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We do not have one however we have a designer who purchased one. He provided some great info. and if you have specific questions, let me know. I know he'd be willing to chat or answer more questions. Also, he has a discount code he said he'd be happy to provide if you did want to move forward with a purchase.
Here's his response:
Overall we are happy with it
Pros:
- User interface. Hands down the best feature. Easy to understand and adjust settings.
- Processing files:
o It can process a lot of different files types. We mostly use PDF since we create in Adobe Illustrator, but uses SVG’s just as easily (among many others)
o If you set up your file in different colors, you can assign a task to that color. It doesn’t matter the color. IE everything purple will cut, everything yellow will engrave.
o Snap marks: this is a new feature that allows you to create a jig with “snap marks” on it that allows you to process a lot of the same part and not have to worry about lining things up every time. It uses the snap marks on the jig to align the file so in theory you could move the jig around the bed, and it will automatically line up the file with the camera
- The camera. This makes aligning your file so easy. It also allows you to get the most use out of your material. It doesn’t always line up as you get to the edges since it’s a fish-eye, but overall it’s great.
- Proof grade material: this is the material you can buy through Glowforge. It comes with both sides masked and a QR code on the material that gets read by the camera so you can use the preprogramed settings. They have leather, acrylic, wood, etc. Quick shipping, and it’s already cut to a size that will fit in the machine.
- Community Forum: Very active community forum where you can find out all kinds of information about how to use/maintain the laser. We haven’t had a question we couldn’t find the answer too.
Cons:
- Bed is too small (12x20). Sure you can get the “pass-through” on the Pro model, but it’s still not that big. I would like a slightly larger print bed. Also, it doesn’t always allow you to print all the way to the edges. So you might have a file that’s the size of the material, but that file generally won’t fit.
- Exhaust system: It exhausts the whole system through the back corner causing all the debris that is stirred up during cutting/engraving to pass over a lot of internal parts. While this hasn’t caused any issues yet, the inside it getting pretty…..I think gunky in the technical term. I like the models that pull air through the crumb tray. That way you secure your material to the crumb tray and pull out the bad air.
- No cancel button: There is one button on the unit that gets used to start a print, and everything else is handled through the web based application. Once it starts and you want to cancel a print, you have to open the lid. There are a lot of comments on the forum about this, but it hasn’t not been addressed.
- Underpowered: I should preface this one with the fact that we have the basic one with the less powerful laser. If we had the pro, I might not have this concern. That said, it seems like it doesn’t always have enough juice to get through some thicker pieces of wood. I have yet to fully cut through ¼” pieces of wood, though it says it can.
Those are the main points I can think of. Overall, I enjoy it, but we’re also using it for small jobs. If we were to start a business where it would be used more, I would get a better one.
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