TRUTH ABOUT GLOWFORGE - A User's Honest Review 

L😄 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Definitely not to be used in an apartment

Glad you found it helpful Becca! What improvements would you like to see?

@@MartinsonManufacturing Thanks for even asking! After perusing features of other laser printers (& even one that I SWEAR must be a knock-off of glowforge), these are a few improvements that come to mind: 1. A functional exhaust connector 2. Software that run OFFline (this is a make or break for me). 3. Air purifier actually included with the system since it's a necessary component for the fumes no matter what for the same price. 4. It'd be wonderful to see the weight of it be light enough for one person to maneuver w/o breaking the back. ;-)

Becca Griffith - I completely agree. Only online is a huge NO for me and the cost for the very necessary air purifier is greed in my opinion

Absolutely! Get it!!

I will not jeopardize my health breathing toxic fumes and for the money issues like noise, etc should be totally worked out

Just buy a chinese k40 and upgrade it if you want to

Buy one. Great investment

Awesome! I recently saw on my account that you used the referral code to order one! You'll love it! You should join the "Glowforge User Group" on Facebook. Lots of great info and ideas on there. As far as the noise, many people have been buying a quiet external fan such as this one and using that instead. www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-CLOUDLINE-S6-Controller/dp/B07FPFVZTZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2UADE7FJ2JO33&keywords=ac+infinity+cloudline+t6&qid=1576565424&sprefix=ac+infinity%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-3 There's an option in the GF app to basically turn off the internal fans and just use an external one instead. It quiets your machine tremendously. I'll be picking one up and doing a review on it next month. Please reach out if you have any questions when you get your Glowforge!

The thing you should be nervous about is the reliance of the internet. I note already they have a premium service. The more people that buy this and join the premium service the slower the free service will go because premium users have priority in the processed queue.

can you cut on acrylic cylinders? or does it have to be flat?

Forza Golf good question

Forza Golf usuallly for cylinders you need an additional mechanism that turns the cylinder as the laser moves left to right across it. Have not seen that for glowforge but instead for much more expensive professional lasers

Thanks man

Kitchen Tumblers Hey girl, what are you doing over here...probably the same as me! 😆~your Subbie

Hey, what a cool idea, and congrats!

Nothing to be nervous about. Our whole lives our internet dependent and we never think about it. I was a little nervous at first too, but over a year later, not a single issue and I love how seamless the experience is with the internet.

As you should be. There is everything to be nervous about. If they go bust you can’t use you machine. They will add additional costs in the future for using their servers. They already have a premium service giving premium members priority on the job queue, so if you are not a premium member and you upload your job at the same time a load of premium members, you will be waiting a while. Then there is the security/privacy part. All your jobs are on their servers as is your information, so it is theirs to do with as they please and if they get hacked, it’s going to be all out there.

They are expected to last 2000 hours working time before maintenance and Glowforge does not take responsibility for injury caused by their lasers, even if they were otherwise warned about a machine being faulty. After the short 6 month crappy warranty they then charge the user shipping and repair fees if there is an issue and will not sell you spare parts directly or help you work on your machine. They also take weeks if not longer to reply to emails and when they do they barely read what you say. Many users are having issues where Glowforge will not help them or will flat rate invoice $749 for you to send your machine to their repair facility for 6 WEEKS or give you the option of paying the $749 and getting a refurb one sent right out. So, basically you buy the damn thing for top dollar and could be paying them $749 yearly and not even for the machine you originally purchased.

That’s what I’m here for :)

Hi hru? Do you have any recommendations? I really want to get one of these but it's extremely expensive. Thank you.

Man great reply.

Yes Home Depot has PVC you can buy for a lot cheaper

Well, whenever you are able to get one make sure you use my referral code to save some money!

@@MartinsonManufacturing 11qq1q1qqqq

Boy, it’s really just user preference. I’ve been using AutoCAD but am going to be transitioning over to Adobe Illustrator. It’s an industry standard and a good program to have under your belt.

@@MartinsonManufacturing thank you!!

The Glowforge would be perfect for that project.

That is a bit of overkill for that use. A cricut could probably do what you want for about $150.

I agree. The Cricut is basically made for that. I have the Cricut Maker, but you don't even need that. The most basic model can do stencils. You can probably get one used for less than $100.

You want to spend 4K to make a stencil to paint cookies? Are you mad?

It's much too big to fit in travel luggage and it will work just fine with a Mac.

RGB Crafts 4K is for the pro. There’s one for $2500 too

If yoiir garage is not temp. controlled I would not recommend.

It doesn't operate below 40 degrees or above 75.

Hope the internet dont go down 150watt laser with a moving crumtray and cooler and air pump with a aftermarket camera and lightburn All total. $3246.00 deck is 4 times as big so you cant call anybody at glowforge !! only e mail or u tube ,,,,,,,,,,, there is no choice. Pro Glowforge $6,000 + shipping no support ,pass thru door 1/4 “ thick non movable crum tray , no chiller to keep laser cool no air pump to clear you piece ....... do you do diligence , save your money!

Thanks Evelyn. Nope, it's a laminated sheet I found at Home Depot :)

Hmm, I haven't heard anyone in the community try swapping out the fans so I wouldn't know on that one. Most people pick up an external inline fan (such as this one: amzn.to/33zTNmP) and then shut the internal fan off in the settings. The result is a super quiet machine.

Theresa, that's a very good question. I suppose you can always try it and see how it works. The exhaust fan in the Glowforge is a very powerful high velocity fan and could probably blow through that much ducting no problem. I would guess that you could still feel a good amount of airflow coming out the other end. The nice thing is you should never have to worry about the duct getting clogged because it's just fumes. Hopefully some of those thoughts are helpful.

Maybe I did :)

I should have clarified a little better on that. The Glowforge "cut" through 1" pine, but it took several passes.

@@MartinsonManufacturing Thanks for the quick response. That is still pretty impressive.

He is the MFG of the exhaust plenum... LOL, that wasn't stated in this video. He prints them and sells them.

So what do you recommend instead?

@@marcin97 any Ruida-controlled 60-80W CO2 from a reputable Chinese manufacturer will outperform this significantly, at a much reduced cost. Not an eBay or amazon machine. Not a K40 (although they perform about the same at $500)

@@Zootalaws Can you give an actual recommendation for a specific laser or a "reputable chinese manufacturer"?

@@kylepayne2820 yes please share

Mike, can you give a name of one of these with the 60-80W co2 Chinese produced $500ish machines Please?

Hey hi , am in the market for the same, what did u end up getting of each?

It needs to connect to their servers. This was a turn off to me at first but a year and a half in and never had a single connection issue. Still would love the USB option, but even if I did I'd still run it via internet 99% of the time.

Great question Jon! Proof Grade Material is basically material that Glowforge has deemed to be safe, and then they put a QR code on it so the Glowforge calibrates itself automatically to cut that material perfectly. I buy my acrylic from an acrylic sheet supplier down the road from me called Port Plastics. I use Glowforge's proofgrade acrylic settings and it cuts my acrylic perfectly. I think Glowforge is just focused on safety. There may be an acrylic supplier out there that puts chemicals in their acrylic that when cut produce harmful vapors, so Glowforge basically puts their stamp of approval on their material saying that their stuff is safe to use in the Glowforge. Most of us start out with the Proof Grade stuff and then quickly move out to material we source elsewhere. Does that help?

@@MartinsonManufacturing Thanks for the explanation, which makes sense. I was thinking it was about the finish of the materials, kind of like the PROOF GRADE used in coin collecting. I am pretty sure Glowforge does NOT manufacture Arroylic plastic, they source it just like I would, they may purchase large 4' 8' sheets and then cut it down to a size that fits their machine, and mark it up. Here in Central Texas, there are several wholesale plastic sheet supplies and as long as you purchase name brand off the shelf Acrylic sheets, I would bet the material would be just fine to use. Purchasing in bulk always saves money, so purchase large sheets and then cutting them to size to fit your laser using a table same (with the correct blade), will save a lot of money. One of my plastic suppliers offers free shipping with a $100 purchase, they are located 60 miles from me, so that is a great bargain. Do you know if the Glowforge will cut 1/4" Acrylic with a clean edge? How do you keep from getting the burnt edge I have seen in some Gloeforge examples?

​@@phototec Sounds like you found a great acrylic supplier! With free shipping even, that's definitely the way to go. I'm moving to Wisconsin next month and i'm hoping I can find a good supplier myself. The Glowforge cuts 1/4" acrylic really well. I just went and looked at my spice rack that I made for out of 1/4" acrylic. The cut edge is pretty clean. It isn't as smooth as glass, but it's pretty clean. The Glowforge will do it in one pass. As far as preventing the burnt edge, masking your materials is the solution. Your acrylic sheets should come pre-masked. However, if you're getting a little more technical (which may have been your previous question) even if you mask your acrylic, the edges will look like they've encountered heat (looking top down on your cut piece, you'll see a faint perimeter - which the average person won't notice. My previous response I was referring to looking at the edge from the side.) To fix these non clean edges (looking at your piece top down) There's something i've started doing which helps. As the laser moves around and hits the metal walls of the honeycomb crumb tray underneath, the laser will flare up causing the edge of the acrylic to degrade and not look like glass anymore (even when it's masked). What you can do is put something underneath the acrylic sheet to raise it up off the crumb tray a little bit and those flares won't hurt it. Hope that helps. Feel free to email me JDM3DContact@gmail.com if you'd like to chat more. I can send some pics of 1/4" acrylic I cut if you'd like.

Definitely worth it in my opinion. You can buy a super quiet external exhaust fan for $100 and shut the noisy internal one off. As long as your exhaust hose connections are solid smell won’t be an issue (it hasn’t been an issue for me anymore). But I guess it depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re just tinkering around for fun probably stay with the K40. If you’re wanting to make a business out of it and kick out parts over and over I think it’s worth it. Time is money and the setup time is basically zero.

I’ve personally never worn a mask when I cut, but I’ve also never cut anything toxic either. I changed my exhaust system a bit and currently have no fumes escaping from the unit.

@@MartinsonManufacturing Here's a link to a Sue Walters article (she's an AMAZING pyrographer) about MDF www.suewalters.com/Safety.html#:~:text=Don't%20leave%20them%20unsupervised,and%20other%20serious%20health%20problems. And here's one article related to MDF and laser cutting--it seems that the critical key to toxic fumes is extremely good ventilation, people who are just getting into laser cutting are, hopefully, researching the potential toxicity of what they intend to cut and then taking proper safety precautions and investing in really good ventilation systems. Thank you for listening and for replying! Here's that 2nd link: www.reddit.com/r/lasercutting/comments/adchkn/mdf_question_about_formaldehyde/

Great question Nancy. Well, I still absolutely love the machine. I'm currently selling my Plus to a friend and will be putting that money towards the Pro model. I want the capacity to make bigger projects and it has an upgraded cooling system so it can run longer. My craft room here in AZ gets really hot and occasionally my printer needs time to cool down before the next cut. That's really the only issue i've had. (If you're able to keep the room it's in at 75 degrees or cooler you shouldn't have that problem.) Dremel has a comparable machine, but I chose this one because it's cheaper. I've seen a lot of people getting the K40 laser cutter for $400. It has good cutting results. My friend has one and likes it, but you also get what you pay for. Other than that I haven't had much experience with the other lasers out there. I know Epilog is another popular one out there too. Hope that helps :)

Thank you, I will Keep looking I am needing to start with a small printer that I don’t need to have vent since I will be working in a small area.