Growing our Business with Glowforge
I am a creator by nature and have always loved creative/craft activities, hence the launch of The Joyful Bee! As part of our growing business, we decided to take the leap and purchase a Glowforge.
For those of you that don’t know, a Glowforge is a laser cutting machine. This magical piece of equipment can cut and/or engrave a variety of materials like wood and acrylic.
There are three different models of the Glowforge, Basic, Plus, and Pro.
Glowforge Basic:
Priced at $2995, the Glowforge Basic is the most affordable option. It comes with a 6 month comprehensive warranty and 40W laser tube power. The Basic has a maximum material size of 19.5”x11” with a 2” height. The machine itself is 38”Wx 20.75”Dx8.25”H. The Basic is a Class 1 laser product.
Glowforge Plus:
The Glowforge Plus is an upgraded version of the Basic. While it has the same maximum material size and machine dimensions, it is 2x faster, has upgraded hardware and comes with a 12 month comprehensive warranty. The Plus is priced at $3995. Like the Basic, the Plus is a Class 1 laser product.
Glowforge Pro:
The Glowforge Pro is the mack-daddy of all Glowforges. It is priced at $5995 and has the same machine dimensions as the Plus and Basic. However, one important feature of the Pro is the pass-through slot. While the Basic and Plus have a max material size of 19.5”x11”, the Pro has a pass-through slot and can accommodate any material 19.5” by infinity. The Pro also comes with a 12 month comprehensive warranty, is 3x faster with upgraded hardware with a 120% faster cut speed. The Pro is a Class 4 laser product.
Each of the models has the capability to use JPG, PNG, SVG, and PDF files and has an intuitive drag and drop live camera preview making it super easy to see exactly where your cut/engraving will appear on your material. Another great feature is that the Glowforge is supported on MAC, PC, iPhone, Android and more!
There are several materials the Glowforge can cut and even more that can be engraved.
Materials that can be cut:
Wood, cardboard, rubber, fabric, acrylic, cork, leather, Delrin, sandpaper, paper, mylar, foods.
Materials that can be engraved:
All of the materials above, as well as glass, ceramic tile, marble, anodized aluminum, rubber stamps, titanium, stone, and corian.
Glowforge also offers a list of “proofgrade materials”, these are materials purchased through Glowforge that are already setup in the system, you simply scan the barcode on the material and the Glowforge knows which settings to use for that material.
One of the coolest things about the Glowforge is you can scan a drawing in and scan/cut that directly from the Glowforge! I see a lot of kid drawing gifts in my future….
Don’t forget you will need a WIFI connection to use the Glowforge.
I have been researching the Glowforge for the last several months and when I decided to expand The Joyful Bee to include a larger variety of products I knew I had to have it. We decided on the Pro since we intend on using this for business purposes on a variety of products. We will be using our Glowforge to create beautiful home decor products to make your home your happy place!
So what can the Glowforge make? I have seen ALL KINDS of things being made on the Glowforge from jewelry to board games! I love browsing #glowforge on Instagram!
Our Glowforge should be arriving in a few weeks and I will be keeping y’all up to date on unboxing, setting up, and creating things with the Glowforge here on the blog so be sure to subscribe!
Have you been thinking of getting a Glowforge? Drop your questions in the comments and I will answer them once ours comes in! If you’ve decided to take the plunge use this link (https://glowforge.us/r/KNQYTIAP) to get up to $500 off your purchase ($250 for the Plus, $100 for the Basic)!
