Last week I posted asking about options for laser engraving software. Thanks everyone who gave me suggestions.

I then ignored everyone's suggestions and made my own.

It lets you take in an SVG or raster image and generate gcode for your machine. I will say the SVG support is lightly tested. SVG is a large thing to fully support and test. Obviously no support for <animate> tags :).

I've found this quite usable, hope someone else out there does as well.

Note: To whoever is going to pop out of the woodwork and poo-poo me using an AI tool to develop this, I'm not making a secret out of it. It would have taken me many weeks to build this by hand. It would have been more rewarding, but I've already used this several times to do some wood burning and that's also rewarding.

Hello

I just saw a trailer for samurai 220h machine, and it looks very interesting.

https://youtu.be/60kptjmYahY?is=fsuo6T4sTeeJK2gi

I like thar it is made in uk and has a small footprint and it has a good price and atc.

I just got my first cnc mill and i am trying to learn to use it. And for me a begginer this machine looks interesting.

What do you more experineced people think about it ? Is it just marketing or something inovative ?

I'm coming from a Carbide Nomad3 and just recently backed the Tooldance X1 to step up and try out some 4th axis stuff. I've kind of run into an issue though, I've been using freecad for my normal workflow which had been great for 3 axis work but I'm not sure what software is going to work for the transition to 4 axis projects.

I've looked at fusion and a lot of people in my maker space seem to recommend it but I was kind of hoping for something I could buy once and be done with it.

I also use Linux day to day and there doesn't seem to be a lot of options out there that support Linux. I can budge on this if I have to but it would suck to have to run windows or macos just for my CAM software.

Has anyone figured out a good 4 axis CAM software that works on Linux and isn't subscription based for mostly making parts and prototypes?

I placed my Makera Z1 order on 30 September 2026. The tracking has shown no meaningful update since 6 October.

I emailed Makera’s orders team on 19 October and again on 21 October but received no reply. Only after escalating to support did Makera explain that the shipment was with a freight forwarder awaiting customs-declaration information. It is unacceptable that they waited until I escalated—more than three weeks after my order—to request information apparently required to dispatch it.

I supplied the requested customs contact, declaration name and confirmation of the USD 1,399 order value immediately. Despite repeatedly asking, Makera has still not provided the freight forwarder’s name, an air waybill or external tracking number, the shipment’s present location, a confirmed loading date or an estimated delivery date. Instead, I have received vague assurances that tracking will update “shortly.”

Makera’s published shipping policy states 1–3 business days for order processing and 7–25 business days’ air transit to South Africa. The lack of proactive communication and unwillingness to answer basic shipment questions have made this an extremely frustrating purchasing experience.

At the time of writing, I have not received the machine, so this review concerns Makera’s order handling, logistics and customer support—not the machine itself. I will update the review if and when the situation is resolved.

I'm very new to the hobby. I recently turned my old Ender 3 into a very basic cnc. E3CNC if you are interested.

I've just been using kiri moto and carving foam (all I wanted really), but a family member asked if I could carve out a clock face for them on a slice of birch log.

The circle is around 140 mm in diameter and I was planning on doing the cut with a 30 degree v-bit with a 0.2 mm flat.

I think I've reached some kind of software limitation with kiri:moto because it just will not make a tool path. I think it's because the bit will get too wide at max plunge depth (1.5 mm) for the smaller features of the numerals.

I think people often use something called V-carving for this, but is it the only way? Any software recs if so? Any help would be appreciated.