Glowforge Vs Thunder Laser Nova 35: Why We Upgraded

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Here's the speed test video!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKKyk55mg7CVisU

[@browncowcreatives4091]

Jay, thank you so much for directing me to this video -- it is very useful for someone like me who is just starting out with laser cutting items! I appreciate it so much.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

You are very welcome! Glad that you found it helpful! We do have some other videos on here showing us using the machine! You can do so much with it! For instance...the tumblers!!!!

[@CreativeCustomDesigns]

We have a Glowforge as well and have been thinking of going to a bigger machine. We have been looking at the Nova 51. We have to do some renovations in the garage before we do this, but seeing your video on the Nova 35 has got us thinking that if we have more problems with our Glowforge, we might think about the 35. Thanks for the video, and we'll keep watching.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

You will love any of the Nova series lasers! They are work horses!!! What kind of stuff do you make with your Glowforge now?

[@CreativeCustomDesigns]

@@malonecustomdesigns It's the time of year for ornaments, and Christmas stuff, so it's been real busy with those . We also make home decor items like tiered trays and the different collections that can be put on them..... We are working on a website and hopefully that will boost sales. We had another look at the Thunder lineup, and maybe the 24 will replace the Glowforge not the 35.......it's to big to get in the basement.

[@Finewoodworkingofsc]

Great video, brother. Very informative as I'm looking at the Thunder 51/130 machine real hard. I'm so thankful you are doing well. God is good.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Thank you! And yes, God has been good to me! On another note...you would love the 51/130. If we would have had more room...we would have gone bigger!

[@madebykarmolina]

Hi from Brookland! I was researching lasers when I came across your videos. I think we know several people in common 😊

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Oh yeah? Maybe we do. :)

[@MikeHenry362]

I'd love to see a direct speed comparison/quality comparison between the GF and your Nova 35. It would also be interesting to see a comparison of photengraves on the same two machines.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Stay tuned! We will try to get a comparison video out soon!

[@AngieWilliamsDesigns]

I love my Glowforge. I have previous experience with Epilog lasers. So I knew going in what I was getting into. I have hopes that my business will build and I have seriously considered Thunder. Thanks for sharing this video.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

You are most welcome! We are loving our Thunder!

[@jimboyer76]

Hello, great video! We are in the early laser research phase, and was curious about Glowforge photo engraves being better than the Thunder. Was that using the std 2" lens or the HR lens on the Thunder? Thanks!

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Hey Jim thanks for watching! We have only used the standard 2" lens. We seem to get a little more detail in the Glowforge. Some people say that the lower wattage machines are better for photos. We also have an odd issue to where occasionally on the Thunder, a photo engrave will skip like 1 horizontal line. So tiny....but after sanding...it shows up. It's not bad, but we just never have that on the Glowforge. So for this reason, most of our photo engraves are still on the Glowforge! They just take 3 times longer lol :)

[@rationalistinanev]

Thanks for the video! Do you ever wish you'd bought the 100W tube? Also, what is that product that translates wifi to Ethernet?

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Hey Steve. Actually bed size has been more of a regret than wattage. However, we really don't have room to go bigger. If you go with a 100W Nova 35, the bed is the same, you just have an extra piece sticking out the back side to accommodate the longer tube. If I had room, I would go with the Nova 51. The device is a LightBurn Bridge. It is just a Raspberry Pi that has software from LightBurn installed. However, we have now ditched it and just use USB. We just started having some WiFi issues. So this works better for us now.

[@looknorth07]

Awesome, I know what laser machine I'm purchasing now!

[@malonecustomdesigns]

We absolutely love ours!!!!

[@southernlaurelNC]

Do you have a video of the photo engraving for glowforge? I searched your site but didn't see anything. Would love to learn how this is done!

[@malonecustomdesigns]

We actually have plans of making a video of our whole photo process on the Glowforge! Stay tuned for that!

[@summerscarter]

What additional parts and accessories did you order to get started with your Thunder laser? Also is it safe to store it in a garage or sunroom if i live in a hot humid area?

[@malonecustomdesigns]

We keep ours in a climate-controlled area, but it comes with a chiller, so it should keep the tube temperature fine. I would recommend having that conversation with a Thunder salesperson just to be sure. As far as accessories, we got and LOVE the rotary attachment. It's perfect for engraving tumblers. We also got the camera....but have never installed it. We get perfect alignment without it! Hope that helps a bit.

[@dynamics9000]

thanks for sharing such a great vido....

[@malonecustomdesigns]

You're very welcome!!!!!

[@mmathis9860]

Do you know if you can use Silhoutte Studio Business Edition with the Nova Thunder. Or does it only use Lightburn? Thanks

[@malonecustomdesigns]

You should be able to do your design work in Silhouette, but I'm pretty certain that you will need to install Lightburn or RDworks to actually send your files to the laser. Lightburn comes with the Thunder and it is actually a very impressive design software. I would recommend at least learning how to use Lightburn!

[@mmathis9860]

@@malonecustomdesigns , thank you for the quick reply. I’ve been using Silhoutte Design for several years and was fairly easy to learn. GlowForge is a breeze, hardly a learning curve. Since my brain injuries in 2006 from a critical head on collision on my Harley I lost all of my short term memory. In your honest opinion, do you believe Lightburn would be fairly easy to conceive? Thank you for an honest opinion. ❤️

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Well, Lightburn doesn’t have to take the place of Silhouette. Lightburn can be what you want to make of it. You can use it to design with, or you can simply use it like the Glowforge interface to load files and adjust settings. With that being said, there is no standard settings such as “Engrave” , “Cut” , and “Score” like Glowforge. Everything has to be setup manually. Thunder does provide you with a Library of material settings, but it comes down to trial and error and finding your favorite settings.

[@rum6208]

Does thunder have a pass through option!?

[@malonecustomdesigns]

There is a pass through option....I've just never had a need to try it lol

[@dupescraftingdesign7872]

where do you get the box to make it wireless

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Here is the link. It looks like the total kit is sold out, but if you have a raspberry pi, you can download the software for it for free. This tells you about it. lightburnsoftware.com/products/lightburn-bridge-kit

[@gregsandidge5649]

Loved your comparison. However, comparing a Glowforge (Hobby laser) to a Thunder (Comercial grade) is not really fair. Now if you compared the Thunder to any other laser at its pricepoint, size, speed, SATS, reliability, or quality, you'd be on to something. Thunder lasers are hard to beat in any of these categories.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Of course! We were just letting people know why we upgraded.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Watch how we engrave on a tumbler! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6i2Z42pfZWCfJo

[@ClintonCaraway-CNC]

I want to start off by saying thanks for this video. It is information like this that will save people going down the rabbit hole of lasers. Here is my rabbit hole adventure....luckily it ended up at Thunder Laser USA!! So I started out looking at a GlowForge. I decided pretty quickly that it was not large enough or powerful enough so I decided to order a Omtech 100watt. LUCKILY the day I decided to order it they ran out of stock. That gave me a little bit more time to research. I found out some very interesting things. First off a Omtech 100watt is really a 100watt MAXIMUM generic laser tube. A Omtech uses open loop stepper motors and is really just a marked up ebay laser with "USA sales and support". This in itself was a joke because it took five days to even get a salesman to return a phone call. I would hate to actually have a problem and try to contact their support. By the time Omtech sales called me back I had already been in touch with Grant at Thunder Laser USA and ordered a true 100watt Nova 35. I am really glad I found Thunder Laser and went ahead and spent the money on the front end. If you are expecting to buy a true 100watt production laser then don't kid yourself and think your going to get one for $6k. What you will end up with is a machine you will need to tinker with and upgrade yourself.

[@malonecustomdesigns]

Grant was great to deal with! I had also been looking into other brands. When I got to looking into Thunder...I was sold! And thank you for the kind words!