Yea! The GF is loud.
I wanted to see how loud before I bought this fan, but I pretty much wanted an option for quieting it down as soon as I did my first cut 
Noise cancelling headphones might be good too 
Although sometimes I like to be listening to it to make sure I can hear any signs of weirdness going on… or being able to notice when it switches from engraving, to scoring, or to cutting.
You will also want nice digital calipers and a high-resolution Digital Micrometer. Also, the Gowforge is great for High detail cutting and engraving but you will still have to do a lot of sanding and finishing so normal tools there will be needed, especially clamps and Dremel/Flex shaft tools etc.
If you are not going to have your Glowforge for a while you will have barely enough time to learn Inkscape and Gimp. Inkscape is excellent for work with vectors but is weak in raster manipulation, while Gimp is amazing with rasters but weak with vectors.
I’ll definitely look into the other options. I like simple builds.
Wow, that guy really turned it into a project.
I made a video when I made mine using the “just glue it together” method. More detail on mine and a link to the video here:
Did you ever run into a problem with the plastic piece on the bottom of the leg coming out of the metal tube, and thus staying stuck to the shelf, but no longer attached to the leg?
I would say the one thing that YTer did that I think makes a nice difference is using locking castors on the bottom. Being able to easily move the GF around is really convenient, and I expect especially so if I start using the pass-through slot.
The best investment is reading the forum! (Just like @dklgood said!) Case(s) in point:
Bonus meta-advice in that last one that points to this:
The forum is absolutely bursting with stuff you should read to get a headstart on your GF skillset. Here’s some more good “getting started” info:
Not so far! Everything is still solid after ~1.5 years. I don’t move it around a lot, though.
My original Glowforge table that I replaced with this had casters. I had trouble with vibrations that screwed up delicate cuts. The casters contributed to that quite a bit. So, I knew I didn’t want casters on the new table.
On the IKEA/table options–I ended up placing mine on top of a couple IKEA kitchen cabinets I ended up not needing in my kitchen, and have a wooden countertop spread across.
I also recently got remote controlled plugs so I have my GF connected to one of those so I don’t have to stand on my tip-toes to reach over it anymore to get to the power button. (I’m 5’4"–previously I had it on lower height shelving unit that was more convenient in many ways, but using the cabinets as base now (directly on the floor/no feet) works better overall. And one is only 12" wide, and found it’s great with one shelf to hold a lot of my sheets of wood & acrylic.
Start visiting the store if you are wanting to use proofgrade materials and start stocking up when it’s in stock.
Best advice— read the ENTIRE manual 3 times before arrival. Stay active in this entire community——you will eventually get your Masters degree in all things GF.
Gorilla Tape, Baby wipes, ruler, acrylic paint, utility knife, sandpaper, wood glue, Swiffer (the long one that holds 2 {360} dusters)
Zeiss wipes, Simply Green Cleaner and finally a bottle of Scotch and a cartoon of cigarettes when a project does not go as planned.
No…it weighs 55 pounds
I guess I was going by what my fed ex ticket said.
Can you use V carve pro software with the Glowforge?
No, but you can design in it and then export as an svg.
How easy is v carve to use?
I have a cnc machine and use vcarve all the time. I am trying to learn Inkscape, but the learning curve seems harder than when I started using vcarve.
thank you!
It has a bit of a learning curve. And not cheap. Vectric also makes a Cut 2d and 3D that are less expensive. Check them out.
There is definitely a learning curve. V Carve pro has excellent videos that teach you how to utilize the program to its full potential. I don’t regret the investment.
Lens Wipes - Get a full box of those!
The shelf unit I keep my GF on. Have 1 drawer section in it for Lens Wipes and tools and the wood easily fits in each cube…it does stick out the front and back a bit. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kallax-shelf-unit-black-brown-20275885/
Roll of WIDE Masking tape
Digital Calipers
Sand Paper
Wood Furniture repair marker in walnut (Mine says Rejuvinate) perfect for patching the sides of the wood that you had to sand but now you took off the burn color from some of it.
Mini 4 inch trigger clamps! like 10 of them 
Titebond II Wood Glue
Xacto Blade
One Ruler for your desk and One for by the machine
A plastic mallet like https://www.seattlefindings.com/Plastic-Mallet-2_p_4324.html
save some old tooth brushes
save some old credit cards or gift cards to help peel off protective tape
Lint Rollers to get out the tiny pieces of protective tape from etched letters and such.
Nail files work nice in some situations
A calculator
A cool notebook to make a diary posting each time you experiment so you can look back and see what settings you used
I like corel draw for designing.
a bunch of stackable transparent bins to sort work you are doing all over the floors and desks and tables.
I have two of these near my desk full of paint, stain, glue, strings, tape, brushes small containers - https://www.michaels.com/modular-mobile-chest-by-simply-tidy/10624101.html
A good workdesk lamp or a good white light craft bulb for your desk lamp
Cricut Vinyl Weeder tool - I use this to get out dirt and tape pieces from inside engrave lines - https://cricut.com/en_us/essentials/craft-tools/cutting-tools/weeder.html
Bamboo skewers you find at the grocery store. They are great to add or remove glue…poke out dirt and paint, break off a piece to fill a void… Always using these for SOMETHING. https://smile.amazon.com/Value-Pack-Thin-Bamboo-Skewers/dp/B01N5JYRSW
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