I read the Linux installation instructions and it really didn’t look too scary. So when someone waves an ‘ open source laser cutter control package that might work on a Pi‘ under my nose, I owe it to myself to at least take a look at it. But it’s an additional faff I can do without. Oh – and did I mention, even when you have the “cut inside first” box ticked, sometimes it will cut the perimeter first and ruin your job for you (at no extra charge)? The way round this issue is to set up the final perimeter cut in a separate layer which gets done last. My laser cutter occupies half of my workbench (until I can work out where to move it to)… But the fact that Les had it up and running made me think “OK that’s definitely worth a look then.” And then I thought “I wonder if it runs OK on a Pi? That would be cool!” Not just cool, but really helpful too. I’d come across a page mentioning K40 Whisperer while researching K40 upgrades, but hadn’t downloaded it or tried it out so far. He described the use of K40 Whisperer by and from the screenshots I could tell he was using it in Linux. Last week, Les Pounder published a blog article here where he showed the setup they use at the Blackpool MakerSpace. I’ve had great fun doing a whole host of upgrades and improvements to it, but that’s not what I’m focusing on today.

It’s an eminently hackable design, and while mine could cut 3mm acrylic OK ‘straight out of the box’, there are many things that can be done to make it better, easier to use and more user-friendly. I bought a Chinese K40-style laser cutter about three weeks ago and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time playing with it learning how best to use it.

K40 laser engraver laserdrw