What is Glowforge doing RIGHT?! (Holiday Spirit Feedback time!)

[rubbersoul79]

I am as guilty as anyone in taking time to vent my frustrations about my Glowforge experience, but in the spirit of the holidays I wanted to make a thread to post your comments about everything that @dan and the gang are doing right!

There are plenty of threads to voice your frustrations and it is a free world, but please… just this once…

MY HAPPY LIST:

1. It has been @dan 's constant involvement in the forum and not shying away from the tough questions (even when the answers weren’t what they wanted to hear) throughout the years of delays. If we haven’t gifted him with gray hairs or fewer hairs, I would be surprised. To you, my hat is off sir. Also, the support (@semhar @jaz) and their service (even if my replacement took longer than desired thanks to the holidays) being courteous, quick and efficient!

2. I believe that the product being delivered is even better than what was advertised to me and I am grateful that a half thought through project was not shipped just to satisfy all of us who were frustrated and impatient.

3. This thing looks so bad ass! My kiddos love watching the “fire tube” and pushing the “launch button”. All of the design details are so purty!

4. After using a standard laser with no camera alignment, this thing is a GOD SEND. I LOVE using scrap and it was next to impossible before now. I may still buy another laser, but I will always use this one to do those type of projects. I can’t wait until we are able to cut the full bed height and width…

5. The smell while cutting is nonexistant. The VersaLaser I used had amazing airflow, but the smell was always there… now I am wondering if that is even ok. haha I was impressed.

6. While not silent, it’s quiet enough… just go outside and hear how loud it is coming out of the vent and you can see how much is muffled. Love that.

7. My thanks also go out to @Jules for everything you put together for us and all of the other forum regulars who are at the ready to help when they can. You guys are awesome!

I look forward to hearing all of your feedback to them too. They work hard and deserve praise for what they are doing right.

Happy Holidays Glowforge team!

[lcronkite]

My sentiments exactly!

[paulw]

Mostly, Glowforge has made a product that. just. works (for me, at least). I can walk into the room, turn the machine on, draw something simple, upload it and zap. I don’t have to think too hard.

[Jules]

What a lovely idea!

I’m grateful to the whole Glowforge crew for not giving up on us, for listening to our constant demands and not losing heart, for fighting through the hundreds of issues behind the scenes that I know they got hit with but didn’t say anything about, for creating a laser that I can use in my office, for making it easy to use while I was learning what I was doing, and to @dan, @tony and Mark for helping us to believe, and keeping us believing while you built these things.

You deserve every bit of success you get. You’ve more than earned it. Thank you.

(You like to say that you have the best customers… your customers are the lucky ones, and we know it.)

Merry Christmas!

[chris1]

This is pretty basic, but when it comes right down to it: I own a freakin’ laser cutter. Without Glowforge, that would not have happened.

It came along at the right time, at the right price, with the right capabilities, and very importantly, in a way that fills a laser-cutter shaped space in my world. This is a revolutionary machine that I can use in my house without fish tank pumps or buckets of water, air compressors, or retrofitting the internal wiring to stop it catching fire.

I expect a significant percentage of Glowforge buyers are like me, people who were not getting a second laser, or deciding between a Glowforge and something else, but instead only have a laser because this product came along and created a whole new category. For that, I’m extremely happy, and grateful to everyone who made it possible.

[rubbersoul79]

I would also like to thank you @chris1 for always having some clue about what everyone is talking about or doing wrong and attempting to help us understand things that might be above our pay grade.

[lizabeta]

Creating an excellent forum.
Having excellent customers.
Bringing simplicity to a complicated task.
Taking suggestions.
Not wrestling with pigs… (“Never wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig likes it.”… That is to say, not answering questions just because they are asked. Folks were going to complain no matter what… but to answer all their questions would have given more fuel to the fire… you kept us up to date on what mattered.)
Pushing updates.
Celebrating successes.
Having patient, persistent and skilled support staff.

[tennessee_reid]

To say the Glowforge has changed my life would be an understatement.

I would not have been able to afford one if it had not been for the Crowdsource price . Being on this side of it was well worth the wait to be a Founder.
I would not have had the time or patience to use a laser cutter without optical registration (even with its faults its revolutionary).
I have not been this inspired as an artist for a long, long time. Ideas I have struggled with for years - even decades, are now becoming reality thanks to GF.
Having the support from the community of GF has also made it possible for me to become (and continue to become) proficient in laser cutting, often in instruction (Big Ups! @Jules) and sometime just knowing there are kindred spirits cutting, scoring, and embossing with frickin’ lasers like me.
Thank You Glowforge - I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!!!

[dklgood]

The machine is beautiful and nearly as functional as promised.
The store is helpful to folk like me that need materials and projects that just work while learning.
The forum is filled with people willing to lend a hand to make this product better and to help others get full functionality of the machine. Being included in a new, artistic community is almost as important as the machine itself. I am so grateful for the tutorials, shared artwork and positive nature of the majority of the Glowfolk.
The staff is honest and helpful.
Thank you one and all.

[markevans36301]

Great idea for a thread.

For me, this is my first laser but I did do extensive research somewhere just past the one year mark as I really was thinking of bailing and getting something else.

With about 10 months total experience now, about a month now with my forever unit.

First, price point!!! I had looked into laser cutters before, if I had not gotten in on the ground floor of this I’d still not have a laser cutter/engraver.
Second, hey, I know some of you have had some troubles but this thing just works for me. No setting focus hight, no other tweaking just set a sheet in the machine and it works.
Third, as good as it is now, the hardware is in place for it to continue to get better. I’m so looking forward to the happy surprises of things that will be added that will work with the second camera and such.
Finaly, but acualy first is the comunity here, over the last two years of waiting I have made some good freinds and meet many a creative person that I would not have ever come across otherwise.

[bwente]

Proofgrade!!!

Not sure if this was planned on day one, and I don’t recall seeing it in the video. But having consistent and reliable material is a big deal!

[cynd11]

Everything I could think of to say has pretty much been said, but I will just add that having the opportunity to use this pre-release unit and participate in this great community has been life-changing for me. Even though I have not yet received the Golden Email, the value I have already received considerably exceeds what I paid for it. Thank you, Glowforge, from the bottom of my heart!

[PrintToLaser]

The term ‘Cheerleader’ has been applied to me with derogatory intent, but I wear it like a crown - it’s true. From square one I believed.

• The Price! That opened the arena to me.
• The innovations! were a cherry on top.
• Read through the ‘About Us’ qualifications of the team. Hard to fail with talent like that. What a team!
• A front man who could sell ice to an Eskimo. One who was all in, never shying away when the sht gets deep. One who could take a tomato in the face and smile at you. He knew the magic of having a laser in the home and made it his mission to open that door to everyone.

And here we are.
The ‘We’ is, of course, the community. I have been humbled by the talent and skill represented here. I have been encouraged, helped, taught and inspired by you .

This community and the glowforge have changed my life.
Awesome thread @rubbersoul79.

[shop]

i’ve had mine for less than two weeks, but i’ve had a great deal of fun experimenting and figuring out what i can do in the time i’ve been able to carve out.

so thanks for making a laser cutter that comes closer to having an “easy” button than anything else in the same price range. i’ve been able to do things with PG as well as starting to play with other materials. this weekend i plan on playing with the giant pile of paper samples (lots of Neenah columns duplex and french papers).

plus i’m getting a little bit of a primer on howto do some things before the big industrial universal shows up in my office next month (power got installed last week!).

[cmreeder]

I use this almost every day.
Gift giving has gone way up. It’s a better quality lower price gift - personal and meaningful.
I am learning so much.

Not to beat a dead horse; but since we get repetitive when kvetching, I’ll get repetitive when praising.

Dan is good at being an enthusiastic CEO that correctly shares what he should and probably correctly keeps things quiet that we don’t like quiet. It takes nerve to handle that.

The GF engineers and the folks who figure out how to make the vision actually work - hardware and software. Take a bow, unsung and much harangued techno-wiz-kids. You made something that I love.

Nice forum. Mostly the right amount of ground rules and monitoring to nurture a pretty pleasant forum where people can show off, lead cheers, and kvetch.

Finally, you put a laser in my house. It works. It is great. I afforded it. It keeps getting better at little things; but it’s been solidly awesome for six months now. It is a really really great product. It is a great tool. Did I mention that I like my Glowforge? Well, I do.

You GlowForge people are doing a fantastic job. I know you’re putting in your A game for hours and hours and hours every week, every month, and now going on years and a year.

I’ll join @PrintToLaser on the cheer-leading squad. It really is something to be enthusiastic about.

Thanks @rubbersoul79 - this is a great thread.

[Mike13]

I love this thread! My experience with my Pro has been nothing but positivive. I bought it on a whim figuring it was cool enough where I could figure out something to do with it. The first month or so, I didn’t do much with it. But once I did, things exploded for me. My website & Etsy store are up, I’ve been in a popup with more coming. I’ve always had at least several paid projects going at any given time, I’m supplying items for a new cocktail book, and if things continue on this path I’ll likely be able to turn this into a full-time job, and also allow me to be home with our son - which means my wife & I won’t need a nanny to care for our son all week long.

This is all possible because Glowforge made a product that, for me at least, just WORKS. But they also helped to build a community that helped me hang in there through all the delays.

So I’m not really being dramatic when I say that there’s a good possibility that Glowforge could very well change my life - and my son’s life - in a really significant way.

[rand]

The entire GF team – they are amazing and I am grateful for each and everyone of them.

They have created an incredible machine that does everything and more I had hoped, that expands the range of my creative expression by leaps and bounds.

They have created a forum of amazing people with an amazing capacity to share knowledge and experience and creative projects, with a level of transparency I have rarely experienced here on the web.

They have dealt with delays and challenges to hitting the street with a humble attitude and a never ceasing drive to keep going until it is done, and done right,

They have handled frequent, and sometimes vitriolic criticism and denigration, with a grace and equanimity that I find truly admirable.

I wish everyone at GF, and everyone here in the forum, a truly joyous holiday season - may you find love and magic no matter how you choose to celebrate.

[cmreeder]

I am glad that this Holiday season we aren’t finding Glowforges in your local Big Box Electronics store for $5000 and $10,000 in limited quantities while the pre-orders wait for leveraged buyers to make a bunch of money.

There is a precedent for preorders moving to the back of the line.

I am so glad that they are prioritizing those who have hung in for two years over the excited deep-pocketed Holiday shopper and the store that caters.

Thanks, @dan for every decision that put us first. That’s a class act.

[Elf]

Dilly dilly

[laird]

To “pile on” - I’ve had access to an “industrial” laser cutter in a Maker Space but rarely took advantage of it, while having a GlowForge in the home has been in near-constant use by the whole family. It’s great to have a laser cutter in the house, and it makes a huge difference to have it so easy to use. My wife has been thrilled to be able to draw on paper, or in Illustrator, and turn that into real things, and has launched an etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/FandomPopArt) . My son takes great price in having designed a stackable box for storing the “stuff” in his bedroom, personalizing each one with graphics and quotes. My daughter has even cut some items from college, via the web interface! None of which was possible before the GlowForge.

Next mission - see if I can design a laser cut prosthetic for e-NABLE (http://enablingthefuture.org). If I can figure how to make one that’s comfortable to wear, it’d be faster to fabricate and stronger (I think) than the 3D printed prosthetics we’ve been doing.