I’m considering investing in a glowforge home laser -
Please tell me the good, bad & ugly of the Glowforge brand.
Thanks - Axel
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Cons:
$$$ for power level
Cloud processing, cannot work without internet connection
Big box vs its cutting size
Pros:
Camera for alignment
Easy to use
Large community of users
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Does that mean if the company goes tits-up or decides to start monetizing that connectivity you’re toast?
Didn’t Cricut do something like this with their machines?
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Not sure if the thing can be readily hacked convinced to run standalone, but I recall that mandatory cloud connectivity has always been part of the deal with glowforge.
I haven’t considered one but that alone would kill the deal for me. Any third-party effort to free the machines would probably be met with DMCA lawyers. Forget it. The entire concept is obnoxious.
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OK - I agree the cloud processing is a HUGE downside that we probably wouldn’t want.
What home laser gear DO y’all recommend?
What’s your budget and bed size requirement?
I think @PearceDunlap has a Thunder or clone at home and is happy with it.
In a single-user environment it’s probably a decent machine. $6900 list for the Nova 24. Clones probably cheaper.
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Yes - I bought a Cricut Maker last year and you have to be online to use it. Anyone want to buy a Criicut Maker, used once?
This is a big deterrent for me for Glowforge. Thanks for the heads up, @Lampy
I have a couple of K40’s. But the stock units need some upgrades which basically doubles the cost to a whopping $600-$700. They can be fiddly but most makers can get them running very well. I put a Raspberry Pi on mine with Lightburn and control it wirelessly when I roll it out in the garage. Eventually want to setup in a spare bedroom now that my kids are no longer home.
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I have a thunderlaser nova 51 120watt (mid sized of the dms machines) at home and can’t complain. as a single user machine it absolutely holds itself together better than the space machines (more users, more ways to damage it)
I use it for business production of wood and acrylic art and experimenting with glass cutting
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Pearce, can you guess at its operating cost considering only the tube and lenses (not electricity)?
How does it compare to the $0.20 we pay at DMS?
I’ve never replace a tube or lenses. mine take far less damage. the $1/5 mins is high for costs but it’s easy and cheap enough for people to pay here
And the abuse the poor lenses get 
But yes, any equipment you run yourself is going to run cheaper than what our equipment takes simply because you’re going to care more. Anybody know the exhaust or filtering on these kind of units? I know the chinesium ones just kinda go 
They advertise as a “3-D laser printer” which says something about their intended audience.
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They need to be exhausted to the outside with a user-supplied blower (also available from manufacturer) or have a scrubber put on them.
I have seen some interesting scrubbers built by users and while they might make the exhaust smell better, I’d be wary of breathing it long term. Probably fine for occasional use.
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Would you need to do something like a dryer vent to do this at home, or would an open window or garage door do the job for exhaust?
i put a 4 inch hole in my garage wall and made it look like a dryer vent
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Like Pearce said but I’m sure a wide open garage door would be fine for most stuff. You do need a blower to get it out of the laser though.
You could do this for something less permanent. It’s an adjustable width exhaust flange for a portable air conditioner. $15 on Amazon.
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