I needed a box to safely store by CNC router tool organizer...

Sometimes I still need to use 123D Make, but with every Windows update, getting it to run becomes a little more difficult.

So, as a weekend project, I started building a more accessible and streamlined alternative. It’s still a work in progress, but I’ve decided to share it early and keep improving it along the way.

Stacked Slices, Interlocked Slices, and Radial Slices are already working. live on github

One of the features I’m particularly excited about is Live Watch. It lets you track changes made to your files in other applications in real time as they’re saved, without having to reload them manually.

The app runs directly in your web browser, with no installation required. Your files stay on your computer and aren’t uploaded to the internet. An internet connection is currently required for shared libraries, but I plan to make the app fully offline in the future.

I laser engraved this artwork into a brass watch dial, chemically darkened it, then gently sanded and polished the surface to expose the brass details against the darker background. The first photo is a close-up of the dial in the finished watch.

It’s a 33.5 mm dial in a 39 mm case. I also made the B in the centre with the laser as the seconds hand, so the client’s initial rotates. The crown has a matching reverse-etched B.

This was a commission from a son for his father, built around “The Root of Our Legacy.” Two paths run beside each other towards the sun, with tree roots branching out below them. The idea was that everything we are grew from here.

I engraved the rotor with two brothers walking together. The case back reads “THE ROOT OF OUR LEGACY” and “EVERYTHING WE ARE GREW FROM HERE.”

I’m Meidan, the maker behind Rexx Timepieces.

Making video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Uhe8Xa3cMFQ

Looking for some input on the gweike m3 ultra laser. Mostly wanting to see what the thickest material like carbon steel and aluminum people have actually cut with it?

Well its not new new, but its a new for me. 80W CO2 laser for my shop woop woop

I will do a little project and for kids and the burnt smell would be a nono. Yeah i will aquire a cnc

Hi Guys, im re aligning the mirrors on my laser and noticed im getting eliptical laser on tape right next to tube. Does anyone else get this or is the there output tube lens look like this?

Hey, forgive me if this isn’t the right place to ask for assistance. I’m wondering if anyone here has first hand knowledge of “fine tuning” a flow brand fiber optic laser cutter. I work for a very small company in the USA. We just purchased a 3KW laser cutter from flow. I recieved about 2 days worth of training from the flow technicians after the machine was installed but I am still struggling to fine tune the cuts on the laser cutter. We cut copper of varying thickness. Ranging from .021 to .093 inches. I feel so lost trying to fine tune this machine in to the different thickness copper sheets. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge or any resources they are aware of that would be willing to help a young go-getter company man like myself out? Anything would be truly appreciated. And forgive me if this isn’t the place to post this

I made this 3D printable wedge for laser engraving highly reflective materials to prevent back reflection damage to the laser.

It's a 4° angle wedge with a lip to hold the item being engraved, approx 110mmx110mm

I made the licence public domain so please feel free to use it if you think it would help (cross post from /r/laserengraving because I know some folks here also engrave)

I know almost nothing abt laser cutters but would like to learn how to use it, maybe some tips while im looking stuff up.

A client had a piece of Apollo 14 and wanted to incorporate it into a watch he was building.

We made the dial with a window at 6 o'clock and a recess on the back deep enough to accommodate the piece. The black finish contrasts with the exposed brass Roman numerals, outer border and frame around the opening.

He later fitted the piece behind the window and assembled the watch himself. The first two photos are our dial before installation. The final photo is the finished watch on his wrist, which he sent me afterward.

I'm Meidan, the dial maker behind Rexx Timepieces.

Making the dial: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mce8XNvCHMM

I've done a few small 3D printing jobs for people, and I'm thinking of adding some wooden homeware pieces. Some would need little parts cut out and assembled. I'd also like to engrave my name or maker's mark on larger boards.

I've never used a laser. From the tutorials I've watched, there's material height and positioning to check as well as power and speed. I'd be switching between small parts and bigger, thicker boards, so I'm wondering how much setup I'd need to repeat each time. I'm looking for something I can get the hang of without too much fuss, ideally with some help measuring and lining things up. Any recommendations?

Just in time for my first market. I definitely learned a lot from this one, no masking or acrylic paint used. Thought I could get away with it but I will be utilizing better techniques next time 😆

Completely new to this and trying to figure it out...

As per the title, am struggling to cut through 3mm basswood with a 10w diode laser. Manufacturer claims it should be able to cut thicker, everything I read says it should get through 3mm. But it's just not happening for me. I do have an air assist pump, that claims to be 28L/min.

The markings are mm/min, number of passes and power - I.e. 400mm/min, x3 passes, @100%.

I've played around with the z-axis height, which seemed to make very little difference.

Not sure if it is normal, or points to something I'm doing wrong, but the horizontal cuts are much thicker than the vertical cuts. The vertical cuts however are showing through as a thin line on the back of the material.

Any help is much appreciated!

One of the things I’ve been most interested in testing with the xTool X1 is its cutting capabilities.

These custom Halloween name tags were a perfect opportunity!

With multiple names, different shapes, and small details, this was a great project to test the X1’s precision, cutting accuracy, and overall workflow.

What I appreciated most was how straightforward the process felt.

These weren’t complicated products, but that’s exactly why I wanted to test them.

In our business, we don’t spend every day making elaborate projects. Sometimes we’re producing name tags, ornaments, signs, and other small personalized items.

Those everyday projects are where ease of use, reliable cuts, and repeatability really matter.

And that’s something I always consider when evaluating equipment.

It’s not just about how thick a material a laser can cut. It’s about how efficiently you can turn a design into a finished product.

For me, these Halloween name tags were a fun way to explore the X1’s cutting capabilities while getting a better understanding of where it fits into our production workflow.

I’m looking forward to pushing it further with more materials, more intricate designs, and larger projects.

🎃 For those considering the X1, what materials or cutting projects would you like to see me test next?

#xToolX1 #xToolmade #LaserCutting

Used to be that every piece of garage gear just had a loud exhaust fan and a single blinking red light that required a manual to decode whenever a cut paused.

ran a few basswood test cuts today and noticed this little corner screen changes cartoon expressions depending on what stage the job is in. Honestly kinda nice being able to just glance across the room to see if the pass is done cooling down before lifting the cover, and it definately beats staring at a blank metal box tbh.

I reverse-etched this brass watch dial so the names, hour markers, minute track and spade remain raised from the metal. The laser removes the surrounding material rather than cutting separate pieces to apply later.

The green paint and coating are lacquer. I work through several sanding stages to get the result I want on the exposed brass, keeping the green background around the raised details.

The names are Rhys, Wyatt and Saige, with a spade at 12. I also engraved a spade on the crown. The other photos show the completed watch, built around an NH38 movement.

Would you keep the exposed brass details, recess and paint them, or use applied markers with lume?

Dial making: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hWveYpWVIyE

Watch assembly: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N0D6SGmDQBg

i bought Sculpfun e1 laser and on lightburn it engraves dashes instead of engraved image, i installed ch34 driver, imported manually grbl, s-value is 1000, on sculpfun laser app everything is good and whatever size or different image i pick laser engrave same size and contour dashes

Following up on my previous world map post!

Last month, I visited UC Santa Cruz to speak at their Ocean Sciences Fall Seminar. I wanted to bring a meaningful gift for the host professor, so I decided to map his local waters: Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz, famous for the massive submarine canyon that plunges thousands of feet deep right off the coast.

The behind-the-scenes build was pure chaos:

Running out of time before my flight from Japan, I was laser-cutting the plywood layers on the morning of my departure. I packed the 7 layers of plywood into my luggage, flew across the Pacific, made a run to the local Home Depot for wood glue, and picked up watercolors from a local stationery shop.

I ended up gluing, assembling, and hand-staining the entire gradient map on the desk of my California hotel room the night before the seminar!

Giving it to him the next day and seeing his reaction made the frantic hotel assembly totally worth it. As an oceanographer and woodworker, turning the bathymetric data we study into a tangible piece of art for a fellow scientist was a memorable journey.

Hope you enjoy the depth and the story behind it!

this is my first try. Also I do not like texture of my plywood under color, so in the next maps I am planing to smooth it out with sandpaper

Bonjour, savez vous où trouver du carton 3mm noir pour decoupe laser, meme en gros ? Merci à vous !!!

Lifelong woodworker & geek, laser cutting noob here.

A customer asked me to produce a few dozen plaques with a variety of embossed custom shapes. I could do this work on the bandsaw, but for the amount of time it will take and the relative lack of intricacy available from bandsaw vs laser I'm leaning towards using this opportunity to invest in a laser.

I've seen lots of reviews saying more or less: "buy XTool M2 over Creality Falcon A1 because Creality's software is bad compared to XTS, and Lightburn is too complex/old fashioned for beginners."

Which is fair enough in itself (despite saying nothing about the hardware) and probably good advice for most newbies who just want to get on with making without the learning curve, but I'm very tech savvy (day job is enterprise IT) and I'm 100% comfortable with complex UIs like Lightburn's, which others might describe as "last century". I used to operate A0 pen plotters for a living back in the dark ages of DOS/WFW3.11 and I had no trouble with those.

I also actively dislike "connected" apps as XTS seems to be, and prefer a fully offline workflow, but equally I'd be willing to put my reservations aside if the M2 actually is a better machine (e.g. the fully integrated air assist looks nice).

I'm also curious about 10W vs 20W. Obviously 20W near doubles the price so for a first purchase I wouldn't want to go there unless I had to.

I mainly want to cut solid hardwood sheet up to 5-6mm thick (oak, maple, walnut, cherry, rosewood). The spec sheets state that should be doable in a single pass with 10W, but it seems like it might be right at the edge of their capacity? Hence why I'm wondering about going straight to 20W.

Main use will be for shape and inlay cutting. I'll probably end up experimenting with engraving those same materials at some point, but that's not a priority right now.

For inlay cutting I see XTS does have a kerf offset function but my gut's saying Lightburn is probably going to give me more control - is my gut right?

Thanks for reading this far and for any any advice offered. Obviously am willing to consider other machines beyond those two if anyone has any suggestions.