Contributor
Users of lasers making a living are NOT the target audience for this thing. Proof of that is in these pages!
I wholeheartedly agree that bored, normal people needing something else to do besides look at their stupid phones are the target audience...
think "Cricut", a vinyl cutter for the bored housewife-slash-scrapbooker... how many people making vinyl signage for a living do you suppose bought a Cricut to augment their income?
The GF is just the laser equivalent of the Cricut....
========================================
ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now- fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
Contributor
This Forum represents professional and semi professional laser users. We can see the marketing hype and misleading information in the GF advertising being presented to the intended home / hobbyist end user. I had to tell a GF presold user over on a 3D printer Forum that if his plans were to make money with a laser, perhaps another brand and more money would be needed. He is a vet and can not afford more, and is pinning his hopes on the Glow Forge to make him a living. What would you tell him?
Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10
Member
Yes yes yes
Originally Posted by kev williams
Member
I would tell him more than you told him. Can you make money with a Glowforge? Yes. The speed, power, and depth available will work in a low volume, low depth environment. You can make money on the side. You can run it full time but because it is a hobby level machine you probably won't make a living. That said it IS an affordable place to start. Get some small items out there and start building a business with less risk. If your demand scales then you've got a business case to invest in professional level equipment, if not you've only risked 2-5k instead of 25-50k, which I know happens (especially epilog buyers who buy into their promise you'll start a successful business and all you need is an epilog laser!) I've been dancing around a trotec for 2 years, but I can't justify it for what is for me a hobby. I CAN justify a 4k glowforge, because it didn't put me into debt and I'm not trying to make a living with a laser. I just want to make stuff.
Contributor
You and I are different in one important respect: I can justify spending the money for quality tools to support my hobby.
Yes, hobby. If you think I'm one of the professionals whose opinions you have so little use for, you really haven't been paying attention.
I'm done here.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
Oooohhhhh.... What size are those nozzle bells? Are they plywood or ?
I've been mulling over how to laser cut a dome/onion for an architectural model that didn't look totally clunky and wasn't a royal pain to piece together a jillion little pieces, and this looks like a great solution. At first, I thought the bell wedges were each part of a single piece (I picture it as a sort of "king's crown" shape when still flat) that gets wrapped into a circular shape and then the crown points curved inward to make the bell shape, but it seems more likely they are individual strips? Sort of a "living hinge" approach to create each curved wedge, only the cross marks are not cut all the way through?
Member
We are different. You narrowly equate quality with expensive. I on the other hand measure other factors in addition to cost.
As far as professional opinions, I haven't mentioned anyones opinions at all. I've tried to describe to you how market segmentation works, and how it applies to Glowforge. It's too bad you're taking your ball and going home, I thought I was getting through to you.
Member
I don't really care much one way or the other on Glowforge but maybe this might fall into the realm of being a 3D printer and a laser too for less than $300! Looks interesting any way-- http://www.trinus3d.com/
Bill Carruthers, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Shenhui G350- 60W; + Hengchunyuan 1300x900 100W EFR , CNC router 40x60, Lightburn fan, RDCam , Coreldraw 12, Photograv 3, Scroll saw, and not enough time to play with all of them!
Contributor
It sounds as space cadet as the Glow Forge, more so. What are you going to do with 1/2 watt laser engraver? At $300 its way cheap for a 3D printer. Ask me how I know.... Yeah it will be great for printing with ABS with no heated build plate. Maybe the GF users can switch over to this?
Last edited by Bill George; 04-29-2016 at 5:30 PM.
Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10
Member
Ply and MDF, there are 260 parts in each engine pictured
You did what !
Contributor
Found this quote: "Trinus extrudes PLA, ABS, PC, Flex, Wood, and most other materials available on the market."
Wood?!? Does that word mean something different in the 3D-printer world?
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
What size? This is a sculpture I did last month: 1/4" MDF and Bondo, about 12"x16"x10". The tradeoff is smoothness vs number of pieces...I decided to hit the "smooth" part in post-processing.
IMG_0397.jpg
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
2 to 5 k will get you a pretty good import way better then a gf. They will run all day and not have to stop every 10 min's to cool off, they will have a bigger bed size and won't be dependent on a internet connection
Last edited by Bert Kemp; 04-29-2016 at 8:02 PM.
If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine
Lasercut 5.3
CorelDraw X5
10" Miter Saw with slide
10" Table Saw
8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander
Contributor
Its a plastic filament for 3D printing that has a lot of very tiny specks of wood. Actually it does a pretty decent job and the product can be sanded and stained like wood. I have a roll, never got around to use it yet. My free time was spent trying to get a 3D scanner to work.. Another Crowd Funded venture that made it to market, to bad it does work like its suppose to work. It went back for a refund and now I see the price has dropped yet again....
Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10
Member
Trinius has the potential to be an epic Kickstarter fail. We'll see. In order to make the July/Aug shipping deadline they would already have to be tooled, have test jigs for the electronics, components sourced and packaging designed. They claimed the first public beta releases a couple of weeks ago.
Laywoo-D3 is a filament that comprises about 40% recycled wood with a polymer binder. It's pretty good, though expensive at about US$170/kg retail. It handles like wood when printed.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote