Ok I am ashamed to say that it has taken me two weeks to open the box of my glowforge. With that being said I have found some things that worry me. We are told to keep everything in case we have to return it right? Well someone has made it to where I wouldn’t be able to return it. There is no plastic around my glowforge and no orange tape on the lid holding it closed. So what is up with that? I am a little afraid to go any further.
You may never have to return it. You won’t know unless you try it.
Support can help you with supplies if a return is needed.
Open it.
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I think they started putting a plastic bag around the GlowForge quite recently, so and older unit (like mine) didn’t have it. I don’t recall the tape, but it’s been a month or so.
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Thank you both for the quick replies. I will go forward and see what happens.
I got my Glowforge a few weeks ago and it did not have a plastic bag around it. I don’t remember any tape. As others have said, the use of plastic bags has just started.Go for it.
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One more thing right off the bat, the white plastic strip is hanging half out of mine. Is that normal? Before I even take out the white foam pieces do I just push this back in? Don’t laugh I just want to do all of this the right way. So bear with me please.
Got a picture? 
Trying to find a camera. My cell phone and my computer don’t get along. But when you open the door of your glowforge there is a white plastic strip that is tucked into the metal part of the glowforge. The right side of mine with a metal piece on the end is just laying out in the open.
Is that the print head ribbon? (Going to need to see a pic.)
It’s kind of broken or it isn’t. So as long as you follow the unpacking direction carefully there isn’t much to screw up. The early units were packed with much less protection. Gantry’s that weren’t held in place, no foam to hold the lens, etc. Make sure you remove all of the orange gantry/head silicone strips and thumb screws and other bits according to the manual. Be very careful when you hook up the ribbon cable to the head. You don’t want to bend any pins.
That is what I thought but I just want to make sure everything I am doing is right. When I am following the manual and I see something different from what it is showing then I ask questions to make sure everything is ok. Will get those pics asap.
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This thing - it’s what the print head travels on. If it’s loose, check it for damage especially at the pin end.
Yes that white plastic thing is just laying half out of the glowforge. Trying to find a camera to take the picture.
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The left side of the white cable is permanently attached. The other free end is what you connect to the black print head circuit board.
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That is a flexible cable, nothing broken. It has to be loose on that end to connect the head. Look at the picture Jules posted, that is how it Will look after you connect the ribbon cable to the head.
No need to be so anxious, it’s really quite easy. Just follow the instructions, and post here any questions you have.
In reality I know I shouldn’t be anxious but I am. Just want to do it right. Thank you all for responding.
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Well, there is a degree of anxiety that you are entitled to, and is to be expected! The anticipation of making cool things, but it would be hard to mess anything up. As @rpegg said, use care in connecting that ribbon cable. Just be sure you plug it in straight, the end of the cable will snap into place with very little effort.
As long as you have located the various Orange and Red bits:
and they where installed (for shipping to you) in the proper places (reference to your Glowforge Manual for the setup steps which point to their locations), then you are the correct path.
Forgot to mention that the little black rubber washers on the screws sometimes stick to gantry and then fall to the Glowforge bed.
The screws hold the gantry in place, the orange rubber strips keep the gantry from hitting the rails (during shipping) and the orange weird “space ships” keep the laser head carriage stabilized to the gantry (during shipping).
The loose white cable will be flopping around until you unpackage and install the laser head on to its carriage.
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Also, watch out when you’re taking the laser head out of the packing foam- there are a couple of windows on it that you should avoid touching, and they are located exactly where it’s comfortable to place your fingers when holding the laser head. Even though I was warned by other forum users, I still had a hard time not touching the windows.
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Basic question just to help out. Have you gone to the setup pages on the app? They give some good illustrations of what is in the box and what to look for. From what you are posting it doesn’t seem that you can visualize what is going on.
https://glowforge.com/support/topic/unboxing-setting-up/unboxing-and-setting-up-your-glowforge