Originally Posted by
Alex Campbell
I purchased a glowforge (basic, the $2500 one) to try out a laser cutter. Here are my thoughts:
I run a 4x8 CNC router (precix with linux based UI) and have been CNC machining for 2.5 years. The actual glowforge hardware is gorgeous. It is well designed and the fit and finish is superb. The downfall of their hardware is that the smoke path goes across the circuit board and rails, which could prove fatal to the machine with heavy use and poor maintenance.
The cloud based UI is the worst piece of garbage I can comprehend. There are literally NO drawing tools, as in you can't draw a square around something to cut it out. Every piece of artwork needs to be created in another program and imported. My Silhouette vinyl cutter has an amazing little program that runs it that is full of features, but the Glowforge UI has NOTHING. Also, it is all completely camera based with no absolute positioning system, so lining things up to engrave in the correct spot is a nightmare. There is no red-dot indicator either so you line things up by camera and pray. If you don't have a fast internet connection, you are unable to use it. A lot of people put them in the garage and have poor, or no, wifi access.
All of this said, the real benefit to this machine came when I taught my wife how to use it in 5 minutes. She is not very computer literate and she is able to design and cut/engrave items no problem. This is the target market. Not everyone wants to learn complicated software, laser alignment procedures, lens focal lengths etc to be able to have fun with these impressive tools.
I have since ordered a 100W redsail 1390 that will arrive in about a month. I was speaking with a Trotec Salesman (I really want one but can't, at this point justify the $$$ for a hobby business) and he told me he has sold several machines to people that bought a Glowforge and wanted something faster with more features. Much like X-Carves and Shapeokos were game changers in the CNC world, I think the glowforge will be a game changer in the laser engraver world as it will introduce so many people to this amazing tool. Those who are satisfied with a hobby machine can stay at that level, and there will be a huge emerging market for the "next step up" machines like Boss. If you own a "real" laser, I wouldn't be too threatened by "Forgers" entering your market. The machines are way too slow for any sort of profitable production work.