The summer of 2020 found us busy with our handmade business, possibly the busiest we have ever been in the 12 years of operation.
We were working long hours
We were busting our bums
It was awesome.
But it was kinda boring.
It was the same everyday
It was amazing and we felt so blessed
But I was getting bored with the same ol same ol
Maybe it was all the time spent at home (which I loved)
Maybe it was the time not spent running around and feeling like I had time to spare.
Whatever it was I talked my husband into looking into buying 2 different things
For the sake of this blog post, I will only talk about 1 of the 2 new things
You already know exactly what it was that I talked him into...
But for those that didn't read the title
I talked him into buying a laser
Not any laser, but a Glowforge.
We talked, and debated, and talked some more
and landed on the Pro
Here is why we chose the Glowforge Pro as our first Laser Cutting Machine
- It is a plug and play (or pretty close to that) - we plugged it in, my husband created a window attachment out of 1x8" board with a dryer attachment, and we started on our first cut.
- The online program is really intuitive to use - it was seriously as easy as typing in tractor, and telling it to cut to create this large tractor cutout for our son
- The Glowforge Pro came with a sample pack that we were able to get cutting as soon as we plugged it in.
- Lasering was a completely new form of creating from what I was used to. I didn't want to be struggling with a machine while struggling with building a new business line
- Glowforge website (I pay for the monthly subscription) has a ton of graphics, tons of different ready to cut files, and was freakishly easy to get started with.
- The Glowforge has slowed down considerably with a lot of use. I am pretty sure we have worn it out. Or it needs a better cleaning than I am able to do.
Conclusion:
I am so glad we started with the Glowforge. I was able to pay it off in a matter of a few months. My friend asked me to make one thing for her, and that one thing ended up paying for my machine after making 6,000 of them for customers over the course of the Christmas season that year.
I was able to slowly learn how to create with a laser machine while not having a large barrier to entry in logistics of running the machine.
Looking back, I would do the exact same thing. I wouldn't change a thing
Now what?
We outgrew the Glowforge after only a couple months. We were facing growing pains. The Glowforge is lovingly called the Slowforge in our home. It was too slow and it was frustrating when we had begun to rely on it for consistent sales and cuts.
Our solutions?
The Aeon Mira 9 to the Rescue!
W adore our Mira 9. Let me just list a few of the ways
- It is lightening speed fast compared to the Glowforge.
- It has more consistent cuts. We used to do a lot of hand cutting with an utility knife
- With a compressor, we have very little laser burn. No more masking!
- There are several 1/4 inch material (we mostly cut with 1/4 inch) that the Glowforge just didn't like.
- Customer support from Aeon has been amazing.
- Engraving tumblers and metal insulated waterbottles has been so much fun
- Lightburn is easy to use, and even though it isn't as robust as Inkscape it definitely has its place in our designing
Conclusion:
Though we would never change the way our journey started, we also would never change the second machine we purchased. In fact, even though we still have our slowforge ready to be used as 2nd, we plan to upgrade it to either a mira 5 or mira7 in the near future (in time for Christmas orders hopefully).
We often share videos on youtube of our sewing projects, but also of the lasers working their magic. Make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss the updates. *Channel is AVISIONTOREMEMBER just like here.
Want to check out a beautiful project we created using our Mira? Check out this beautiful Mother's Day Sign.
