- Hello everyone, Jennifer Maker here. It is a beautiful day to introduce you to the new Glowforge Aura,
an affordable laser engraving and cutting machine that
just came out today. And this video is the start
of our laser craft series, where we'll begin by reviewing
many different laser machines to help you decide which
one is best for you. Let's take a closer look
at the Glowforge Aura over at my craft table,
so come along with me. (gentle music) So my guy, Greg and I, come on over, Greg, have been Glowforge Pro owners and users for many years now. We've made lots of things on
our Glowforge Pro machines. Everything from acrylic projects, like the engraved plaques that
we showed you how to color last year, and the Jennifer Maker sign that you see on my DreamBox,
as well as wood projects like this Tree of Life plaque, and these awesome wood
supports on our Viking tent. The Glowforge Pro Laser is an
advanced and expensive laser. We've been really wanting
to teach you how to do laser engraving and cutting for
a long time now, haven't we? - We have.
- Yes. But we really felt that the
price of the Glowforge Pro made it a little tough for most people. - Yeah, the Glowforge Pro Laser is great. We have two Glowforge Pros in fact, but it starts around $7,000. There's a less expensive
one, the Glowforge Plus, but even that's $5,000. - $5,000 and that is a lot
of money for so many people, which is why the new
Glowforge Aura, the Aura. It's so exciting, it's way less money. So many of you'll be able
to get one if you want one, of course, and we're
making this video together to help you decide if the
Glowforge Aura is right for you. - Right and I'll be here to make sure you know how it compares to the
more expensive Glowforge Pro which I use all the time. - All the time, this is so true. He makes tons of stuff, way more than me. Like that really awesome
dice thing that you have over there. - Oh, this.
- Get that out. Just show us that. He made this, it's like
a little, what is it? Tell us what this is. - [Greg] Just a little Holder
for a little dice for my. - [Jennifer] It's like little
test tubes with dice in them. - [Greg] They came in
tubes, so I had to display the tubes so. - But it's important that
everyone know that we always, always buy our own tools and materials, and that includes our
Glowforge Pros of course and the new Glowforge Aura. While Glowforge generously
offered to gift us the Aura to review, thank you Glowforge. We insisted on paying for it so we can give you a completely
honest and unbiased review. - Yeah, this is not a sponsored
review and we're going to share all the things we like and dislike about the Glowforge Aura. - Yep. - Let's talk about what we like first. - Okay, so first, the best thing about the Glowforge Aura is how easy and user friendly it is. It is not scary or intimidating
like the bigger lasers are. It's really pretty, plug and
play in fact, setup is easy and Glowforge has its own
software that makes design and use easy too. - It's also really easy
to choose your materials because Glowforge has its
own line of materials, which they call Proofgrade materials. We've been using these for years now and they're very high quality, reliable, and great looking materials. Solid wood, plywood, leather, acrylic, all of which the Glowforge
Aura can also cut. - [Jennifer] Glowforge's
Proofgrade materials have this custom protective
masking that gives you sharp, clean cuts. - [Greg] One of my favorite things about their materials is the QR code. - [Jennifer] The QR code, right? - They put this on all
their Proofgrade materials. - This QR code actually gets
read by the Glowforge Aura. There is a built-in camera
right inside the Aura called Auravision and it is
sent to the Glowforge app, which then automatically
sets your material settings for you. It really makes it super easy. - I think easy is the big thing here. Jennifer and I unboxed the
Glowforge Aura together when we first got it and I
think we were able to get it up and running in about 30 minutes. - Yep, 30 minutes, so super easy. All right, so let's talk about what you can do
with the Glowforge Aura, especially if you're
new to laser crafting. Okay, so first you can
cut a bunch of materials that are a lot thicker
than you might be used to. You can cut up to three
millimeter thick stuff including wood, acrylic, and leather. We cut this simple Tree of life wood shape on the Glowforge Aura
from cherry hardwood. Isn't it beautiful? - And you can cut dark
and opaque acrylics. Jennifer designed this 3D
Monarch butterfly and cut it out of just one sheet of black
and orange Proofgrade acrylic. Isn't it amazing? I think it is. In fact, I think you're
going to do a tutorial on. - Yeah, I am, so watch
for the tutorial soon. And you can also cut things like leather. I made this leather patch
with faux stitching, so that it looks like it
was sewn onto something, but in reality, the Glowforge Aura did all of this detail work. The letters on this patch
are another cool thing that you can do with the
Glowforge, engraving. - I'll tell you what that
patch would look good, right on this. - It would, it would, put it right there. - Right, the Glowforge
Aura can engrave and. - Score
- And score like the Glowforge Pro, so
you can add a lot of details. Personalize with names, images, photos. - It's really easy, yeah, in fact, check out this awesome
photo frame that I designed with our cat, Butterscotch onto it. We made it on the, we
totally made the whole thing on the Glowforge Aura and
the detail is amazing. You can see the tiny hairs
on his cute little cat body. I am in awe of how good
this engraved photo is. Like last night, I did
it last night, right, and I brought it home and I just couldn't
stop showing it to him. Like, isn't this amazing? Isn't this amazing, right. I kind of couldn't shut up
and it was so easy to do. I just uploaded the frame design and the photo to the Glowforge app. I positioned the photo on my frame and then sent the whole design to the Glowforge Aura to
laser cut and engrave. And this frame is designed
with a honeycomb curve pattern on the bottom so you can
bend the wood into a stand. Isn't this cool? I learned how to do this from Greg. I'm sharing this frame design free if you would like to make one too. I can also do a tutorial. Let me know in the comments
if you would like one. - And I want to point out
that the Glowforge Aura cuts really precisely, just look at the detail on these projects. Perfect positioning every time. We compared the cuts
of what the Aura can do to our Glowforge Pro. This butterfly was done on the Pro and this butterfly was done on the Aura. The cuts look the same and everything fits together perfectly. - Yeah, we were able to
take the parts from the Pro and put them into the
parts cut in the Aura, so it was identical. Right, really, really nice. All right, so going
beyond how well it cuts, engraves and scores,
other things that we like are the optional
Glowforge personal filter. You don't have to have it. You can totally vent your Glowforge Aura out through a window using
the tube that is included in the box. But having the filter means
that you can use your Aura anywhere in your house. - And the personal filter
really is a step up from the filter that we
have on our Glowforge Pros, both of them. The Aura's filter automatically turns on via Bluetooth when you make
something on your Glowforge Aura and turns off when you're done. I love that.
- I love it too, right. I also like that you don't need to wear the protective glasses when
you make something on the Aura like you do when you make
it on the Glowforge Pro. The orange lid that comes
on the Aura stays closed when you're cutting and engraving all that and it protects your eyes from the light. - And the Glowforge Aura
is generally smaller and lighter than the Plus or the Pro. If you do need to do a
longer project though, there is a pass through slot on the side. - [Jennifer] Oh, it's awesome, right. - [Greg] On both sides actually, which is a very nice feature. - It really is, yeah. The big thing that I think I love about the Glowforge Aura is the price. The Glowforge Aura is 1199 US Dollars at the time that we're making this video, which is less than a quarter
of the Glowforge Plus. So big, big difference and way less money which means it's more accessible to you. Now, the Glowforge Aura is
also as you would expect, less powerful than the Pro. Makes sense, right, yeah. So it's ideal for the more casual creator. So for the hobbyist rather
than the professional. - Also, this is important, the Glowforge Aura is a diode
laser, which is different and less powerful than the Glowforge Pro, which is a class four CO2 laser and that leads us to what
we don't like so much about the Aura. These things are important to
know to help you decide if. - Anything is a deal breaker, right? - Yeah, if anything is a deal breaker. - Right, right, so we we love the Aura but there are things that you should know. Okay, so right. So the fact that the Glowforge
Aura is a diode laser means it cuts and engraves fewer
materials than a CO2 laser. Like the Glowforge Pro, the
Glowforge Pro is a CO2 laser. The Glowforge Aura can work with materials up to one quarter inch thick,
including wood, veneers, acrylics, leather, cardstock, iron-on, stickers, stone and foam. A quarter inch is the
maximum thickness the Aura can cut through. Foams, for example, would
cut through really easily, while three millimeters
or one eighth of an inch is more typical and is the thickness of most of the Glowforge
Proofgrade materials. I do want to also note that
the Glowforge Aura only works with dark acrylics and
it cannot do anything with translucent, clear
or light colored acrylics. This is just the nature
of using a diode laser instead of a CO2 laser, right? - Right, so while you can't cut or engrave light or clear
acrylics on the Glowforge Aura, which is definitely a bummer, the Aura can cut Proofgrade
grade iron-on vinyl, which is not something I've seen before. Glowforge partnered with 3M to develop and sell special iron-on
vinyl that you can cut. - Yeah, I made this shirt from Glowforge's gold
shimmer iron-on vinyl and while it did take twice as
line to cut on the Glowforge as it would take to cut
on my cutting machine, it did do a great job. So Iron on vinyl is an
option if you need it. - It's incredible. It's something as delicate
as vinyl can be cut or something as heavy as
a hardwood or acrylic. - [Jennifer] I know, it's really cool. Yeah, I agree. - Another important point
is that the Glowforge Aura is considerably slower
than our Glowforge Pros. You'll need to budget more
time for your project. How much longer will
depend on a lot of factors, but it it will be at
least as twice as long, sometimes longer. - At least, yes. And you can't cut thick things like the Glowforge
Proofgrade thick plywood or thick hardwood or thick acrylic. Even though they sell them,
they're for the Pro or Plus, they call them the
performance series machines. - Also, if you're unfamiliar
with laser crafting, you should also know that you
cannot cut PVC based materials which includes adhesive vinyl, nor any chromium based
material, which you may find in some leather or
artificial leather projects. - Right, there's some no-nos for sure. So be sure to research that. Now there are some unusual
materials that you might be able to cut or engrave. Didn't you engrave some dice once? - [Greg] I did. - But those will require
more experimentation and fiddling about, which you
may or may not want to do. So those special things won't
be plug and play, right? - And the price is a bit higher
than some other diode lasers on the market, but those
don't have the strength of the Glowforge name, materials and the app standing behind it. I've been using Glowforge for years now and they are solid and reliable. I mean, we own two Pros, so. - I know, think about it. - We have one at the studio
and one for the home. - That's right, that's right. One of the big points
in favor of Glowforge is the ease of use. And now I totally get that
you might be able to find another diode laser for less, but if it's just going to sit in the box because you're intimidated by
it or you can't figure it out, you're not saving yourself any money. So keep that in mind, okay. - And we do plan to review
other affordable lasers in the coming months and we've been playing
with some other ones. - Yeah, we have one that
we did a Kickstarter for. - Yep, we did, I wouldn't
be shocked if we do more because now we're, right
now we're all about lasers. - Right. - So definitely keep an
eye out for those videos if you need more comparison points. - Yep, all right, so Greg, what is your favorite thing
about the Glowforge Aura? - I love that it's more affordable
and that it gives people who might not be able to
afford the Glowforge Pro a chance to try laser projects. - Yeah, I know that's a big deal, right? So I personally love that I
can engrave things so well. Like my cat photo. After I made it, I could not
stop admiring how well it did. I'm just in awe of how good it looks. I also love that many of my
free SVG files can be translated into a laser cut project
really quite easily often. There is an awesome library of projects and then a Glowforge app for
those of you who do not design. Greg has made many of those
projects over the years like this awesome. This is like a luminary, isn't it? - [Greg] Yeah, a little lantern box. - You'll put like a candle in there. We don't have a candle in there right now. One knocked it over. But this is really cool
and this is in the app for those of you who don't design, but just know that if you do design, you can upload your own
SVG files to make awesome and unique stuff. You can get my 3D Butterfly,
my curved photo frame, my faux stitch patch, and the
Tree of Life plaque all free on my blog at JenniferMaker.com/Aura. - Yeah, we have a lot of
free files that are great for the Aura already and there's
really more we can get into like unboxing setup
and your first project. - Yeah, we've actually done all that, and if you would like to know how to do, obviously we've done all that,
but if you would like to know how to do all of those things, along with all the tips
that we've found so far, look for our Glowforge Aura unboxing setup and first project video. This is the perfect place to
start when you get your own Glowforge Aura and
you'll find more details about it over at JenniferMaker.com/Aura. That's also where you'll
get the links to get your own Glowforge Aura
so you can purchase it and all of the Proofgrade
materials, right, so where to find those. I hope that you enjoyed this
review and you found it useful. Thank you so much for helping out, Greg. - My pleasure and please
let us know in the comments what you think, or ask any
questions you might have. We are happy to help. - We're always happy to help. You can also join us in our
brand new laser crafting group at JenniferMaker.com/lasercrafters. It's new and fun and we're
excited to see you there. Does that include you? - I'll be there. - He says he'll be there. And that's it for today. Until next time, this is Jennifer Maker. - And Greg. - Reminding you to
craft the life you love. (gentle music)
