point is this, there are a lot of things to get worked up about. Proofgrade materials are not one of them. They work, you may or may not choose to use them. They ship quickly so it’s not a big deal about ordering ahead. The catalog of options is very rudimentary at this point, I guess it will quadruple or more over time. There is always a chance of your favorite material being discontinued because you are the only one using it at a rate of 3 pieces per year. That’s life.

[jbv]

Well, I was wrong about my pack value at $136: there was a fifth sheet of maple ply stuck to the acrylic that I failed to count when I tore the package open. Recalculating for that and the unfinished veneer prices puts me at $145. That’s still one sheet of draftboard! Not a huge deal… but it is a thing.

[eeigenbrodt]

Just throwing in that I would appreciate having proofgrade unfinished veneers available. Unfinished plywood would be nice too.

[dan]

@jrnelson

so i already got one as one of my referrals shipped (of note, it seems like you don’t need to have your glowforge shipped yet? but maybe that’s a bug since obviously i could theoretically cancel; i guess they might just wait to actually send out the cash until after mine ships).

Technically we should wait until you receive your Glowforge to make sure you don’t cancel before we send your referral payment… but right now we’re not, so enjoy.

@jbv could you put what you got in your shipment + your tally of value in an email to support? Bear in mind that value is based on the un-discounted price ($150 without the founder discount).

[dan]

@eeigenbrodt

Just throwing in that I would appreciate having proofgrade unfinished veneers available. Unfinished plywood would be nice too.

Thanks!