Best Cameras For Your xTool D1 and D1 Pro (DIY & Paid)
People opt for a camera on their xTool D1 or D1 Pro for a number of reasons. It saves time, maximizes your workable material, and is a great safety feature. Adding a ... Read more
Laser Etching Metal: How To Etch Metal & Which Materials You Can Etch
Laser etching metal is pretty handy for brands and part manufacturers. If you look around you, youāll see bar codes, UDIs, logos, and pictures that were etched by lasers. For these particular ... Read more
Laser Cutter Materials Encyclopedia: Every Laser Type & Material (Which Materials They Can & Can’t Cut)
Laser cutters are resourceful machines that can both cut and engrave – but not all lasers can cut all materials. While wood is an excellent material to learn laser skills, you may ... Read more
Laser Engraving & Etching Anodized Aluminum: Complete Guide
Anodized aluminum doesnāt rust and resists abrasion, making engraving anodized aluminum one of the best materials for laser projects for your home and in industry. Most lasers can engrave anodized aluminum ā ... Read more
CNC Shields: Can You Use Arduino (GRBL) With Powerful CNCs?
Assembling a DIY CNC involves putting together its controller. You have three options when choosing a CNC controller – you can: If you want to know how to turn an Arduino board ... Read more
Laser Air Assist: The Complete Guide
Laser air assist blows a stream of gas over your laserās contact point with the material. This has many benefits, and laser engraver and laser cutter owners are increasingly adding air assist ... Read more
Laser Engraving vs Etching vs Marking: Differences & Which To Use For Every Application
Objects all around us bear markings, such as logos or ID codes, making laser marking ideal for both identification and marketing purposes. Some industries even have regulations that mandate marking tracking information. ... Read more
Best Places to Buy CNC Machines / Routers Online in 2023
More accessible than ever, you can now buy hobbyist desktop CNC routers online for just a few hundred bucks. While not as powerful as milling machines, these new small CNC router kits ... Read more
How to Connect Stepper Motors to Arduino/GRBL With and Without a CNC Shield
An Arduino board is excellent for controlling your stepper motors. You can also turn an Arduino board into a CNC controller with free firmware such as GRBL or TinyG. Then you can ... Read more
FreeCAD vs Fusion 360: Which CAD is Best For You? [Compared]
Full disclosure, when I was tasked with writing an article pitting FreeCAD vs Fusion 360 I picked the winner before I wrote word one. Iām happy to admit I was wrong to ... Read more
35+ Coolest X-Carve Projects That Sell Well in 2023
Starting a business with CNC machining comes with a lot of initial decision-making, and one of the most important decisions youāll need to make is what equipment youāre going to be working ... Read more
14+ Coolest Snapmaker Projects You Can Make in 2023
The three main tools in automated manufacturing are 3D printers, CNC machines, and laser cutters. Few are lucky enough to have the money and space to have access to all three, and ... Read more
How to CNC Engrave on Granite, Marble, or Any Stone (with a $5 V Bit)ļæ¼
There is something about engraving on a stone that is beautiful and addictive. Stone is a symbol of strength and hardness, and engravings stay for hundreds of years. But can you engrave ... Read more
CNC Routers vs Mills: The Complete Guide
So we know CNCs and we like CNCs because they can take our computer designs and make them a reality. But what distinguishes CNC routers from CNC mills? What can each do ... Read more
Spindle vs Router: Which One Is Better for Your CNC?
Light bulbs are great for lighting a room, but if you donāt have electricity, a lantern works just fine. This is similar to the spindle vs router dilemma in CNC. Just like ... Read more
The Best Stepper Motors for CNC
If you are about to buy stepper motors for your CNC machine, then you are in the right place. Choosing the best stepper motor for CNC can be distressing. When you look ... Read more
How to Calculate I J K in CNC Programming (G Code)
If you are interested in CNC programming, one of the main steps in learning G codes is to learn circular interpolation with G02 and G03. Circular interpolation is a fancy way of ... Read more
5 Things That Affect CNC Accuracy (& How to Fix Them)
So, you have built your machine; but you are not satisfied with your CNC machine accuracy. Or, maybe you are in the process of building a CNC machine or 3D printer and ... Read more
Stepover in CNC CAM and Practical Suggestions on Stepover Value
If you’ve ever removed material with your CNC machine, you have come across a variable in your CAM software called stepover size. Stepover determines the quality of your finished surface and machining ... Read more
Ortur Laser Master Upgrades [2023 Beginner & Advanced]
The Ortur Laser Master laser engravers, including the newly-released Ortur Laser Master 3, are some of the most popular engravers on the market. While the base machines are certainly impressive, you can ... Read more
Stepper Motor vs Servo Motor for Your CNC Machine
One important decision you have to make when buying or building a CNC machine is to choose the type of CNC motors that will control your machine. Namely, you have to choose ... Read more
Top 15+ Maslow CNC Projects – The Coolest Ideas
To the layperson, CNC cutting may seem like an industrial-grade creation tool not meant for hobbyists. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and companies like Maslow are working to bring large-scale CNC routing, ... Read more
CNC Machines vs Laser Cutters – What’s Best For Your Business?
When it comes to woodworking, carving your vision out of plywood requires skills and apt knowledge about machinery and all the processes involved. When we think of carving plywood to create stunning ... Read more
Laser Cut Art: 13 Amazing Laser Cutter Artists Youāve Never Heard Of
"Here are five very different approaches to laser cutting art, from five of the best artists in their fields!"
20+ Cool Glowforge Project Ideas to Make At Home
Glowforge laser cutters turn your home workshop into a profitable business, letting you cut and engrave acrylic, wood, and other materials to make your own custom wares. Once you’ve set up your ... Read more
Making Money with your CNC Router: A Guide
Which one of us hasnāt looked at a creative pursuit and wondered if there was a way to make money from it? If you write in your spare time, youāve probably considered ... Read more
40+ Key CNC Industry Stats & Facts (2023)
Humans have always been an industrious species, and so we have always sought efficiency and automation when developing our various endeavors. Abaci became calculators, looms became sewing machines, and assembly lines are ... Read more
Snapmaker 2.0 Laser & CNC Toolhead Review & Test
We previously tested the 3D printer toolhead of the Snapmaker 2.0, and found it to be the best 3-in-1 3D printer on the market. We were entranced by the unboxing and assembly ... Read more
CNC Router Bits: The Complete Buyer’s GuideĀ
A bit is one of the most important parts of a CNC router, determining what materials you can work on and how accurate your cuts are. However, bits come in a wide ... Read more
6 Axis CNC: The Complete Guide
If youāre familiar with CNC routers, you probably know they come with different numbers of axes – the most common being 3 axis routers, but with 4 axis CNC routers and 5 ... Read more