But if you wanted to try a laser without a big investment, something like this could be just the ticket. Of course, you can also make your own frame, add a few stepper motors and just buy a laser module. But it looks like it does a credible job of engraving and it probably can cut some materials with some patience. Honestly, calling these cutters is a bit of a stretch since at this power level, you’ll have trouble cutting anything very thick. We’d probably just ditch the cheap controller and use one of our own, anyway. It looks as though the firmware isn’t perfect, but there are workarounds. It turns out, the board, a JL1, does have standard GRBL firmware available if you ask for it. This would be a great use for an old 3D printer controller you’ve had in your junk box since the last upgrade. The controller was in a small metal enclosure, and it was easy to simply unplug the two axis and the laser control cable. For that price, you get a 3-watt laser head (that is likely way less than that in terms of optical power), and a build area of 220x290mm. The machine looks well constructed, as you can see in the video below. The answer? Rip the board out and replace it with an old spare. LightBurn is a great option for laser control software, but if youre after something different, read on for LightBurn alternatives. No surprise that would want to use…um… Linux. Like most of these cheap engravers, the machine takes a proprietary controller with Windows-only software. If your laser uses EzCad2 or EzCad2 Lite, you can click here to purchase the galvo version of LightBurn. But, if you are like most of us, you can always be tempted into another “deal.” has a post where he bought a $79 laser engraver (now selling for between $59 and $65, we noticed). LightBurn currently supports fiber and CO2 galvo systems running EzCad2 or EzCad2 Lite software, connected with a USB cable. If you are reading the Lightburn forums, you probably already have a laser cutter of some kind.
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