Prepare a landing zone
Surface
The ideal spot for your Glowforge is a hard, flat, stable surface at least 38 in (100 cm) wide and 21 in (53 cm) deep. Airflow is required under the Glowforge, so no soft surfaces. You’ll also need a little room in the back left corner to run the exhaust. You’ll also need about 30 in (75 cm) of headroom so the lid can swing up. Most tables and workbenches work just fine, but if your surface is unstable, uneven, or too small, prints may be inaccurate, doors may not close properly, and the camera may not be aligned. Your Glowforge could even be damaged!
Ventilation
Your Glowforge creates smoke as its laser cuts and engraves your materials. This gets pulled out through a 4” exhaust hose (same as you’d use for a clothes dryer) that connects at the back left corner of your unit.
If using an air filter...
Make sure you have enough room to the side or underneath your table to fit the air filter, and a gap large enough to pass the hose through. The hose should be kept as straight as possible, with no more than two turns of 90 degrees or less. You’ll also want to make sure you can easily reach the power switch on the air filter.
If ventilating to the outdoors...
A dryer port is an ideal way to hook up your exhaust, but you can even run a hose out a nearby window. The end of the hose should be no more than 8 ft (2.5 m) away from your Glowforge and at least 3 ft (1 m) away from the window. Vents should be at least 3 ft from property lines and openings into a building, and at least 10 ft from mechanical air intakes.
