Nice solution. Simple, yet effective.
If I understand, the plan is to use that to vent indoors? I think the odor emitted may be more than you anticipate, all depending on what material you use.
It may be available surface area would be the biggest difference. The glowforge filter is big.
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Yeah, that was my main concern as well. I have seen a few units like this of varying sizes. I have been doing some research on the material used to filter acrylic exhaust and it is mostly activated charcoal. I can find activated charcoal filters but I’m not sure the density would be enough to filter out as much as I need it to.
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Any filtration system you use will need to also have some additional air pushing/pulling ability. The glowforge fan is strong enough to only push air out a vent, and definitely not through a filtration system.
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So, by this logic, you are saying that the GF filter will have an additional fan in it?
If that is the case, it is simple/cheap enough to add a fan in between the output of the GF dryer socket and the filter input.
I guess the way I’m thinking about it, it’s an air filter. They aren’t exactly high tech by nature. So, if GF can build a custom one for the machine for 500$, then I can build one that can accomplish the same thing much cheaper that doesn’t sit under the unit. Will it be as nice, no. But, it can probably serve the same function.
No offense to GF intended. I’m sure their filter will be great and look seamless. Either way, it is going to require filter insert replacements. There are lots of examples of DIY laser filters on the the web. The main issue seems to be the cost related to replacing the activated charcoal and the speed at which it saturates. I would assume that might be an issue with GF filters as well. You may wind up buying their really nice filter and needing to replace the inserts constantly. I don’t know if much has been said about that because I haven’t been following the filters since I didn’t purchase one.
I feel like I’d be happy with a homebuilt filter solution or even a window vent and I’ll spend the other 400$ on PG materials.
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dude. you do not want to be venting laser fumes into your living space.
I have serious concerns that the GF filter (which I purchased) will be able to handle this, given that the filters on the 40w systems I use elsewhere are easily 5x as large; but the idea of venting toxic fumes into your house with just a lint trap… not a good idea.
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Haha, agreed. I wouldn’t do this into my house without a lot of testing beforehand. Fortunately I have a big garage with a ventilation system.
I have also been toying with the idea of using this and just running it to the same output that my dryer is hooked to now rather than venting out a window.
That’s one thought.
But since all of the other options for lasers are in the thousands, the $500 price point of the GF filter appears to most of us with experience in the industry to be a significant hurdle to overcome. There’s a reason no one else has done it for even twice or three times the price.
Yeah, but all of the other options are meant for much bigger machines being used for industrial applications.
The GF filter that I’ve seen in pictures is nowhere near the size of the units that cost 1000-2500$ that are currently available.
That’s the point. There are smaller non-industrial scale lasers that don’t have a corresponding filter option available. You buy an Epilog Zing and the filter you can get will be one of those big ones. The ones GF drags out to MakerFaires are bigger than the GF.
You want one sized for the GF, you’re doing engineering someone with lots of experience has decided isn’t viable. If it were as simple as shoving the hose into an activated charcoal filter with a booster fan attached it’s not likely GF would be so late doing it. Instructable and YouTube are full of d-i-y laser filters. Up to you to determine if they’re appropriate to your needs.
The problem is measuring effectiveness beyond the smell test. It’s what you can’t smell that’s gonna be the problem and you can’t tell without some pretty expensive equipment or waiting a long time to get sick (or dead) if your design is good.
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Sure. If that is in fact the case, then I think it is likely that the GF filter will be ineffective without constant filter replacements. I guess we will just have to wait and see. It’s a fair point to say, “if it were so simple then why has it taken so long”. All of the DIY units are reasonably larger but there are some where they actually measure the exhaust output. Filtering exhaust isn’t exactly a novel idea. So, I am curious to see what types of filters they end up using.
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IIRC dan stated the filter’s draw at 600W (peak), so yeah, probably a fan in there. I don’t ever recall a price being mentioned for replacement filters, or expected life, but it is going to be cheaper to vent than filter. Unless there is a significant price savings from a DIY solution, I think the time would be better spent figuring out a performance ventilation setup.
For me, unless I worked on designing filters for a living I’d never have the piece of mind from a DIY setup (unless I stuck strictly to a few materials like wood) that offset any price savings.
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It’s a beauty!!!
I would see if you could bubble the output of the GF through water. that should catch a whole lot of the output. then perhaps a carbon filter finisher.
Think of something like the rainbow machine vacuum. At least that way you don’t have to worry about a prefilter being clogged. Because the water would collect all of the particles
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While I’m in total agreement with all of this, I have built DIY charcoal water filters for camping and used them without thinking twice… so… 
I thought about that vent too… but I didn’t want to wait for shipping plus I knew I could make something for a lot less.