Glowforge: A revolution of new technology

A Kickstarter today for some sort of new invention is pretty common, but when raises about 28 million dollars in a month, the public turns its head. This is the incredible promotion of Glowforge, a small start-up located in Seattle, promising to change the way we create forever.

Many Do it yourselves (DIY) work with many materials all the time, ranging from wood to metal to plastic and maybe even recycled materials. Traditional 3D printers allow construction of objects based on compacted layers of plastic or cut a design out of a block of plastic.

The founder of Glowforge, Dan Shapiro, took that same 3D printer concept one step ahead. Wanting to make a 3D printer for the everyday person, Dan created a compact version that can do everything that those thousand dollars machines can do and more for about one third of the price.

When I first heard about this machine, I was very skeptical for the fact of how they were able to get an $11,000 machine down to around $4,000. After doing some research what I found answered my questions. Instead of using plastic and a nozzle like normal 3-D printers do, it instead uses a laser and carves it directly out of the material.  Some of the example videos for the product show them cutting out of fabric, cardboard, and even plastic sheets.  This is a fascinating change to the same concept;  while normal 3D printers uses the same plastic, Glowforge can use just about anything organic to make anything imaginable.

If you are looking for a machine to do help you create anything and work with materials, Glowforge may be the best option for you.