Friday, May 27, 2016

Glow Forge - laser cutting machine makes sense for the artistic people out there!

I was recently recommended "Glow Forge" machine by a friend of mine who in turn saw it at a UX conference. And when I came back to my desk and searched for it on the Internet - I was awestruck!. Yes, this is what my crafter wife wanted from long. But when I saw the price - I said nah, I can't afford it. :-( I closed the webpage. And, I didn't tell her about it :-( :-( at first.

Time passed, then one fine day she again mentioned the thought of cutting MDF (thin wood) at home via a machine in desired designs for her crafting work so that she can avoid the travel to the local carpenter. She infact showed me a few machines from Aliexpress. At that moment I couldn't resist and told her to look at the machine by the name glow-forge. She called back after an hour - "I want it. (period) Please"

Then the struggle started. Almost everyday we together searched and saw videos of glowforge machine. Things went on, for quite some time I tried to convince her to:

  •  Check glowforge's Price (!)
  •  Check glowforge's waiting time (!)
  •  Check glowforge's shipping price (!)
  •  & lastly check for alternatives


Then began our hunt for alternatives to save some money & time. These were the alternative machines that we studied:

  •  http://www.mehtaindia.com/
  •  http://www.ulsinc.com/en-in/products/vls230/
  •  http://www.cuttingmachine.in/
  •  http://www.lasercuttingmachines.in/


We spent lot of time studying these machines. Watched videos - studied specifications. I applied my tech expertise to make the case for buying one of these. But when I created a comparison checklist Vs Glowforge this was the result:


Glow Forge
Others
Looks
Beauty
Rough looks
Sleekness
Slim & thin
Bulky & Factory like
Materials Supported
Lot (Maximum Listed)
Lesser / Not clearly listed
Cutting Thickness
6mm + 6mm
3 to 4 mm or lesser
Cutting Work Area
12” x 20”
12” x 18” or lesser
Safe
Safe (US standards)
Not sure
Wifi connectivity
Yes
No
Precision
0.025 mm
Varies / unclear

We finally decided to go with peace-of-mind and with a good looking machine that we can keep it easily in the crafts room. Though the price we paid was high $2394 after we saved $100 from Brad's referral code.

We hope others would also use our referral code and reduce our purchase price of the machine.
$100 Referrer Discount Link: https://glowforge.com/referred/?kid=E9pFiR 

Good Luck!

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