The Creality Falcon T1 is a galvanometer laser engraver that can swap between different laser modules for specific applications. With diode and fiber lasers for general engraving, a UV laser for creating 3D shapes in crystal, and a MOPA laser for adding color, the Falcon T1 is well-equipped on paper for most engraving tasks. The 175 x 175 mm engraving area and optional conveyor belt allow users to engrave small objects one at a time or in a large batch, and the optional rotary attachment can be used for tumblers, rings, and other cylindrical objects.

The Falcon T1 is at the higher end of Creality’s Falcon line of laser engravers, with the base model equipped with the 20W diode laser listed at $2,249 and the additional modules ranging between $989 and $3,059 each. As of the writing of this review, buying the Falcon T1 with the 20W diode laser module and adding all the additional modules would add up to $9,895 without any accessories such as the air filter, conveyor belt, or rotary attachment.

Creality shipped the Falcon T1 with three laser modules for testing: the 40W diode, the 20W fiber, and the 5W UV. The MOPA laser was not available, and I wasn’t able to use it during testing. Creality indicated the UV module will have a retail launch in late July or early August, with the MOPA laser launching approximately one month after the UV module. This staggered rollout makes the Falcon T1 a risky day-one purchase if either the UV or MOPA module is critical to your workflow. The Falcon T1 has clear potential, but the overall experience I had during testing was that of a beta tester.

I ran into software issues, waited for parts to be delivered, and even had to schedule a 10 PM video call with Creality’s China-based support team due to the lack of US-based technical support. This level of support may be acceptable on a lower-cost hobby machine, but it’s harder to overlook considering a fully loaded Falcon T1 can cost over five figures.

Specifications of Creality Falcon T1

Creality Falcon T1: Included in the box

The Creality Falcon T1 includes more accessories than can fit in a single picture, including calibration boards, USB adapters, a brush, locking fixtures for the laser table, and much more. In addition to the included accessories, Creality also sent over the optional conveyor belt and rotary attachment kits, both application-specific extras that enhance the functionality of the machine.

The packaging is what you would expect from a laser that retails at $2,249, with foam blocks and hook-and-loop straps securing the laser during shipping. Aside from sliding in the laser module (more on that later), there is virtually no assembly required other than plugging in the display and power supply. The Falcon T1 is ready to go right out of the box and doesn’t require advanced calibration or a lengthy setup.

Design of the Creality Falcon T1

The Creality Falcon T1 is a more refined product that stands out in the otherwise generally hobbyist-focused line of Creality Falcon laser engravers. The translucent black cover looks like something you’d find on a piece of lab equipment, and the handle on the front makes it easy to lift without touching the glossy surface. The tall aspect ratio of the Falcon T1 is also a departure from the otherwise flat laser engravers you’d typically see from Creality, and the square 175 x 175 mm engraving area is also an indication that this isn’t a typical diode laser cutter.

Creality heavily promotes the Falcon T1’s “5-in-1” functionality, which refers to the swappable modules that can be inserted and removed to change the type of laser. These include a 20W blue diode laser, a 40W blue diode laser, a 20W fiber laser, a 5W UV laser, and a 60W MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) laser. These all have specific applications and are designed to be easily swapped by the end user.

There is an emergency stop (E-stop) button on the side of the Falcon T1 as well as an arcade-style button which is used to fully extend the laser tower to replace modules. I tested the E-stop and found that it immediately cut power to the unit and required a manual reset to turn back on. Above the E-stop is the LCD screen, which offers basic controls, history, and network information. Additional ports for power, rotary and conveyor accessories, and the exhaust vent are all on the back of the unit.

The design of the screen feels like an afterthought: the cable comes out from the left side of the unit which makes it awkward to hold with one hand and it’s sideways when mounted to the magnetic standoff on the engraver. Having the interface be vertical or putting the cord on the top of the unit would solve this, but with the current setup I found myself accidentally pressing buttons when I went to grab the LCD. After connecting to Wi-Fi, I used my laptop to start and monitor builds so the LCD didn’t see much use.

The Falcon T1 has an engraving area of 175 x 175 mm, which is in line with other galvo lasers like the WeCreat Lumos and the xTool F2 Ultra but smaller than most gantry-driven lasers. The engraving area has threaded inserts that allow workholding fixtures to be screwed in, something that’s critical when making very fine engravings where the object must be held still. The exhaust fan sits in the rear of the unit and did a good job during testing of pulling smoke and odor through the fan and into the air purifier unit.

The Falcon T1 is capable of focusing the laser automatically with no manual calibration required, a useful addition that when combined with the integrated camera means setting up a build can be as simple as only a few clicks. The automatic calibration only takes a few seconds, and the workspace in the Falcon Design Space software will display material inside the machine to assist with laying out builds.

Unlike a gantry-driven laser like the WeCreat Vision Pro, the galvanometer system of the Falcon T1 means the laser beam always originates from the top center of the chamber, and as a result it creates angled cuts due to the conical shape of the laser work area. This means that cuts become progressively more angled as you move further away from the center of the chamber, something to consider if making an assembly or a design that has any interlocking parts.

Safety Features of the Creality Falcon T1

Like all lasers, the Creality Falcon T1 can be dangerous if misused or left unattended. Flammable material can ignite during cutting, and engraving produces dust and smoke that can quickly fill a room. When operated with the lid closed the Falcon T1 is a Class 1 laser, which means the user is shielded from the laser during operation. There is a large E-stop on the side of the Falcon T1 which will immediately deactivate the unit when pressed, an important addition for any high-powered laser.

Opening the lid during operation will throw an error, and the interlock will immediately stop the laser and display a warning in the Falcon Design Space. Using the conveyor belt or rotary engraver requires disabling the lid interlock, something that users should take very seriously. The risks of using an unshielded laser are much higher than when the lid is closed, so goggles and ventilation should be used when the lid is opened.

Smoke Purifier for the Creality Falcon T1

The Creality Falcon AP1 Mini is a small desktop air purifier that is a good match for the Creality Falcon T1, and the 174 m³/h airflow is more than enough to pull smoke and dust from the unit during operation. Other air purifiers like the WeCreat Fume Extractor offer much higher airflow volume for laser cutters like the WeCreat Vista and WeCreat Vision, which are designed to cut through thick sheets of material and generate lots of smoke.

The Falcon AP1 Mini is a good match for the Falcon T1, and I didn’t notice any smoke leaking from the enclosure during engraving jobs. If you’re planning on using the Falcon T1 primarily for engraving on metal, wood, and doing some 3D engraving, the AP1 Mini will be a great fit. If you are more interested in using the Falcon T1 for cutting through plywood, acrylic, or other material, you may want to consider a unit that provides more airflow.

Software for Creality Falcon T1

Creality offers the first-party Falcon Design Space software for the Falcon T1 as well as advertising compatibility with LightBurn, another popular laser engraver software. Falcon Design Space offers control over the laser speed and power while also giving users editing tools for vector graphics. I’ve had good experiences with Falcon Design Space in the past and the current version of the software (v1.9.3) keeps all the good stuff while also adding in a new set of generative AI-enabled tools.

Between the modular laser attachments and the additional accessories, the Falcon T1 offers a total of eight different modes for processing a build. Without any accessories attached, the standard three modes are flat surface engraving (a typical laser engraver experience), 3D relief (designed for deeper cuts on material), and color engraving for the MOPA laser. Each mode offers a slightly different experience in the software, and the included video tutorials are well-made and easy to follow.

The software includes a mix of functional tools and creative ones, with the ability to generate 3D depth maps, pictures from generative AI prompts and filters, and general editing tools. Like with many generative AI tools, the output from these tools can vary wildly from surprisingly good to shockingly bad, and the overall experience will heavily depend on the user, inputs, and level of post-processing. I was impressed with the “3D Cutting” tool, which is similar to the Autodesk Slicer software that converts a 3D model into a series of parts for assembly, like a Benchy made of plywood.

Falcon Design Space also allows users to search through a repository of models and import them directly into the canvas, making it easy to find templates or starter projects for beginners. This is a fun way for new users to see what’s possible with a laser engraver, and the ability to modify or customize them lowers the barrier to entry.

One of my favorite functional tools in Falcon Design Space is the Material Test Array, which allows users to quickly create a matrix that shows the impact of adjusting the speed and power of a laser and how they influence the quality and properties of the engraved material. Using the 40W diode laser and the recommended settings, I engraved a sheet of basswood plywood and was able to easily see the impact of adjusting the parameters as well as selecting a configuration that worked for me.

Engraving / Cutting with the Creality Falcon T1

The 40W diode laser module was the most approachable for me to use as an initial test, so I loaded it in and set up a simple engraving / cutting job. Using the Benchy T-Shirt design by InfernoMoon, I used the 40W diode laser to engrave the design on some 3mm basswood plywood and also cut it out of the sheet. Adding layers in Falcon Design Space is simple and intuitive, so it was easy to set up the job so the engraving would be done before cutting the part out of the material.

At 800 mm/s, the coaster build was completed in just 1 minute and 44 seconds. Seeing the rapid movement of the galvo laser on the engraving is impressive, and compared to gantry-based lasers like Creality Falcon A1 Pro it’s no contest when it comes to speed. Based on the results of my initial material test array, I wound up making two versions: one at 800 mm/s and one at 650 mm/s, both of which looked good to me.

Switching to the 20W fiber laser, I engraved the JR-East Suica penguin logo on a dog tag to put on my luggage, and this was the moment that the galvo laser clicked for me. The software went from “Sending Job” to “Completed” in a total of three seconds, of which the laser was only activated for about one. I thought for sure that there was an issue with the design, but to my surprise, the engraving had taken only a single second to complete.

The default speed of 5,000 mm/s is blisteringly fast, and the engraving quality doesn’t suffer at all from this rapid movement of the galvo-driven laser beam. This is one of the most compelling features of the Falcon T1: the ability to make high-quality engravings on metal surfaces in only a few seconds with absolutely no prep work required. The 20W fiber laser is also capable of deeper engravings on metal, stone, and other materials, but the quick engraving is a very compelling feature.

Using the Falcon Design Space default settings, I engraved a dual-layer PU patch for a two-year work anniversary, which took just under 5 minutes. This dual-layer material looks great after a single pass, and the text is clear and legible against the darker top layer. The overall speed of the galvo system is a refreshing change from the lower-cost gantry-driven diode lasers, which operate at a fraction of the speed.

3D Engraving on Slate with the 20W Fiber Laser

The Creality Falcon T1 offers a 3D Relief mode that can create models typically associated with subtractive manufacturing, such as CNC milling. This mode will engrave thousands of layers away from an object to create a model with a deep relief that has a 3D shape. The Falcon Design Suite software has an integrated tool that allows users to upload an image and convert it to a depth map suitable for an engraving. Using one of the provided images, I went through the process to create a stone coaster with a 3D relief using the 20W fiber laser.

Once the image has been prepared, the 3D Relief Editor mode gives users more granular control over the engraving. The direction of the relief (emboss vs. deboss), the shape of the frame, and image adjustments are all fast and responsive, and the 3D preview mode instantly updates to show the impact of these changes. This was a surprisingly simple process, and I wound up using the default settings for my first 3D relief.

In 3D Relief mode, the Processing Preview in Falcon Design Space will look familiar to anyone who has used a 3D printer, with a series of contours on each layer stacked vertically to form the final model. This preview shows the path of the laser on each layer as well as an estimated processing time. For the 3D relief on this slate coaster, the original estimate was 1:53:30 but the final processing time wound up being 2:35:41.

The 3D relief looked incredible, and even the finest detail resolved on the slate coaster. Doing a deep engraving on a slate coaster creates a lot of dust, so I ran the AP1 Mini at max speed for this job. Even with the purifier running at the maximum setting, there was still quite a bit of dust to clean up inside the Falcon T1.

3D Engraving in Crystal with the 5W UV Laser

Creality has advertised the AI features of the Falcon Design Space heavily, but using them is a bit of a mixed bag. Using a headshot of myself with a clean background as a prompt, the resulting 3D model had me inexplicably in a toga and generally looked unimpressive. However, it did create a watertight 3D model, which is what’s required for the UV laser to engrave into a crystal. When using Falcon Design Space, I was only able to scale the model in increments of 10% (for example: 1.0, 0.8, 1.5), which was a frustrating experience when trying to align the model with the crystal. Using the special UV engraving mode in the software, I prepared the build and then set the Falcon T1 up for crystal engraving.

Installing the UV laser module is a bit more complicated than switching between the fiber and diode modules. Most of the Falcon T1 documentation is on a publicly accessible wiki, but the calibration for the UV module is spread across three Word documents that total an eyebrow-raising 57 pages. This calibration documentation is helpful, but much of it was watermarked with a stamp from around the day I had requested it, which made it appear unfinished and rushed. Considering the price of the UV module (over $2,000), I would have expected this calibration documentation to be a bit more presentable.

Switching from the fiber laser module to the UV module involves replacing the module, replacing the field lens with the F-Theta field lens, calibrating the laser, and calibrating the F-Theta field lens. Creality sent two lenses for the UV module: one for internal 3D engravings and one for flat engravings. The process to switch out the parts and calibrate took about 30 minutes and required two sheets of calibration paper to be used, something to consider if you plan on swapping between modes frequently.

Overall, the crystal looked as expected and would be perfect for presenting to a sales manager who just surpassed a quarterly quota. The engraving time was accurate (about 12 minutes), and the default settings worked well. I had some issues with alignment, and the model was positioned much lower in the volume than I was expecting based on the layout in Falcon Design Space. Engraving other objects had the same issue, which made me wish for a way to generate a 3D bounding box to visualize where the engraving will land in the crystal.

Conveyor Belt / Rotary Attachment Engraving with the Creality Falcon T1

Creality offers a conveyor belt attachment for the Falcon T1 which can be used for engraving parts longer than 175mm or batch engraving many small parts sequentially. The $459 optional accessory attaches to the work area using a few bolts and connects directly to the T1 for communication and power. When using the conveyor belt, the lid needs to be kept slightly open which can allow smoke and light to escape. With the lid open, the Falcon T1 should be treated as an exposed Class 4 laser system, so safety goggles, ventilation, and general caution should be exercised when using the conveyor belt.

Falcon Design Space has a specific workflow for the conveyor belt that involves selecting a design, aligning it on a workpiece, and then entering batch processing mode. I recently purchased a set of bookshelves for my wife’s ever-growing collection of books, and creating genre plaques for the shelves was a perfect batch-processing test. The batch processing mode has a few restrictions: only one design can be engraved, only one material profile per job, and settings can’t change between parts.

Each of the bookshelf plaques took about 23 seconds to engrave with the 20W fiber laser in a single pass at the default speed of 5,000 mm/s and 100% power. After each part was completed, the conveyor belt would advance a few inches, pause, and take a picture, and then scan for another part to engrave. As the parts completed, they would roll off the edge of the conveyor and hit the table with a satisfying click sound. My only criticism of the belt is the symmetrical design: having a shorter edge to the right of the unit would allow for more belt area for parts to process on the left of the unit without impacting the cost or size of the accessory.

Creality also sent a rotary attachment for the Falcon T1, but pricing and a launch date had not been announced as of this review. The optional rotary accessory includes two modes: chuck and roller. The chuck rotary uses an adjustable chuck mechanism for engraving things like rings, mugs, and other objects that are gripped from the inside or outside. The roller mode is for cylindrical objects, and has an adjustable width for accommodating various size objects.

During testing, I was not able to get the Falcon T1 to recognize the chuck rotary and always got the same error message when trying to connect. The motor used for the chuck and roller mode is the same, so this was an unusual problem and Creality was not able to fix it for this review. Creality does not have US-based support for this engraver, so I had to schedule a call with their China-based technical team at 10 PM. The issue was not resolved on the call, and Creality wasn’t able to fix it despite updating the software and spending several days on back-and-forth troubleshooting. For a small business that has a backlog of orders, this lack of urgent support is going to be a critical issue.

Bottom Line

The Creality Falcon T1 has clear potential to be an “all-in-one” laser for prosumer workshops, but seeing messages like “Oops… Calibration Completed” on the LCD gave me the impression that I was beta-testing a nearly-finished piece of hardware instead of a retail-ready prosumer manufacturing tool. The 175 x 175 mm engraving area of the Falcon T1 didn’t feel cramped at all while I was using it, and the high-speed galvo system meant most 2D engravings were completed in under a few minutes when using the 40W diode or 20W fiber laser.

The Falcon T1 is an impressive machine, but it suffers from an incomplete and confusing product rollout. Originally announced at CES 2026, the Falcon T1 is becoming available for order as of the writing of this review (May 2026), with the UV and MOPA modules following a staggered rollout instead of launching alongside the Falcon T1. Creality claimed the unit sent to me was a production unit, but the lack of a shipping date for additional modules, issues with customer support, and limited accessories available on the site are going to be a concern to serious power users who will rely on Creality for support.

The modular nature of the Falcon T1 lends itself to users who have varying interests or entrepreneurs with flexible business needs. I’ve frequently seen kiosks in shopping malls that engrave crystals with an image while you wait, and wondered about the commercial viability of the business model due to the high cost of the industrial laser required. The prosumer Falcon T1 is a laser that is capable of making these engravings without being locked into that single application, and can easily pivot to engraving dog tags, slate coasters, and other small products.

The Falcon T1 is not a cheap laser: buying the unit, all accessories, and starter materials can easily exceed $10,000. If you want a fast galvo laser to start making products today, the 20W fiber and 40W diode lasers are impressive and should serve that need well. If your decision hinges on the UV or MOPA modules, the Falcon T1 may be a laser engraver worth watching instead of buying immediately.

If you’re looking for a laser to get started with making custom products, the less expensive WeCreat Lumos offers a similar galvo laser setup but has a smaller volume and less powerful laser. The xTool F2 Ultra (one of the best laser engravers) offers a similar experience and has a MOPA laser for color engraving, something Creality advertises for the Falcon T1 but has yet to ship.

A security researcher has added another dimension to smart lightbulbs by using them to store a library of banned books, creating what they describe as a “cyberpunk digital dead drop.” Rick Osgood wrote about the idea behind the Banned Book Library on his personal blog, alongside a retelling of the process to create a working prototype. Meanwhile, all the code is open source and available via Codeberg. So, anyone interested can acquire some ESP32-powered smart lightbulbs and distribute stealthy banned book libraries of their own.

Osgood notes that he was pondering making smart lightbulbs more useful. As someone “interested in infosec, open-source software, making things, breaking things,” he found inspiration in Ben Brown’s short story of anti-corporate tech resistance, called ‘Library.’ After that lightbulb moment, Osgood knew he wanted to make a small, inexpensive, cyberpunk‑style digital dead drop, designed for resilience and stealth – by reprogramming smart lightbulbs.

The security researcher chose a Tasmota‑flashed ESP32C3 smart bulb as the starting point for the stealth library project. As this device only has 4MB on board in total for everything, including the OS, and not much spare capacity left over, Osgood spent a considerable amount of time and effort wrangling with adding a microSD reader. However, this expansion effort proved fruitless, and thus he decided to live with the total capacity 4MB limit for the sake of sanity, convenience, and stealth.

Once Osgood accepted the 4MB storage limitation, a key task was to expand the existing ~320KB of free space for the filesystem as much as possible. After some optimizations and tuning, he managed to reserve about half of the total storage space available for banned books. We also assume some kind of text compression is used to make the best use of the limited capacity.

Thus, the current working prototype runs some custom ESP32 firmware, broadcasts an open Wi-Fi network, and hosts a server, with about half of the total capacity of the smart lightbulb left over. That means the all-important LittleFS library partition can be stuffed with almost 2MB of banned books. Osgood's example files use a selection of old public domain titles, presented in a CSS contents page. However, those who set up the lightbulbs will of course want to add their own digital tomes. Guidance for this, and for updating admin settings, and more is provided on the linked blog and Codeberg pages.

The Banned Book Library supports OTA updates. It is also worth mentioning that no cloud services are required, and no sensitive credentials need to be saved on the device. Please remember that modifying your smart lightbulb firmware could ‘brick’ it, so follow the linked guides at your own risk. Finally, also be careful carrying your banned book-stuffed smart lightbulbs when traveling internationally.

A computer vision and robotics expert has created and trained what he boasts is “the ultimate mosquito killer.” Steven Cheng shared details of his high-tech bug zapper project on social media. Key innovations here include the use of computer vision and deep learning technologies to detect and lock onto mosquitoes so the laser ‘artillery cannon’ could do its work.

For scanning the environment, Cheng concluded that a DSLR paired with a high-magnification zoom lens was the best option. This was also used in the training stage to build up a large dataset of mosquito images. A side effect of ‘welcoming’ mosquitoes in for photographs at this stage of the project was “countless mosquito bites all over my body,” recalled the intrepid technologist.

With the image database built and annotated, Cheng moved on to leveraging deep learning techniques. This task “really put my graphics card through its paces,” he commented. However, the detection performance of the resulting model was “quite good” by the end of this process.

A laser source was tuned to “instantly turn mosquitoes into roasted ones.” Then, the equipment was mounted on a high-precision industrial rotary stage / gimbal to complete the ‘ultimate mosquito killer’ apparatus.

Simulations were run, and Cheng decided to add a wide-angle camera to the setup. The purpose of the second camera with a wider view was to detect humans and flammable materials in the house. Logic was implemented where, if there was any overlap between humans or flammable materials and the laser target, no power would be fed to the cannon.

Overall, Cheng was pleased with the results and says all the mosquitos in his residence were “successfully eliminated” after a night’s effort.

Rival Indiegogo product design ships in June

If the above story sounds familiar, that’s because it isn’t the first laser-toting mosquito killer for the home that we’ve reported on. Last year we highlighted the Photonmatrix Indiegogo project, which sought funding for an all-in-one portable laser-driven mosquito-killing machine costing as little as $498.

The Photonmatrix was claimed to leverage a LiDAR scanner combined with a galvanometer-directed laser to seek and destroy mosquitoes at a rate of up to 30 pests per second. However, its detection method doesn’t sound as impressive as the machine-learning tech used by Cheng’s new device.

Hopefully we will see consumer reviews of the Photonmatrix soon, though, as it is due to ship very shortly. Backers will receive devices starting from “June 2026,” according to the latest information.

A maker bored with the staid, regimented, and inartistic designs of traditional/modern factory-produced PCBs has perfected their own hand-inking and home-etching process. Elliot Andal of the ALTco channel on YouTube began their video by lamenting how mass-produced PCBs are dominated by straight lines and angles due to the dominance of electronics CAD apps. Andal narrowed down the best photo resist and etching substances and then prepared an artistic-looking PCB that will be used for a fan controller. This 3D-printed filtered fume extractor design is destined to be used in ALTco’s soldering workshop.

Andal knew what PCB traces they wanted to draw, and had a few materials ready for testing the process. Key source materials would be a blank copper-clad circuit board, which was cut to scale, a number of paints and markers to test for photoresist properties, and several etching chemical choices.

The electronics buff experimented with various combinations of the above materials, as well as different ways to prepare the circuit board surface ahead of drawing out the PCBs. You can check out the various failures and learning process with Andal in the video, but the refined hobbyist technique for making PCBs relied on the following key choices.

• A blank copper-clad circuit board, no particular brand was mentioned, and you can find this stuff in lots of shapes and sizes online
• The Pentel N850 permanent marker bullet tip for photoresist drawing
• And reliable old Ferric Chloride for etching away unprotected copper

So, in the end, the ‘standard’ ingredient of the blank copper circuit board remained. From the multitude of pens and paints, the Pentel stood out for even coverage and flawless ‘resist’ behavior. Finally, etching agents such as hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt were seen to be unsuccessful alternatives to ferric chloride.

With the materials and technique now set, Andal carefully drew their final PCB design, complete with arcs, curves, and the ALTco logo. It etched very cleanly in the proven ferric chloride bath and was subsequently cleaned to gleaming copper in all the right places. With that result, Andal soldered all the necessary ICs and wires. For a finishing touch, they ended up tinning the whole set of traces with solder so it looks even nicer.

At the end of the video, you can see the finished filtered soldering fume extractor in action, with its PCB on proud display, not hidden within. The ALTco voiceover humbly says that it works “surprisingly well.”

The last homebrew PCBs project we looked at used rustic hexagonal clay substrates and a prehistoric-inspired firing method before traces were painted with silver ink.

A device that “looks like a normal USB cable” but is far more powerful has been a rip-roaring success on Kickstarter, with three weeks still to go. The Hacknect project by Little Gadgets packs an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, microSD card storage, and Wi-Fi capabilities into an unassuming cable that can be controlled remotely and used for a host of cybersecurity shenanigans. Ready-made Hacknect functions shown in the browser-based app include: remote payload execution, HID keystroke injection, mouse automation, and more. A single Hacknect red or white cable is being offered to crowdfunding backers starting from roughly $82 (€70).

Wireless wire with secret teeth

Electronics makers and gadget DIYers will probably be familiar with the ESP32-S3 microcontroller at the heart of the Hacknect. This is usually installed on a small rectangular devkit board, but Little Gadgets has hidden it within the confines of a USB cable connector. We’d guess it is in the USB Type-A side, so it can interface directly with the micro SD card, and that connector is larger than the USB Type-C end. However, neither end looks conspicuously or suspiciously bulky.

The ESP32-S3 is designed for AIoT applications and includes 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 (LE). Additionally, it enables a rich set of I/O, has mature software support, and includes several security features.

You can see the microSD card fits neatly in the solid side of the USB Type-A connector. It also seemingly works as a USB data and charging cable, but we aren’t sure if the microSD card storage is accessible from devices on either side of the cable, or if it is somehow veiled.

The advertised features of Hacknect are both impressive and concerning. Little Gadgets says that all these functions are available from a web browser UI accessible from your smart device or computer:

• Keystroke Injection - Execute automated keyboard payloads using high‑speed HID emulation.
• Mouse Injection - Simulate advanced mouse movements and automation actions.
• Payload Slots - Store and manage multiple payloads directly on the device.
• Wi‑Fi Triggers - Trigger actions wirelessly from smartphones or computers.
• Browser‑Based Control Panel - Control Hacknect completely from your web browser.
• One‑Click Payload Deployment - Launch payloads instantly with a single click.
• USB + TF 2‑IN‑1 Design - Integrated TF/SD storage support directly inside the USB‑A connector.
• Full-Speed USB Interface - Fast and responsive USB communication.
• Self‑Destruct Mode - Quickly erase stored payloads and sensitive data.
• Compact Stealth Design - Looks like a normal everyday USB cable.
• Mobile & Desktop Compatible - Works seamlessly with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and PCs.
• Open Source - Firmware, examples, and documentation will be openly available.

In summary, one might compare the Hacknect cable with the O.MG cable – another stealthy USB cable with Wi-Fi and an embedded microcontroller, covering much of the same functionality. Except that Hacknect is much more affordable and touted as an open-source project.

Since the project is already a success, should everything else run smoothly, backers are told to expect the first batches of Hacknect to ship in August this year. Our standard warning with crowdfunding projects applies. Remember that paying to crowdfund a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.

With record reports of bear attacks on humans, Japan has been increasingly turning to high-tech solutions, as you might expect. However, reports suggest that Ohta Seiki, a firm making the animatronic robot Monster Wolf to repel bears from human-habituated areas, can’t keep up with demand. “We cannot make them fast enough,” company president Yuji Ohta told AFP.

This year’s order book for Monster Wolf has already hit 50 units. Hokkaido-based Ohta Seiki usually doesn’t even manufacture that many robot wolves in a whole year. According to the latest figures, bears killed 13 people in Japan last year. That’s more than double the fatality rate from the previous year. Sightings are up, too, with 50,000 reports of bears nationwide. That figure is more than double the previous sightings record.

Of course, fatalities are a statistic at the extreme end of the situation. There are also numerous non-fatal incidents where bears have seriously injured or scarred humans, entered homes, roamed around schools, scared guests at hot spring resorts, and even rampaged through supermarkets in Japan.

Above: A video from 2024 showing a Monster Wolf in action.

With the record upswing in bear attacks and sightings, it isn’t a big surprise that business is booming for Ohta Seiki. Its Monster Wolf product looks ferocious. The official product pages say that the robot wolf imitates its real wild world namesake, but it turns up the fear levels by “emitting intense LED lights and loud voices.” Ohta Seiki is currently asking customers to “wait two to three months” for their orders to be fulfilled.

The $4,000+ Monster Wolf has an infrared sensor to detect and target wild animals with its 50 types of loud noises, glowing red eyes, blue under-lighting, and neck swinging from side to side. The robot’s traversal of the terrain (wheels are an optional upgrade), animated movements, sounds, and lighting are powered by a combination of a 12V car battery and an (optional) solar charging panel.

Ohta Seiki has plans to expand its product range with a handheld version of Monster Wolf for hikers, anglers, and schoolchildren, reports AFP. It is also looking at leveraging AI cameras to improve its anti-bear tech.

Earlier in the year, we reported on bear-repelling drones being deployed around Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture to address concerns about a “bear infestation.”

The supremely portable dimensions of the humble credit card have been a persistent miniaturization goal for tech device makers for a very long time. Earlier this week krauseler on GitHub shared details of “a fully working computer that is literally the size of a credit card,” dubbed the Muxcard. This ISO/IEC 7810 ID‑1 credit card-sized computer includes an ESP32-C3 microcontroller, an ePaper display, NFC, sensors, and a battery.

I remember buying a credit card-sized calculator in the previous century, and the iconic and now almost omnipresent Raspberry Pi began as a credit card-sized barebones computer dream – made real . However, those gizmos kind of ignored the important third dimension of a credit card, which makes it so portable, the thickness. This isn’t a mistake repeated by krauseler. Well, almost.

The maker admits the Muxcard prototype is 1mm thick as it now stands. The official ISO/IEC 7810 ID‑1 is for a card of 0.76mm thickness, “but many real-world cards slightly exceed this in practice,” writes krauseler on the GitHub project page. Underlining the adherence to the credit card size, krauseler even uses an old plastic NFC card with most of its volume cut away as the Muxcard chassis.

It is admitted that the current prototype is rather fragile, and there are a number of things that need to be done to bring the project in line with the ultimate goals.

Right now the prototype specs are as follows:

• MCU: ESP32‑C3, a RISC-V CPU architecture, Wi‑Fi capable microcontroller with 320KB of usable SRAM and 384KB ROM. But future versions could use a more powerful ESP32‑S3 or nRF52/53.
• Display: 1.54-inch 200x200 pixel flex ePaper screen with partial update support.
• NFC: RC522 read/write module (not just a passive tag).
• IMU: LIS2DW12 accelerometer for wake triggers and motion sensing.
• Power: 30mAh, 1mm thick rechargeable LiPo battery.

What still has to be done to complete te Muxcard project includes the addition of USB Type-C, a microSD card slot, touch button controls, and krauseler is considering a slimmer LiPo rechargeable battery cell. When all the tech specs are up to the desired level some hard work will remain in strengthening and ruggedizing the design.

Completing all these plans won’t be easy in the limits imposed by a credit card's standard thickness. However, the maker will continue with this quest and remain positive and enchanted with the device, even in this prototype stage. “Even after months of staring at this thing, it still feels slightly absurd every time the display updates while holding what basically feels like a normal card,” they say.

As with most GitHub project makers, krauseler would be happy to get offers of third-party collaboration and contributions. The maker is also curious about how people foresee using the Muxcard. Their own ideas include use as a smart-home dashboard, offline storage for 2FA, backup keys and passwords, and so on.

Many think that Apple's history creating computers with graphical interfaces starts with the venerable Macintosh, but the company's first foray into designing GUIs actually started with 1983's Lisa. The machine was the first to bring a popular window application system and mouse control to general availability at an edible (if bitter) price of $9,995 dollars of 1983 vintage, equivalent to nearly $34,000 today.

Thanks to enthusiast and Youtuber Alex Anderson-McLeod, you'll soon be able to roll your own much-improved LisaFPGA clone. Alex designed a roomy one-board system centered around an Artix 7-100T FPGA as the Lisa's brains, coupled to 2MB of SRAM and emulated hard drive, floppy, serial, and naturally, keyboard and mouse connectors.

The clone is far superior to the original, thanks to its reliance on modern hardware and Alex's design smarts. For starters, you don't need a video converter, as the board natively outputs video HDMI with a scanline option; both its main video modes are switchable on-the-fly. Although the board includes original-spec connectors for input devices, it also helpfully has USB ports for keyboard and mouse so you don't have to procure original versions.

In a similar fashion, the serial ports can be redirected to the main USB-C connector thanks to the inclusion of a USB hub, saving you having to find USB-to-serial adapters and chunky DB25 connectors. Floppy images can be loaded from an SD card, direct connection to PC, or an original floppy drive connected to the the corresponding port.

Even for its time, the Lisa was pretty slow, thanks to its software design choices and and use of the 5 MHz variant of the Motorola 68000 CPU. As a nod to these limitations, Alex included two overclocking multipliers that can take the machine to the equivalent of 75 MHz, likewise selectable on the fly with physical switches.

The revision of the LisaFPGA featured in the video is version 2, but Alex says that version 3 is coming soon with a handful of fixes. He says the project will be fully open-sourced on Github as soon as he gets his proverbial ducks in a row. He's also considering selling the clones, and will be speaking about them at Vintage Computer Festival Southwest later in the month.

Although it was generally considered a failure due to its price and software availability, the Lisa paved the way for 1984's Macintosh, the $2,459 machine that popularized graphical interfaces and the Apple brand worldwide. The Lisa computer had an undignified ending, too, with 2,700 of them dumped in Logan, Utah, as part of a tax write-off on unsold inventory. Still, similar to how the first iPhone had major issues in hindsight, the Lisa broke ground for much greater things.

Although Apple popularized graphical home computers for the masses, Apple did not invent the GUI, nor the mouse. The GUI was Xerox's doing at its PARC laboratories, that Steve Jobs visited and, cough, cribbed notes from. The Xerox Star 8010 workstation was the first computer with both technologies, but it was sold as part of a larger package and commanded the steep price of $16,595 in 1981, or around $60,000 today. As for the mouse, it was designed at the Stanford Research institute much earlier in 1963.

If you're building projects based on Nvidia Jetson modules, don't panic; it's fairly likely that you're working with the newer Orin and Thor modules. If, however, your project is based around the older Xavier or TX2 boards, then we have some bad news: Nvidia has apparently brought forward its EOL timelines for those families of Jetson products due to the RAMpocalypse making LPDDR4 harder to get. That's according to Connect Tech, a Canadian supplier and system integrator for AI systems that says Nvidia has moved these devices to Non-Cancelable, Non-Returnable (NCNR) status due to the change. (Shout out to CNX Software for spotting this.)

The specific devices affected at Connect Tech are the Jetson TX2 NX, the Jetson TX2i (all SKUs), the Jetson AGX Xavier 32GB Industrial variant, and the Jetson Xavier NX in 8GB and 16GB versions, but the supplier actually says that Nvidia has marked all TX2 and Xavier models as NCNR on its side. It also says that final purchase orders for those modules must be in by July 1st, existing purchase orders convert to NCNR on July 15th, and the last time it will ship any orders featuring those products is July 15th next year.

Strictly speaking, those timelines are from Connect Tech, not Nvidia itself, but the company does say that they are "based on Nvidia timelines." In any case, it's not really that surprising; all of these are older models, with the TX2 having been introduced in 2017 and the Xavier parts originally introduced in 2018, though some of the specific variants included arose as late as 2021.

Given that, it's probably time to start thinking about moving to newer hardware if you're working with these parts. Nvidia's Orin NX is close to a drop-in replacement for the older Xavier NX platform as long as you are not relying on more specialized I/O configurations, and the overall form factor and power envelope remain in the same class. Moving from AGX Xavier to AGX Orin is even more straightforward since both use the same 699-pin connector family, although power delivery and thermals still need to be validated.

These are hardly the first casualties of the RAMmageddon, but they do complicate the idea that only DDR5 is under pressure. DDR4 pricing has skyrocketed due to lacking supply since memory manufacturers moved on to DDR5. What is happening here is not a simple shortage in the traditional sense but a reallocation of manufacturing capacity. Memory vendors are prioritizing higher-margin parts for AI accelerators, particularly HBM and newer DDR5, and that shift pulls capacity away from legacy nodes that produce LPDDR4.

That leaves older embedded platforms in an awkward position. They depend on memory that is no longer the focus of the industry, yet they still require long lifecycle guarantees that newer consumer products do not. When supply tightens, those platforms are often the first to be pushed into constrained ordering terms, and NCNR status is usually the earliest visible signal.

Seen in that light, this is less about an abrupt discontinuation and more about a market reality finally catching up with aging hardware. The TX2 and Xavier families were already living on borrowed time, and the current memory crunch simply accelerates a transition that was going to happen anyway. For developers and integrators, the takeaway is that if a design still depends on LPDDR4-based Jetson modules, the window to secure supply is closing, and migration to Orin is no longer just a performance upgrade but a matter of long-term viability.

"Nice radar you got there," followed by "thanks, I just had it jammed," might be the new word exchange among buddy electronics enthusiasts. In a move that might ruffle the feathers of many large companies with exceedingly pricey wares, a Moroccan electronics engineer named Nawfal Motii has designed the open-source Aeris-10 radar system that is purportedly comparable to commercial systems costing $250,000.

Aeris-10 comes in two variants: 10N Nexus with a 3-km range and an 8x16 patch antenna array, and the 10E Extended, capable of reaching up to 20 km thanks to its 32x16 slotted waveguide array. Motii published the entire project on GitHub, including all the necessary schematics, PBC layouts, components, firmware, and software with a GUI for controlling and monitoring the system.

On the technical end, the Aeris-10 uses an XCA7A50T FPGA as a central brain for doing its FFT math, along with Moving Target Indicator (MTI), Doppler-effect estimation of moving object speed, and CFAR false alarm detection control. The figurative spinal cord is an STM32F746xx microcontroller that orchestrates the frequency synthesizers, ADCs, DACs, the GPS, barometer, stepper motors, and cooling setup.

The fact that Aeris-10 offers a true phased array system and ±45° elevation/azimuth adjustments are seemingly its differentiating factors. Prices for electronics are exceedingly floaty in these ship-shinking days, but a brief estimate pins the bill of materials at $5,000 for the 10N and $7,200 for the 10E. Despite the number of zeros on those figures, they're pocket change compared to amounts commanded by off-the-truck offerings. A cursory look puts commercial phase-array systems at somewhere $120k and $200k, and well past those prices for longer-range units.

Motii claims that military surplus radars can be had for $10k to $50k, but those are invariably decades-old tech with next to no spare parts availability. He says that building a DIY system is also a hard ask for a small team, as the testing gear can cost $50k on its own. Describing himself as "a guy in a workshop in Morocco with a soldering iron and an obsession," he took it upon himself to fix that particular problem.

Anyone can hit the project's GitHub page and get their own radar system going, but not everyone might have the necessary electronic and mechanical skills necessary for building one. To that effect, Motti says he's reached an agreement with the Crowed Supply platform, aiming for a Q3 2026 release. The site isn't your standard dice-rolling crowd-sourcing platform, though, as apparently it only accepts fully-designed projects with functional prototypes, rejects 90% of submissions, and claims it never had a scam.

Interestingly enough, this project was originally licensed under the MIT license, but Motti was advised that said license does not protect physical hardware, so it changed to the CERN-OHL-PT license. Should you elect to build your own unit, be aware that the frequencies it operates in are almost assuredly highly regulated in your legal jurisdiction.

A tech tinkerer has shared the full plans and resources necessary to build a compact desktop laser engraver. All the resources are available on GitHub, including the components list, 3D printer files, firmware, drivers, and software. Moreover, project creator Elias55745 is selling a fully assembled ‘mini laser printer’ created using these plans for just $64. They also intend to sell everything you need as a kit for self-assembly. However, the store is undergoing maintenance at the time of writing, so the shopping cart isn’t working, and you may see prices in Yen (I did).

This isn’t a powerful laser engraver with just a 250mW beam at your disposal for marking and cutting duties. The retail page shares a handful of examples of simple sketches burned onto various surfaces that look like art paper and leather. According to the GitHub parts list, the laser head is good for wood, leather, or paper – but not metal – and printing dark objects works best. The samples look like simple line art.

With any laser, one must pay attention to both electrical and eye safety. Protective green goggles are on the parts list, but even wearing these, you should never look directly at the active laser.

In addition to the 5V 250mW laser head, other key components of this cute design are the ATmega328 microcontroller, to which you will need to flash Elias55745’s firmware (unless you buy the assembled or kit model).

The micro stepper motor, which precisely positions the laser head in its 50mm x 50mm bed frame, can be sourced new. However, Elias55745 recommends salvaging this component from a Samsung optical disc drive. There is also a cooling fan and 12V power pack among the major component purchases.

To make the mini-laser printer, there are several more maker-style steps required. Firstly, a 3D printer will be useful for various chassis parts. A custom PCB is also required (source files provided), which you will have to fit with the requisite components and interface with the microcontroller.

You will be outputting to this laser via the well-known open-source G-Code laser control GRBL firmware. For convenience, Elias55745 has bundled LaserGRBL software onto their GitHub.

I’ve used some of the best laser cutters and engravers from both ends of the spectrum, from the Sculpfun S9 to the xTool P3. But even the ~$250 Sculpfun is far, far more capable than the ‘mini-laser printer’ from Elias55745. That isn’t the extreme cheap end, either, as there are plenty of models under $100. For makers, the pinnacle of price/performance isn’t usually the point, though. Furthermore, you can proudly make, modify, and assemble this tiny open-source desktop laser to meet your own particular purposes.

A TechTuber who previously hit the headlines after making a home powerwall from a concoction of thrown-away vape components has shared details of his vape battery-powered car. Chris Doel actually repurposed the 500-vape battery powerwall device, put it in an aluminum case, and plugged it into a quarter-century-old electric car. Conclusion: It was a great success, but it is well worth tuning in to enjoy the full journey by watching the full video below.

In the intro, Doel complains about how the throwing away of single-use vapes is still a ‘normalized’ activity. He reminds viewers that as many as a million of these electronic devices are thrown away every day by UK vapers. However, Doel is on a mission to reuse these cast-aside components, specifically the Lithium batteries, in various projects. He started small with powerbanks, and progressed to a mighty powerwall in a previous video, which managed to take his workshop ‘off grid,” and now he’s going mobile.

Doel picked the old Reva G.Wiz electric car from the early 2000s, which he found to be a surprisingly good fit for his 500 vape battery array of power. This compact car weighs 400kg, and had a top speed of about 50 mph, factory fresh. Originally, it used a 48V battery pack using lead-acid technology. So it is a good target for the 50V power supply from the prior vape battery powerwall project.

Contrast that to a modern Tesla electric car. According to Doel, a Tesla would need about 12,000 vape cells and complex battery management to get off the driveway. Moreover, Musk’s autos have peak draw power measured in hundreds of kW.

So, it sounded like the old G.Wiz and the vape cells behind the previous powerwall project were a good match. And indeed it was, as the first power-up test we see in the video was a success. With the battery still on the driveway, Doel was extremely cautious rolling the car forward and back.

At this point, we also saw Doel plug in a charger to top up the vape cells. It was a USB-C charger, and it also worked the first time. So, as well as the world’s first vape-powered car, this little G.Wiz also became the first USB-C charged car.

An original G.Wiz can pull 350A if you put the pedal to the metal, which made Doel concerned that “the fuses will probably start popping,” as the vape battery pack is only good for ~120A, according to his calculations. Luckily, the inverter could be programmed, and the car profiles can be reworked to limit the power to safer levels.

Test drive shows vehicle has an 18-mile range

With the surprisingly quick development and installation of the new vape-powered battery into the G.Wiz, it was time for a test drive. The TechTuber started off slowly, naturally. A smartphone monitor constantly updated on the condition of the vape battery cells. However, the car was paused, and temperatures were thoroughly checked for safety after a short run.

On the road trip, we saw the little car speed up to a maximum of 35 mph, and it was impressive to see that regenerative braking (10A) also worked as intended. With building confidence, the TechTuber drove to a nearby McDonalds drive through, parked up to eat, then went to a tool store. Next up, the car faced its first major uphill section, which saw a power draw of 100A continuous, so the cautious drivers slowed and caused a little traffic jam.

The weather turned worse, and the car’s wipers and headlights were required, eating away at the battery some more. However, the biggest challenge yet was a hill that saw 150A pulled at peak. The car made it. Overall, the vape-powered G.Wiz managed 18 miles before it lost power as battery cell bank 12 gave up. The observed max temperature of the cells was 19 degrees Celsius (it is still winter in the UK).

Doel mused whether the 500 vape smokers ever thought their trash would one day power a house, or a car. The video ended with a punchline, showing the car had a ‘vape exhaust’ installed.

The LaserPecker LX2 is a large-format, fully enclosed laser that pairs a swappable 40W diode for cutting with a 2W IR module for fine metal etching. Unlike LaserPecker’s previous portable engravers, the LX2 uses a gantry-style motion system that rides on X-Y rails much like a 3D printer, giving it a generous 500 × 305 mm work area.

It has a speedy motion system that can hit 1000mm/s to produce work quickly. It has both a camera and a probe for automatic positioning and focusing, however our beta unit still needed a bit of refinement. Hopefully these bugs have been worked out for the retail version.

The cutting power of the LX2 is impressive, and we were able to slice through a 20mm pine board without problem or excessive charring. It handled delicate cuts on thin wood as well, and etched metal very nicely. We also tested the rotary kit, which worked extremely well.

Thanks to its modular design, you can customize the system to suit your needs and budget. Bundles start at $1,649 with a 20W laser and go up to $2,999 for the 40W version with the rotary extension and smoke purifier. The IR module costs an additional $599, and a 60W laser upgrade adds $1,699 if you need extra power. The LX2 is a good laser overall, but it falls just short of being one of the best laser cutters we’ve tested.

Specifications: LaserPecker LX2

LaserPecker LX2: Included in the Box

The LaserPecker LX2 Comes nicely packaged in one box. The laser heads, air assist, cutting slats, fire extinguisher, tool kit, manuals, and a small starter pack of materials are packed in foam inside the laser. For the review, we also received the optional 2W IR laser, smoke purifier, riser base, and rotary extension.

Design of the LaserPecker LX2

The LX2 is a fully enclosed Class 1 laser with several interchangeable laser heads to choose from. The unit we received came with a 40W diode and 2W IR laser. LaserPecker also has a 20W diode available now, and a 60W diode which will be available in the future. The laser heads slot into the XY carriage without tools and have one cable to attach plus the air assist tube. On the left side of the head there are magnets to attach the mechanical height probe.

Unfortunately, while the mechanical probe will almost always measure distance correctly and then retract, our test unit was buggy and would not recognize that the probe had retracted. It would then throw a “probe retraction failed” error, which we could ignore after verifying the probe actually retracted. We were able to work around it for most cases, but we could not fully test out LaserPecker’s ability to probe a curved surface.

The X and Y axis of the motion system run on beefy linear rails. The laser tool head can automatically raise and lower to focus, or work with taller items. The work area is well lit with LED lights mounted to the left and right at the top of the compartment. An additional light is mounted on the lid with the positioning camera.

The camera calibration routine is fairly straight forward, but the calibration was inconsistent. It took at least ten tries to get the calibration within a few millimeters of correct. The picture below shows the actual engraving vs where the laser thought it was engraving. You might be able to work around this for larger stock, but for small items like jewelry, this is unacceptable.

The positioning preview mode moves the laser tool head at high speed in order to trace the cutting are with the visible crosshairs. While this is very precise, It's nearly impossible to nudge items under the flying tool head without getting your hands whacked. Instead, you have to stop the preview, move the item, and start the preview again. This preview method may have worked with LaserPecker’s other lasers – all galvos – but it is irksome on a large gantry mounted laser.

For engraving, items can be placed directly on the base plate. For cutting, there are four slats you fit into slots above the base. This allows air to flow underneath the stock to prevent scorching. It would be helpful if more slats were included.

The unit has a powerful fan to clear smoke from the work area, which is fine if you can vent it to the outside. Otherwise, you will also need a fume extractor or smoke purifier for safety. We used the optional LaserPecker Smoke Purifier, which cut the smoke down to just a whiff of that campfire smell.

The LX2 does not have a screen and must be used with a PC or laptop. The only control is single button with a surrounding LED halo indicator light, showing the laser’s state based on color. There is also a large red emergency stop button on the unit’s right-hand side.

The included air assist plugs into a port on the back of the laser, and is controlled by a single cable. The air assist worked great at limiting charring on deep cuts.

Assembling the LaserPecker LX2

The LaserPecker LX2 is fully assembled from the factory. Set up requires removing foam and a couple zip ties used in shipping. The laser module slots into the XY carriage and is locked into place with a lever. There is one cable and the air assist hose to connect, and that’s it.

All the cables and the equipment key plug into the rear of the unit along with the exhaust hose.

Safety Precautions for the LaserPecker LX2

While there are risks inherent in any laser cutter and engraver, the LaserPecker LX2 is a very safe Class 1 laser. The lid, front panel, and even the riser base doors will stop the laser if they are opened while a job is in process. There is no way to disable this safety feature in the software. Since the laser is literally burning material, never allow it to operate unattended and have a fire extinguisher handy just in case. The unit has flame sensors which are a little too sensitive when set to the default high sensitivity and perfect when set to low sensitivity. Unfortunately, while the task can be restarted after the unit is shut down due to sensing flame, the results were not good, with the laser skipping large areas when reset.

LaserPecker includes an S-type, strontium nitrate and potassium nitrate based fire extinguishing set with two extinguishers in all of its bundles, which is nice. Other companies usually charge extra for this.

Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes plastics, fiberglass and certain foams.

Software for LaserPecker LX2

LaserPecker Design Space is included free and is quite good. It allows easy import of a wide variety of common file types like bitmaps, jpegs and png files. It is easy to add text or clip art and add outlines for cutting or engraving.

Preset material settings are mostly spot on, they aren’t quite as inclusive as I’d like. Cutting something not listed in the presets requires a bit of guestimation which can lead to incomplete cuts or a charred mess.

The LX2 is also compatible with LightBurn, which is a premium program in wide use across the industry.

Engraving / Cutting with the LaserPecker LX2

I dove into the deep end on the first test and tried to cut through, then engrave a piece of 20mm pine. Using the 40W diode laser and guessing on the settings, I first tried to cut out a heart shape I found on LaserPecker Design Space. I used 100% power at 12 mm/s for 3 passes. This did not make it through the material. Bumping the passes up to 6 produced an excellent through cut with almost no charring and very little residue in just over a minute.

Next, I uploaded the Freestar Collective emblem from Starfield as a jpeg to engrave, and added a square cut line from the software. The engraving only took a little over 3 minutes at 50% power and 74 mm/s. The air assist did an excellent job with keeping these cuts clean.

Next, I gave it a more elaborate project using the box generator from Atomm.com. I used 3 mm bass plywood for the material and cutting with 83% power at 16 mm/s the long line cuts were very clean with some of the filigree work needing a fair amount of weeding. A little less speed or a second pass would’ve been perfect. I spread the parts out over two cuts and the processing took a bit under an hour for the whole thing. By the time both were done my workshop had a bit of a campfire smell, despite using the air purifier.

The 40W diode laser did a great job on 3mm opaque acrylic. Using the material presets of 80% power and 7 mm/s for the cuts and 30% power at 212 mm/s for the line engraving, this piece took a little over 4 minutes to complete. Everything came apart cleanly except the smallest interior cuts which got a little melty.

The 2W IR laser produced excellent results on bare and painted metal. I ran a test with clip art from the LaserPecker software to make a design that would go nearly edge to edge on black aluminum business card blanks. The engraving is beautiful, but I was unable to get the art centered on the piece. Each card took a little over 9 minutes at 50% power and 75 mm/s speed.

The 2W IR Laser produced a nice dark engraving on unpainted stainless steel. I used 80% power and 76 mm/s speed. This is more clip art from LaserPecker Design Space, and took a little under 5 minutes to complete.

I tested out the optional rotary tool which requires the riser base and moving the build tray to its lowest level. The rotary tool is attached without tools and has a USB cable to attach to the front of the laser.

LaserPecker included a tape measure to measure the circumference of the item to be engraved. The software does an excellent job letting you know where the design will be placed. I used clip art and text from Canva brought into LaserPecker Design Space as a PNG file. I wasn’t sure how the IR laser would handle the clip art, but using the material setting defaults of 20% power and 80 mm/s with Stucki image mode the result is really nice. Any resemblance between the clipart and your humble reviewer is purely coincidental.

Bottom Line

The LaserPecker LX2 gets the fundamentals right. Its enclosed design, large workspace, and powerful laser modules make it far more capable than the company’s earlier portable engravers. The 40W diode delivers fast, confident cutting, while the 2W IR laser adds excellent metal etching, giving the LX2 real versatility for makers who want one machine that can handle both production cuts and detailed finishing work. Add the rotary attachment and optional upgrades, and it feels like a system you can grow into as your budget allows.

The LX2 stumbles in precision and polish. The camera-based positioning isn’t consistent enough to fully trust on small or detailed jobs, and the mechanical probe threw enough false warnings during testing to cause frustration. These are more software than hardware problems, which shouldn’t be difficult to fix. At this price, reliability matters just as much as raw power.

If LaserPecker tightens up the firmware and improves positioning accuracy, the LX2 could be a real showstopper for home workshops and small businesses. As it stands, it’s still a strong performer with excellent cutting and engraving results, but buyers should expect a bit of trial and error. Tinkerers and experienced makers will appreciate its capabilities, while beginners may want to wait for those refinements before diving in.

Thankfully, there are a lot of lasers on the market these days. If you want something safe and portable for taking to events, the xTool F1 is $1099 and packs a punch with a 10w diode and 2W IR. The WeCreat Vision Pro is a similarly sized 45W diode laser that handles most small business cutting needs and can be yours for $1999.

A Twitch Streamer and creator has revealed a probably extremely dangerous balance "hack," attaching electrodes behind her ears to pass a current through her head. The sensation, galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), uses electrical signals to affect a person's balance. As such, it can be used to simulate G-force in racing games, or perhaps more interestingly, to control the direction and movements real-life human being with a joystick or Xbox controller.

In her first test, she tried to run in a straight line while her companion manipulated the left joystick, causing her to lean in the direction of the joystick, effectively changing her direction. She then connected it to a racing game, simulating the g-forces that one should feel when driving. However, using this device is not without its risks — Karyal noted seeing flashing lights while playing Trackmania. After her GVS gaming session, she said that she had a headache and had started to feel hot after using it. She also described her vision as “buzzy”.

It goes without saying that you should not try this at home.

“Don’t do this. Don’t build this. Don’t make this. I do not approve of anyone making this themselves,” the creator said in her Instagram video. “I don’t condone that behavior; it’s incredibly dangerous and I’m not liable!”

First time Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation used in a videogame! Would you like to see it used with VR? from r/virtualreality

This isn’t the first time that a person has used a GVS device with a game. In fact, we have a Reddit post from 2021 showing u/yahma driving with this attached to his head. He would lean towards the direction that the in-game car would turn, and when it tumbled over the side of the ride, the Redditor also went tumbling off his seat.

Doctors and scientists have been studying GVS since the 1990s, but it still isn’t widely used in routine medical treatment. Still, there are some clinical studies looking at it to see how it can be used to treat conditions relating to balance and other therapeutic applications. But, as the creator said, you shouldn’t try building this yourself, as we still don’t know the long-term effects of using GVS on your head.

Though killer robots are a favorite subject in science fiction, it is a shocking tragedy when humans are killed by robots in the real-world. Today marks the anniversary of what is widely regarded as the first case of a death of a human caused by a robot. On this day in 1979, Ford Motor Company factory worker Robert Williams was crushed, and killed instantly by a robotic arm, while doing his job.

Williams was just 25 years old when he became the first human casualty of the robotic advance into factory production environments. The unfortunate incident occurred at Ford’s casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Reports about the historic incident indicate that Williams was asked by another production team member to climb up to a shelf where castings were stored by robotic arms. The request was precipitated by the robot reporting “what seemed like erroneous information on the number of parts on the shelves,” says a New York Times article covering the ensuing lawsuit. Climbing up would likely have been concerning for the young factory worker, as the robot arm serviced shelves five stories high.

Then tragedy struck. The robotic arm of a one-ton cart unit, responsible for putting castings onto shelves and taking them off, swung into action, hitting Williams on the head. Some other reports on the incident note that Williams died instantly from being struck by the robot.

Record compensation payout

It would take about three and a half years and a court case to win $10 million in compensation to the family of Robert Williams. The winning lawyer warned the court that “we have to be very careful that we don't go backwards to the kind of notions we had during the industrial revolution that people are expendable.” This was the largest ever compensation payout in the state of Michigan, at the time.

While Williams was an unfortunate first, he wouldn’t be the last person to be killed by an errant robot. There have been several factory-based cases since this one.

Additionally, as we approach half a century later, we live in troubled times when robotic, artificial intelligence packing drones are being developed and rapidly refined to battle on land, sea, and air. They readily destroy other robots, vehicles, buildings, or kill their human targets.

The xTool F2 Ultra is a large, premium, and superfast galvo laser that can cut and engrave anything from metal and wood to acrylic. It has a 60-watt MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) fiber laser for metal and a 40-watt blue diode laser for everything else. It is powerful enough to deeply engrave metal, cut through thin metal, and even “color” engrave stainless steel. This makes it the perfect laser for professional jewelry makers and small businesses who offer custom engraving on nearly any object.

The machine has an incredibly accurate positioning camera that you can access from the design software. This is critical for use in engraving jewelry or accurately placing personalization on one-of-a-kind items.

The F2 Ultra should not be confused with the F2, which is a portable machine. Clocking in at 47 pounds and requiring a massive air filter for safer operation, the F2 Ultra is far from portable. Its 220 x 220 mm work surface makes it comparable in size to a CORE One 3D printer.

Galvo lasers make the F2 Ultra extremely fast. It has a fixed laser, with the beam aimed by galvanometer mirrors that move at an insane 15,000 mm/s. However, this means the work area is somewhat cone-shaped, and on lesser machines, it often does not reach the corners of the work area. I didn’t have any issues with the laser being inconsistent when engraving out to the edges.

This machine is a Class 4 laser, which can burn skin and damage vision. It requires the respect of those around it. When the laser’s enclosure cover is down, it is safe for everyone to be around. But when using accessories like the conveyor or a rotary tool, the machine must be operated with the safety overridden and the enclosure open. You will need to get a pair of laser safety glasses for these times, as xTool inexplicably does not provide them.

xTool updated its software to AI-assisted “xTool Studio”, which, at launch, lacked the thousands of tutorials from the maker community that made the old xTool Creative Space a joy to use. It took a while to sort out, but xTool Studio turned out to be a great design tool and operating system for the laser. I’m not a fan of having to pay for tools to use a machine I own, but thankfully, you only need exchange tokens for art tools. This reduces it to a minor annoyance if you have your own source of art.

The retail price for the F2 Ultra starts at $4,999 for a MOPA-only laser (and no extras), making even the “budget” version of this machine rather expensive. However, this is the best experience we’ve had with metal engraving, and one of the best lasers we’ve seen for a small business.

Specifications: xTool F2 Ultra

xTool F2 Ultra: Included in the Box

The xTool F2 Ultra arrives fully assembled, with a nice corded touch screen, exhaust hose, power cable, slatted panel for cutting, and even includes a USB cable for initial setup with a PC. The included material pack has a few samples of wood, acrylic, metal, and more. We were also provided with a wax seal project kit, the xTool Safety Pro AP2, and the Auto Streamline Conveyor, which are optional.

Design of the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra has an integrated cover that slides down to safely enclose the chamber. When using the conveyor or laser items larger than the bottom plate, the F2 Ultra can operate with the lid up after the safety shut-off is disabled in xTool Studio. The lid is counterbalanced nicely and will stay securely at whatever level you leave it.

For safety, there is a USB equipment key that can be removed to prevent the machine from unauthorized use, and a red emergency stop button on the right side you can slap if you need to quickly power down. Below the power button is a USB-C port to hook the laser to a computer and a USB-A slot to move files directly to the machine.

The machine has a very nice touch screen which enables manual red and blue dot focusing of the laser, starting and stopping prints and framing, controlling the machine when using files from a USB drive, and restarting the machine after fire detection or other alerts.

The xTool F2 Ultra is a dual 60-watt MOPA and 40-watt blue diode galvo laser. Unlike a flatbed laser, where an X and Y axis motion system moves the laser around the work surface, a galvo laser is fixed, and the laser beam is aimed with galvanometer mirrors. Since the mirrors weigh very little, they can be moved extremely fast at an advertised 15,000 mm/s.

The xTool F2 Ultra has all the features you’d expect on a premium machine. The autofocus and camera positioning are perfectly accurate down to .2 mm with dual 48 mp AI cameras, although I did need to go through the camera calibration routine.

The instructions say not to place anything on top of the unit because the top can pop up to adjust the laser focus point on tall, up to 150 mm, or curved objects. The laser has led lighting in the chamber, which is great when working with everything but the most reflective materials.

The integrated bottom plate of the laser is anodized aluminum with threaded holes to attach brackets or jigs to quickly reset objects when batch printing. xTool also includes a slatted panel for cutting that allows airflow under materials while cutting.

For fume extraction, xTool sent us the Safety Pro AP2 air purifier. While the laser itself has a powerful dust/fume extractor, the output hose has to be routed through a window or door to the outside. When that is not practical, a purifier is needed. The Safety Pro AP2 is a beast with a 5-stage filter that connects to the F2 Ultra via Bluetooth, and it does a remarkable job. There is literally no hint of that campfire smell associated with laser cutting. The individual filters are replaceable separately, and range in cost from $20 to $50. The service life ranges between 100 hours for the least expensive filter to 600 hours for the most expensive one. This filter system is expensive, but seeing as the F2 Ultra can produce fine metal powders, it’s better safe than sorry.

Assembling the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra is fully assembled, you only need to attach the exhaust to the back, plug in the cord for the touch screen, and pop in the equipment key and plug it in.

Safety Precautions for the xTool F2 Ultra

The F2 Ultra is a Class 4 laser, which can cause severe damage to the eyes, burn skin, ignite combustible materials, and produce toxic fumes. The machine does have an enclosure that will protect your eyes when it is completely closed. There is a safety shutoff if the cover is opened while the laser is in use. This needs to be turned off in the device settings of the software when using material larger than the machine’s base or when using the conveyor. It needs to be turned back on manually.

The machine has a flame sensor, which is very sensitive and can be turned off to prevent nuisance stoppages when closely monitoring the laser. Since the laser is literally burning material, it’s a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy as well. There is also a tilt/movement shutoff.

Like many industrial machines, the F2 Ultra has an equipment key that needs to be inserted into the rear of the machine for it to work. This can be removed to prevent the machine from unauthorized use. The F2 also has a red emergency quick stop button.

An exhaust fan on the rear of the unit removes smoke from the laser area to an exhaust hose, which can be vented to the outside or to a purifier. Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire, or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes some plastics like PVC, fiberglass, and certain foams. The laser lens can get dirty from smoke and fumes. You will need to wipe it clean – while unplugged – before each laser session. If it’s allowed to become dirty, the laser will lose some of its capability.

No safety glasses are provided with the machine. You will need to buy a pair if you are going to use the laser with the cover-up. xTool has them available for purchase separately.

Software for xTool F2 Ultra

xTool has replaced its free software with xTool Studio, a powerful and intuitive platform that is just different enough from the old system to be a little frustrating. At the time of this review, all the color laser tutorials on xTool’s website were done in the old xTool Creative Space and were not helpful. The tutorials have since been updated, so if you’re looking at buying this machine today, you won’t suffer as I did. The software is still missing a few material presets, which hopefully will be added soon.

xTool Studio has the best and worst of AI. Personally, I’m a little leery of AI assistants and tend to avoid them. But xTool’s assistant is actually full of helpful knowledge on operating the machine. If you run into trouble, a quick query to the AI is much faster than digging through the forums for help.

I abhor microtransactions, especially inside the software needed to operate tools that are quite pricey. The addition of AI design tools that cost credits to use is annoying. Sure, the credits aren’t super expensive and can be earned for uploading projects or answering questions, but given the marketing of xTool machines for business, the social media aspects of this credit rewards system are jarring.

Engraving / Cutting with the xTool F2 Ultra

The xTool F2 Ultra is a powerhouse with the ability to cut through 2mm stainless steel, brass, and titanium with the 60-watt MOPA laser and up to 23 mm in wood and 20 mm in acrylic, with the 40-watt diode laser. For most materials, the xTool settings are very good. Many of the materials provided by xTool have a QR code, which will automatically load settings when read by the camera.

The first test I ran was cutting a Standing Reindeer from user Comp 56 on xTool Studio, using the 3mm basswood provided. It took just 2 minutes using the diode laser with 70% power at 40 mm/s in 4 passes. The deer came out of the sheet with just a little coaxing and shows minimal charring.

Next, using the same settings and only 55 seconds of processing time, I cut a much more delicate design using the free earring generator app from xTool Studio. The result is very nice with a bit more charring, but nothing a tiny bit of sanding wouldn’t cure completely.

The diode laser cuts through black acrylic like butter. This took only 20 seconds for 2 passes to create the hole at 90% power. The engraved Canva clip art and a line from Shakespeare’s King Lear were etched at 40% power, with a 60 dot duration and 250 DPI. This has excellent detail while being scary fast.

Again, using clip art from Canva, I was able to make an excellent rubber stamp using the diode laser. However, there was some trial by fire, literally. I ultimately found the right settings to avoid scorching the stamp material by using 4 passes with 40 % power at 600 DPI with a dot duration of 300. Running slowly and safely, the engraving took 1 hour and 33 minutes to complete. The recommended settings were the same, but 1 pass at 85% power, which led to a pretty impressive fire in the chamber. The flame sensor cut the laser off, which killed the flames. This was a good reminder to keep an extinguisher nearby when working with combustible materials.

The xTool F2 Ultra has the ability to engrave on curved surfaces. After lining up the framing light on the surface of the material, the laser will take measurements on a grid, much like a 3D printer doing an auto bed level. This feature worked perfectly when engraving a curve stainless steel hip flask.

I used the diode laser at 70% power and 1500 mm/s sec for the text, and 60% power with a dot duration of 120 at 380 dpi for the art. The engraving was finished in under 2 minutes and looks fantastic. The image was an AI-generated line drawing of the late, great actor, Robert Shaw, to go along with one of my husband’s favorite lines from the movie, “The Deep.”

The 60-watt MOPA laser has some intriguing color capabilities, and I was able to run a fairly impressive test array on the stainless steel sheet xTool provided. The engraving took 2 hours and 58 minutes to run. It did warp the thin metal, so some extra testing might be needed, but I ran out of stainless steel.

The MOPA laser has impressive embossing power, but the material presets left me guessing. I ran the embossing for 256 layers at 100% power at a speed of 1500 mm/s and 300 lines per cm. The design is the ship’s patch from my dad’s Navy boat. My depth map could’ve used a little less contrast, but the result was still pretty good and took 1 hour 51 minutes to complete. I would have liked to test more settings, but I only had one sample coin for the review. If you’re getting this laser, be sure to stock up on test materials to perfect your settings.

Using the same settings and only 30 layers, I was able to emboss my logo surrounded by a wreath from xTools’ clip art onto a brass seal in a little over 25 minutes. The stamp is cleanly engraved and makes a crisp impression. The seal is melted bronze wax, highlighted with a silver marker.

The MOPA laser has the power to engrave jewelry in just a few seconds, and the camera positioning is amazingly precise. These tags are crisp and clean, and even using small items, I had no problem getting the designs exactly where I wanted them.

Bottom Line

Overall, the xTool F2 Ultra delivers exactly what it promises: speed, precision, and serious capability. The combination of a 60W MOPA fiber laser and a 40W blue diode laser gives it an unusually broad material range, allowing one machine to handle work that would normally require multiple specialized tools. From deep metal engraving and stainless steel color marking, to wood, acrylic, and coated items, the F2 Ultra feels purpose-built for production work rather than hobby experimentation.

Its galvo system is impressively consistent across the full work area, and the positioning camera adds a level of confidence that is essential when working with high-value, one-of-a-kind pieces.

This is not a casual desktop laser. It requires respect for safety and a good external air filter. The updated xTool Studio software ultimately supports that professional workflow well, even if the AI features and token system may frustrate users who prefer fully offline or self-contained tools.

Starting at $4999 for a single laser unit, and going up to $8099 for a fully loaded system with an air purifier, the F2 Ultra is a hefty investment. But it earns its keep by delivering outstanding metal engravings with exceptional speed. For jewelry makers and entrepreneurs looking into personalization businesses, the xTool F2 Ultra stands out as one of the most capable and refined desktop galvo lasers currently available.

If you’re not ready to make such a sizable investment, the portable xTool F1 laser is $1099 and great for taking to festivals for personalizing merch on the go. If you want to laser large things safely tucked inside an enclosure – including clear acrylic – check out the xTool P2 CO2 laser, which is on sale for $3,399.

“Floppy disks are the best storage media ever invented,” claims tech tinkerer and maker Mads Chr. Olesen. The devoted dad has made it his mission to prove that assertion to his three-year-old son, by making an easy, tactile, Smart TV control system that is fed by these distinctive physical manifestations of the save icon. Say hello to the FloppyDiskCast smart TV remote system for kids.

Modern Smart TV controls are disempowering for toddlers, reckons Olesen. The maker considers the bundled remote control, or using smart device controls, to introduce too much ‘noise’ and distraction to the use of a Smart TV. The tile-based UIs may even cause little ones to develop short attention spans – if they can even successfully navigate the interfaces.

The Smart TV meets toddler problem played on Olesen’s mind, until he decided that kids would benefit from the floppy disk experience of yore. Putting the idea into practice, the first idea of using a floppy shell to enclose an RFID tag was set aside. Olesen wanted the floppy disk remote control device to exhibit the authentic “click, whirrr, brrr brrr,” feedback that veteran users of this portable removable storage media were familiar with.

The maker seems most familiar with retro-Windows ways of loading removable media. That meant “floppy drives basically don’t know if a disk is inserted until the operating system tries to access it.” But those of us who used Apple Macs and Amigas back in the day remember the former’s whirring clicky auto-feed mechanism, and the latter’s constant FDD ticking, ready to sense media, if the slot was empty.

Olesen eventually figured that pin 34 on old floppy drives could relay disk change information. But to get it to work, he needed to make a physical switch to engage when a disk was inserted. When a floppy is detected, the Arduino FDC Floppy library by dhansel comes into play.

Making the insertion of a particular floppy disk fire up the playback of a particular TV show comes down to a short configuration file ‘autoexec.sh’ that Olesen adds to each floppy. Since the disk read bursts are so short, it was feasible to make this floppy disk-driven remote battery-powered, despite the ancient desktop computer tech at its heart.

Different config files reside on different disks, featuring different colors and artwork, and play different shows. It is a highly intuitive Smart TV control method for the toddler. It likely ‘feels’ to the user that the media playing is the disk, but the Arduino code simply fires up the corresponding streams via a Chromecast.

If you are interested in making your own FloppyDiskCast, click this link to head on over to GitHub and get making.

We all love to check out the latest and greatest best laser cutting and engraving hardware. However, it is important not to overlook the vitally important software side of the equation. In this article, we will examine the perhaps bewildering array of laser control software options available to new hardware users. Then our attention will turn to more familiar ground for many: using traditional 2D bitmap and vector imaging software to create artwork that will be brought into the 3D maker world. Along the way, we will share insights and tips to help you make the most of your shiny new hardware.

Topics discussed below include:

• With lasers the 2D mindset still 'works' but they can make 3D stuff
• 'Generic' laser software: LightBurn, Laser GRBL, and EZCAD2
• Bundled software from laser hardware brands is getting better
• Preparing artwork and graphics - vector and bitmap choices

Lasers bring 2D designs into a 3D world

We live in a 3D world, but 3D creation software isn’t the easiest to grasp or become proficient in. Thankfully, many of the old-school tried-and-true 2D bitmap editing and 2D vector drawing packages that have been around for decades can be used to create useful and decorative 3D objects, in tandem with a laser cutter and engraver.

For evidence of this, see our recent laser reviews or browse the extensive online libraries of laser projects at sites like Atomm, 3axis, and VectorsFile.

These portals are stuffed with source files for 3D creations that are slotted and/or glued together from cut 2D sheet materials. Common projects include elaborate decorative storage, holders, stands, toys, lamps, and more. If an object can be made from assembling custom-cut and engraved sheet materials, you are basically good to go. If you think about it, that’s a lot of things. Admittedly, 3D printers are more flexible in the complex and seamless forms that they can create, but that’s another story.

Lasers can also be used simply for decorative purposes - that's usually engraving rather than cutting. In this area of the laser-verse, common projects might be engraving pre-shaped name tags, coasters, chopping boards, and the list goes on... Even cylindrical objects like flasks, tumblers, and cups of various materials can be professionally engraved - if your laser has a rotational attachment.

‘Generic’ laser software

There’s a software ecosystem of commercial and free tools for controlling laser-cutting and engraving machinery. Depending on what controller is embedded into your machine, and the machine’s type and price bracket, you will often be instructed by a manufacturer to download a free control software application.

Applications like LaserGRBL are usually suggested for those who have just acquired a hobby-entry-level diode laser with GRBL / GCode controller hardware. Another option you may see suggested with a CO2 laser is RDWorks. And UV/Fiber galvo-head lasers from numerous brands can take advantage of a free software ride with the EZCAD2 application.

These freebies will, of course, do the job, and many enjoy success and satisfaction from using them. However, if you feel you are going to outgrow this functional free software with limited support, plan to be a power-user, or want to learn one laser software suite that will work across most of the hardware that is out there, it might be worth taking a look at LightBurn.

LightBurn

This is a flexible, multi-platform powerhouse laser cutter and engraver suite, but it requires payment after a generous free trial period. A LightBurn Software license can be had for as little as $99 (works only with typically budget GCode lasers) to $199 (works with DSP and Galvo lasers, too).

Whether paid vs free software makes sense to you is your decision. However, the best tool is often the one you know, and since LightBurn Software has been working in this niche for years, earning a good reputation, it can be a good choice for an established multi-laser workshop-equipped person, or a new entrant who thinks they will be working with these machines across multiple devices or generations.

The way LightBurn is laid out and works seems to have set the standard of what to expect from laser control software. We’ll talk about custom brand bundled software later, but upon firing up the software and connecting a laser machine, you will be presented with the following:

• To the left and top:
• Shape presets and drawing tools, Import, Nesting, Step and repeat, Image adjustment, Offsets/kerf, Dimensions and alignment controls
• To the right:
• Layers controls, Laser settings adjustments per layer, Laser hardware controls

To the upper left side of the LightBurn UI there will be many familiar looking tools, such as shape drawing primitives, and ways to adjust shapes, group and combine shapes, and so on. Particularly useful laser-related tools include those to create arrays from selected shapes.

In essence, you have a basic vector illustration package here, with excellent alignment, arrangement, and Boolean combination tools. This will be particularly useful for drawing the cut lines for your projects, if you feel you don't need to harness the power of a full-blown illustration software package.

The vector tool set is a natural fit for clean, accurate cuts, but laser users will often want to mix their material cutting with some engraving. This is often where importing bitmap/raster graphics (such as.JPG, .PNG, .TIF, etc.) comes in.

LightBurn has you covered for the easy import, manipulation, and engraving output of bitmaps, too. In the example above, you can see I've imported a picture of a guitar to the canvas. Then I masked it with a star shape I drew using the built-in vector tools. At the time of the screenshot, I am viewing the Adjust Image options dialog. This is an important step toward achieving a pleasing level of contrast and detail in your material.

With all the variations between materials and lasers available, there's no perfect preset formula for great output. You will have to go through some trial-and-error adjustments to optimize things for your particular setup. Factory suggested settings are likely to provide 'OK' results, but time spent calibrating and testing both engraving and cutting samples of your favorite materials is always worthwhile.

One of the last things we want to highlight about LightBurn and similar laser software packages is the usefulness of the 'kerf' settings in preparing 2D sheets for 3D construction. This is where the software can adjust output to allow for the burned-away material waste when a laser cuts. Say you draw a precise 100mm square vector cut in the software, and then laser-cut a pine plank. Take out your steel rule, and you might find the finished cut object is actually 98mm square, or even smaller. This is because the laser cut might burn away up to a millimeter of material all the way around a shape, depending on laser/settings/materials.

Kerf settings might safely be ignored for many projects. However, if you are outputting several sheets for what will be assembled into a 3D project, tweaks to kerf can mean the pieces slot/interlock much more precisely. That will give your boxes, or other assembled sheet material work, a better fit and finish.

We have mentioned these aspects of LightBurn, as they are laser-specific features that differentiate packages like this from illustration software. However, these are typical features in most laser control packages.

Bundled software from laser brands is improving

Differentiating hardware with custom software suites is a growing trend among laser machine producers. For the last two lasers I tested, both brands suggested the best way to use their shiny new hardware was with their own-branded bundled software, though they also offered some initial LightBurn support.

As someone who prefers to use tried-and-tested 2D tools like Photoshop and Illustrator for preparing bitmaps and vectors, respectively, I am quite flexible with laser-specific software. It doesn't have to do much beyond allowing me to import, arrange, and output my files, with plenty of settings to dial in great output.

So, beyond a few software bugs, these laser-maker-branded suites were excellent at their tasks. Moreover, they worked with the full gamut of hardware-specific features like LiDAR autofocus, rotational attachments, positioning, and preview cameras — straight from the box — no need to wait for a third-party software vendor to get around to adding support for new-fangled software.

That means my advice is to at least give the own-brand bundled software a shot. You might find it does the jobs you need with minimum fuss, with full, easy-to-access support for the hardware you are using. Moreover, though there may be some unfamiliar new features such as 'AI' tools and project library integrations in these apps, they invariably still cover the basics - with a canvas, simple shape creation and arranging tools, import tools, and output layers and laser settings tools.

As hinted at above, though, some LightBurn pros working across multiple machines will probably like to keep their workflow under a single roof.

Preparing artwork and graphics - vector and bitmap wrangling

Choosing to originate your laser artwork in either vector or bitmap tools is one of those horses for courses decisions, where you should choose according to each image format's strengths. However, there are overlaps in the qualities of either format. Moreover, for simple cuts like rectangles, ellipses, and compound shapes easily made in laser cutter software, you can do without a dedicated vector drawing package and use the built-in shape tools most laser software provides.

Vector software - ideal for type, logos and complex cut shapes

If you want to create a laser output design that goes beyond including simple type or cutting shapes, it is worth investing some time and effort to prepare vector artwork to be imported onto the laser software canvas. In my recent work, I relied on 2D illustration software to create some complex cut Halloween and Xmas decorations to be cut from wood and perspex. These included various types of outlines and shapes.

When I traced and duplicated a guitar scratchplate, high-precision and easy adjustment of elements for iterative tweaking was also essential. This could only practically be done with vector illustration software. In my case, I rely on an old copy of Adobe Illustrator that only just remains compatible with the latest version of Windows. I've been using it for decades, so it is a favored, trusty, and non-subscription software tool. However, there are good modern and free alternatives like Affinity Studio and Inkscape - which can also be used to craft complex .SVG files, which laser software import filters seem to favor.

Vector files aren't just for cut lines, though. They can also be the best for engraved type, logos, and other design elements where are clearly defined edge will work well. Engraving a logo of your favorite sports team on a glass tankard will probably work best from a vector source file, for example.

Most vector software (and some laser software) allows for tracing bitmaps into vector, but in my experience, the results are hit-and-miss. But it is good to see that laser software can now often edit vector graphics nodes and undertake other basic edits, so you don't have to keep flipping back to the dedicated illustration software, exporting, and importing, to make small changes.

Bitmap - ideal for photo engraving, pictorial scenes.

The strength of bitmap graphics is as a source for photo-like engraving. If you want a photo of your dog on a painted steel pendant (for example), you will probably want to import one of your favorite doggy pics for the purpose.

You can do this straight into most laser software and make adjustments / apply preset adjustments to match optimized output settings for various materials. However, if you are more familiar with Photoshop, or the free GIMP or Affinity Studio software, you might like to fine-tune the shape, brightness, contrast, and levels of the bitmap artwork there. It is mostly a matter of preference and practice, which you will end up preferring over time.

During my testing and comparisons, it was notable that laser software like LightBurn is specifically tailored for mono photo processing, with its wide variety of monochrome dithering, threshold, and other adjustments.

Modern general photo editing software, however advanced, tends to neglect halftoning and dithering algorithms that were so important during the mono monitor/newsprint era, and that translate well to laser engraving. GIMP is one welcome exception to this trend.

Conclusion

I hope this laser software-focused article has provided some interesting and worthwhile insight into the topic. And it is a big topic, where if something already works for you, it might be worth sticking with your favorite apps and methodology.

There are so many other important aspects to getting the most from your laser, like hardware choice, materials choice, and preparation, to become familiar with. Nevertheless, we hope the cut and engraved results you can get will soften the learning curve and make the quest to get the most from your laser enjoyable.

Laser engravers, the crafting kind, not the sci-fi kind, are quietly taking over workshops, maker spaces, and craft rooms. Once restricted to industrial settings, consumer-grade laser cutters and engravers have become more powerful, easier to use, and much safer. Today, hobbyists can engrave wood, acrylic, stone, leather, and even certain metals without renting factory space or risking their eyesight. Here's a guide to the latest features and types of lasers present on the best laser cutters and engravers available on the market.

Why Lasers Cutters Are Getting Popular

Lasers are incredibly easy to use and don’t require a degree in mechanical engineering to operate. An affordable desktop laser can engrave nearly anything you can fit under the lens, from organic materials to metals. Lasers can be used to make keychains, ornaments, earrings, puzzles, signs, rubber stamps, or even custom jigs.

You also don’t need to be an artist to create beautiful objects with a laser; it can even be used to transfer purchased designs or clip art onto unadorned blanks. Objects like tumblers, cutting boards, and plain boxes can be found at Amazon, IKEA, and even Walmart. You can also repurpose thrift store finds into marvelous treasures with a bit of clever laser engraving.

Software for designing laser projects is typically easier than CAD software needed for 3D printing. Instead of wrestling with meshes and geometry, a beautiful laser project can be whipped up with coloring book outlines or simple vector paths. Many manufacturers now bundle easy-to-use design software with their machines for free.

Who Can Use a Laser?

Almost anyone. If you can draw a line, a laser can cut it. A basic laser pattern can be made from clip art, a coloring book page or a kid’s doodle. All you need to do is feed a clear image with bold contrast into your laser’s design software and ask it to trace. It’s really that easy.

Obviously, if you’re more artistic, crafty or have a bit of woodworking experience, you’ll be able to create more complex projects. Many manufactures also include access to file sharing sites where you can download expertly made patterns to follow.

Laser Cutters vs. 3D Printers

Both laser cutters and 3D printers are appealing to the DIY maker set, but they serve different purposes.

3D Printers let you build nearly anything from molten plastic, but require significant design skill and can be slow. Prints can take hours or even days, and machines need constant maintenance and readily available spare parts.

Laser Cutters are fast and able to work with beautiful organic materials like wood and leather. It's ideal for creating signs, adding logos, and quick customizations. Maintenance is simpler; just keep the optics clean and ensure ventilation. Lasers have fewer moving parts, so there is less of a chance of mechanical failure.

However, lasers come with real safety concerns. They cut by literally setting things on fire, which creates smoke and obvious safety hazards. They require more attention and more safety precautions. I wouldn’t blink at leaving the house while my 3D printer churns out a three-day print, but I rarely leave the room while my laser is running.

The Safety Revolution

Early hobby lasers were almost comically unsafe. My first machine was an open-frame 5W diode bolted to a bare bones XY gantry with a plastic “hood” meant to shield your eyes. The manufacturer insisted the tinted acrylic was enough, but still included a pair of (uncertified) UV safety goggles. The machine had to be isolated behind closed doors so my pets or kids didn’t wander in while it was running. And ventilation? One of the first lasers I used came with a cooling fan strapped to a simple filter to “manage fumes.” It set off my smoke detector. It wasn’t long before I had my husband install a proper exhaust fan in the craft room to pull smoke and fumes outside.

I’ve learned my lesson and no longer recommend open frame machines. Laser-proof enclosures are a must-have piece of equipment. Manufacturers now agree, and today you’ll be hard-pressed to find a laser cutter or engraver that doesn’t come with a built-in enclosure to keep everyone in the room safe from stray beams.

The best laser tools have interlock switches that disable the beam if the lid opens, proper filtration, emergency stop buttons, and fire detection systems. Safety isn’t an afterthought; it’s a selling point. Even an inexpensive laser will come with a hose pipe so you can vent the machine out through an open door or window.

These thoughtful improvements make a real difference. Lasers have improved largely because they’ve become safer. More people feel comfortable using them in homes and studios, and there are even units perfectly safe to take to events.

What You Can Cut (and What You Can’t) with a Laser

Lasers can cut and engrave wood, stone, acrylic, and some plastics, but not all materials are safe. PVC and vinyl release toxic chlorine gas, polycarbonate melts rather than cuts, and reflective metals can bounce the beam back into your machine. Some painted materials may smoke or catch fire. Even leather can be risky: only untreated, vegetable-tanned leather is safe, while chrome-tanned or heavily dyed leather can release harmful fumes.

A good rule of thumb is to stick to untreated “organic” materials. Plus, you can always buy laser-safe materials and ready-to-laser blank stock from manufacturers like xTool and Bambu Lab.

How Lasers Work

All laser cutters and engravers use highly focused light at very specific wavelengths. Consumer lasers generally fall into three main categories: Diode, Fiber, and CO₂. Diode lasers themselves operate at different wavelengths: UV, blue, or near-infrared (IR), with each wavelength better suited for cutting or engraving particular materials.

It helps to understand what we mean by wavelength. Light waves are measured in nanometers (nm), which are billionths of a meter. Visible light from the sun, a light bulb, or a laser cutter spans roughly 400-700 nm, with blue on the shorter end and red on the longer. Different wavelengths interact with materials differently: shorter wavelengths tend to produce fine detail with less heat, while longer wavelengths penetrate more deeply and can leave charred marks.

For example, standard blue diode lasers that burn through wood are around 450 nm, while fiber lasers for metal marking are about 1064 nm. CO₂ lasers, which operate at 10.6 microns (10,600 nm), are far into the infrared, producing heat that can slice through wood, acrylic, and leather more effectively than most diode lasers.

Wave Lengths of Consumer Laser Cutters and Engravers

▶️ UV Lasers (355 nm)

True ultraviolet (UV) lasers are just starting to appear in the consumer market. Often referred to as “cold lasers,” they can produce cleaner, more precise marks without heating up the material. UV lasers excel at marking plastics, coated metals, and electronics without burning or melting the material. They can also be used to etch or “inner engrave” glass blocks and spheres.

▶️ Blue Diode Lasers (445–455 nm)

Blue diodes are the most common for hobby use. Basic crafting machines often start at 3W, which is sufficient for engraving paper or cardstock. A 5W module is well-suited for wood and leather engraving, while higher-power diodes (up to 40W) can cut thicker wood or leather or etch stone. Generally, the higher the power, the thicker the material the laser can cut.

▶️ Infrared (IR) Diode Lasers (808–980 nm)

Low-power IR lasers are primarily used for metal marking and etching, not for cutting. They differ from blue diodes in both wavelength and material interactions, making them ideal for certain metal applications.

▶️ Fiber Lasers (1064 nm)

Fiber lasers are more expensive than diode lasers, but excellent for metal marking and cutting. They produce a wavelength that couples efficiently with metals, making them ideal for engraving jewelry, electronics, or small steel parts.

▶️ CO₂ Lasers (10,600 nm)

CO₂ lasers are larger, more powerful, and more expensive. These lasers use a mixture of gases (mainly CO₂) sealed in a tube to generate the laser beam. They also need liquid cooling to operate. They can deliver 40–150W of optical power, slicing through acrylics, plywood, leather, and other organic materials that diode lasers struggle with. Because they operate far in the infrared, they rely on heat to cut or engrave rather than material absorption of visible light.

Power Matters

Power, measured in watts, determines how fast and deep a laser can cut. A 3W diode can gently engrave cardstock, while a 40W CO₂ machine can slice through quarter-inch plywood like butter. Choosing the right power depends on your material and project goals. High wattage also improves cutting speed, which is especially useful for thicker materials or repeated production runs.

High-power laser cutters often use air assist, which blows a focused stream of air directly onto the cutting spot. This clears smoke and debris, keeps edges crisp, and helps prevent flare-ups or small fires. By keeping the cutting zone clean and slightly cooler, air assist makes cuts faster, safer, and more precise, especially on wood, leather, or other flammable materials.

The Bottom Line

Lasers have come a long way from industrial curiosities to powerful, safe, and accessible tools for home workshops. They combine speed, precision, and versatility, allowing hobbyists and small business owners to create professional-quality projects with minimal setup. Understanding wavelengths, power, and material compatibility ensures better results and keeps your laser safe.

Whether you’re personalizing gifts, engraving signs, or making custom components, laser cutters and engravers open up a world of creative possibilities for makers of all skill levels.

What do you do if you are so good at video games that playing against family and friends becomes drained of all its entertainment value? If you are Nick, at the Basically Homeless YouTube channel, you combine woodworking, hardware hacking, and software shenanigans to enhance your friendly foes with a slick, mechanized, mousepad-driven aim-assist system that imparts expert-level headshot skills. The system uses a computer vision model to monitor the screen and identify targets, and then moves the mousepad underneath the mouse to zero in on the perfect shot. In practice, this worked so well and so transparently that some of Nick’s opponents began to think they had elite-level aiming skills.

The finished moving mousepad aim assist system works great, but how was it actually created? Nick is the kind of person who thinks on his feet, so even before finalizing the design, he got busy routing a big hole in his bamboo-topped table, a few inches smaller than the sizable opaque white glass mousepad that had already been chosen.

He would pick a few different transport solutions before settling on using the gantry and controller board from an Xdraw A4 drawing board to move the mousepad physically. Thankfully, that choice still fits with his earlier decisions regarding the table routing and the mousepad.

Hacking to gain control of the drawing board revealed that it had a commonplace GRBL controller, so it wasn’t too complicated to command and control this stripped-down device. With this determined, Nick could get on with fitting the mousepad movement mechanism, stripped from the drawing board, under the table, and attaching the mousepad on top. A little bit of 3D printing was required to make the perfect inserts/spacers for the mousepad fitting and sliding mechanism.

The next step would have been mightily complicated had it not been for the availability of the YOLO-based computer vision model. Nick’s software implementation used this model to monitor the screen. Based on what was happening on the screen, the computer vision system would calculate the required motion and send serial commands to the mousepad’s GRBL-driven motion rig. This way, when a target was detected within a generous radius of the crosshair, the mechanized gantry swiftly adjusted the aim to become a laser-accurate headshot.

One of the best illustrations of how slickly the mechanical mousepad's aim assist worked was provided by Olivia, towards the end of the video. To start, she believed she was naturally good at eSports gaming. However, Nick quietly disabled the aim assist “for science,” and his opponent’s mood turned a little sour, accusing him of cheating… So, he turned it back on in the spirit of good sportsmanship.

Fully programmable, autonomous robots “smaller than a grain of salt” have been developed in a collaborative effort between research teams from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan. Claimed to be the world’s smallest of their kind, these nanoscale robots are expected to find applications in medicine, microscale manufacturing, and other areas. Remarkably, the researchers contend that these robots will cost only one penny each to manufacture.

Penn Engineering was responsible for the physical structure and features of these microscopic robots, while Michigan scientists gave the robots their ‘brains.’ The Michigan lab involved in this collaboration also holds the record for creating the world’s smallest computer.

Barely visible robots move using ion propulsion

Let’s look at Penn Engineering’s work first. Scientists there designed the physical aspects of the tiny robots, each measuring about 200 x 300 x 50 micrometers. This is similar to the scales of many microorganisms, and as such, they face different physical challenges than the robots with which we are most familiar.

With the challenges of drag and viscosity that such tiny robots will face, it was decided to make them ‘swimmers.’ However, to keep them small, the scientists designed an entirely new propulsion system so that moving parts (such as limbs) wouldn’t be needed for locomotion.

Interestingly, these robots generate an electric field that “nudges ions in the surrounding solution,” allowing them to “swim.” Adjusting this ion field can help robots move in complex and/or coordinated patterns. Having no moving parts also makes them highly durable; for example, they can be picked up with a micropipette without being damaged.

Another challenge of their tiny size was the power supply. The design that was adopted uses solar power, with the solar cells making up the majority mass of the robot body. Even though solar was maximized, it yields only 75 nanowatts of power, underscoring the importance of efficiency.

Communicating with light and a waggle dance

To be fully programmable, autonomous robots, these tiny machines need on-board processing, and this is where the expertise of the University of Michigan was applied.

According to the source blog, the robot's physical components get their smarts courtesy of a highly efficient processor, memory, and sensors. To program the robots, pulses of light are used – thus the solar panels do double duty. Meanwhile, to retrieve data from the robots and their sensors, they have been programmed to perform a honeybee-like waggle dance using their propulsion systems.

These robots can be deployed in their hundreds to get their tasks completed. Their autonomous operational life is measured in months, thanks to solar power and their level of efficiency. The first test sample carried a temperature sensor, which is good for all kinds of analytical tasks. However, it would not be challenging to switch the sensor.

Despite all this advanced technology at play, the researchers say that these fully programmable, autonomous robots “can be fabricated cheaply at scale,” costing only a penny each to produce. What we are seeing now is “just the first chapter” of micro-robots, promise the researchers.

Swiss scientists have used dead lobster parts as robotic appendages. The strong yet flexible and lightweight exoskeletons of these marine animals have been successfully demonstrated as robotic manipulators, grippers, and swimmers or flappers flexing at up to 8 Hz. The use of dead animal parts makes this an advance in ‘necrobotics.’ This example of bio-hydrid robotics, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), is particularly sustainable necro-tech, as it uses crustacean shells that are waste from food production.

"Dead Matter, Living Machines"

Often, researchers are inspired by nature to create better man-made things. However, necrobotics unashamedly commandeers bits of (dead) nature to do its bidding. If you need a sustainable robot part, that is the size and shape of a lobster tail, then why reinvent the wheel?

“Exoskeletons combine mineralized shells with joint membranes, providing a balance of rigidity and flexibility that allows their segments to move independently. These features enable crustaceans’ rapid, high-torque movements in water, but they can also be very useful for robotics,” explains EPFL’s CREATE Lab head Josie Hughes. “And by repurposing food waste, we propose a sustainable cyclic design process in which materials can be recycled and adapted for new tasks.”

In the video above, you can see a set of clips showing the scientists testing the dead crustacean exoskeleton’s use in robotics applications. Specifically, Langoustine tails are used as the robotic appendages throughout these tests. Langoustines are a smaller member of the lobster family, also known as Norway lobsters, Dublin Bay prawns, or scampi.

The first segment of the video shows a pair of these tails being used for gripping a variety of (mostly soft) objects. The associated research paper says that “a 3g exoskeleton [is] capable of supporting a 680g payload.” Though drastically outsized and outweighed by some of the objects, these necrobotic grippers are capable in lifting and manipulation, and don’t appear to easily damage things like tomatoes.

Later parts of the video show langoustine tails make for extremely capable robotic swimming appendages – no surprise. In air, the scientists found they could flap pretty fast, up to approx 8 Hz.

Chitin, a natural biopolymer, is the key structural component in crustaceans (and insects), which makes their exoskeletons so useful here. It is a very easy to source materials, which is strong, flexible, and light weight, as well as being biodegradable and biocompatible.

To improve on the exoskeleton’s already attractive qualities as an articulated appendage, the Swiss scientists added a silicon coating to reinforce strength and extend useful lifespan. Inside the exoskeleton an elastomer was fixed, and attached on the synthetic-end to a motorized base.

“To our knowledge, we are the first to propose a proof of concept to integrate food waste into a robotic system that combines sustainable design with reuse and recycling,” said CREATE Lab researcher and first author, Sareum Kim.

Going forward, the researchers propose more advanced synthetic augmentation mechanisms like tunable controllers, which would adjust for the natural variation in biological structures. In any case, nature still outperforms many artificial systems and provides great insight into elegant materials and mechanical design.

Use of necro-tech increasingly common in scientific research.

Last month we highlighted Necroprinting technology, where dead mosquito proboscis were used for the finest, and most sustainably sourced, 3D printer nozzles. In 2022, we also saw dead spiders being used as ‘necrobots,’ specifically for robotic grabbers (see the video clip below).

Are you a maker and suspect that you have a festive sneak‑a‑looker in your home? Well, the Makerinator has returned with the perfect project for you, dubbed the (Christmas) Present Peeker Trap. In brief, it’s a couple of microcontrollers, connected to a camera, photoresistor, buzzer, and software stack to send SMS, save video to the cloud, and serve a video of the dastardly peeker, wrapped nicely in a dedicated app.

The Makerinator introduces the project by describing the issue it is designed to address and voicing his strong suspicions about Mrs. Inator.

The idea is cunning, but you have to think like a fox to catch a fox. In simple terms, when a present peeker opens a gift box to glance at its secret-til-Christmas contents, the light entering the box hits a photoresistor. This triggers a series of events to record the guilty party and send an alert and a video to the Makerinator’s mobile app.

In practice, it took several days of frustration, fiddling, and tweaking on both hardware and software fronts of the maker equation before everything worked as it should.

If you watch the video above, the Makerinator will walk you through the Present Peeker Trap creation process, from selecting the initial components and coding, to adding more components and coding again, to quashing wiring bugs and coding again, before testing the trap.

It turns out that the original plan of simply using a single microcontroller and cheap camera sensor wasn’t viable. Thus, subsequent iterations of this project swapped out the camera to one that was capable enough to show a face without a full set of studio lights shining directly at it. Moreover, the ESP32 Cam board alone was too puny to handle all the work, so Makerinator added an Arduino Nano clone to handle photoresistor sensing and buzzer functionality.

During a demonstration, which we strongly suspect didn’t feature the real Mrs. Inator (or Santa), the finished Christmas Present Peeker Trap worked as follows:

• Mrs. Inator can’t resist Christmas parcel peeking, so she opens up the Christmas Present Peeker Trap box that was left unattended.
• The photoresistor sensor reacts to the flood of light and sets off the buzzer.
• A text message is sent to the Makerinator’s phone.
• A ten-second video clip is recorded, saved onto a microSD card, and uploaded to the cloud.
• The text message has a link which, when clicked, opens up the custom Christmas Present Peeker Trap mobile app.
• The app allows the Makerinator to identify and watch the reaction of the guilty present peeker.
• A copy of the video is also sent to Santa at the North Pole, so Mrs. Inator will be added to the naughty list.

Overall, it is another fun, quirky, and borderline useful project from the Makerinator, who last starred within our pages with a project that automated restaurant, chore, date night, and movie night choices. Dubbed the Decisionator, that project was claimed to be a marriage saver. However, the appearance of ‘Mrs. Inator’ in this new video leads us to wonder if the marriage really was saved.

When thinking of a desktop monitor, one would naturally think about a high-resolution display, perhaps one of the best monitors would suffice? But, surely you wouldn't think about building your own, tiny 1.14 inch display? Tucker Shannon did just that, using an ESP32 microcontroller based board.

ESP32-Desktop-Monitor from r/esp32

Shannon's project is based on the TENSTAR T-Display ESP32-D0WD, which has an integrated 1.14-inch ST7789 LCD display with a resolution of just 135 x 240 pixels. Just big enough to see something, but it feels like a secondary display for ants, rather than any productivity tasks. In the video above, we can see a scaled Google Chrome window, essentially the same output as seen on Shannon's main display, just mirrored and scaled to the ESP32 desktop monitor. Screens like the ST7789 are common in the maker and microcontroller world; a quick look in my desk drawers shows a few examples of this and compatible displays.

The process for sending the video stream to the ESP32 is to capture the main display and stream the frames over Wi-Fi using a custom protocol. The stream only sends changed pixels by comparing the current frame with the previous one. This means that for relatively static screens, Shannon's project can achieve 60FPS, but for more active displays, it drops to around 5FPS. Of course, this also depends on network speeds and quality, but Shannon states that latency is less than 100ms end-to-end on good Wi-Fi.

Powering the project is the aforementioned TENSTAR T-Display ESP32-D0WD. This $11 dev board has 16MB of flash and an integrated ST7789 LCD display. The screen uses the board's SPI interface to communicate with the chip, and Shannon programmed the board using the Arduino IDE. The board simply acts as a receiver, waiting for the frames to arrive. On the transmitter PC, a Python script runs, and that is where the current and previous frames are compared (frame diffing) and then encoded using the most efficient method. The frames are then batched up and sent to the receiving ESP32.

You're probably thinking, "What is the purpose of this project?" and Shannon thinks it would be perfect for remote monitoring dashboards, secondary displays, Internet of Things (IoT), and to learn how to use the ESP32 and Wi-Fi streaming. No matter how you use it, Shannon's project shows just what is possible with limited resources and clever coding.

All of the code and instructions on how to build your own can be found on Shannon's GitHub page.

Swedish-German developer Steffen has just shared the source code for a new firmware they created that allowed them to free a new Xiaomi humidifier from the cloud.

Smart home appliances are everywhere these days, and there's a good chance you've got one in your house right now. They make it easy to control your devices, allowing you to manage them wirelessly and set up routines that save you from life's mundanity. Unfortunately, they all require an internet connection to function; a non-negotiable for people who don't like the idea of products that ship with planned obsolescence, or who want localized automation.

The story begins like any good narrative: a need for the protagonist to achieve a goal or overcome hardship — only here, it's not some insurmountable, mythic odds; rather, a Xiaomi Mi Smart Antibacterial Humidifier. Steffen was looking for a humidifier that used the ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller since he could easily write custom firmware for those to work with ESPHome.

ESPHome is another framework that uses configuration files to enable complex yet powerful smart home setups. It takes the aforementioned ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontrollers and converts them into intelligent devices that integrate directly with smart home platforms. So, flashing purpose-written code on an MCU that powers otherwise locked-down appliances can unlock their full potential, making you the sysadmin.

The same people who make ESPHome also make Home Assistant, the other piece of the puzzle. Home Assistant is a self-hosted alternative to platforms like Google Home, while still being compatible with digital assistants. Think of it as the top-most layer in the home automation stack; it allows you to tie everything together locally. Very few humidifiers are natively supported by Home Assistant, so ESPHome is required here.

Now that the dev has shared the magic custom firmware, replicating the job is pretty simple. First, you disassemble the Xiaomi Humidifier to access its internals, where the Wi-Fi module is located. After separating it from the enclosure, you need to solder some wires to the chip’s UART interface. All the details are on Steffan's blog for anyone to follow along. The last step is to flash the new firmware built with ESPHome, which will communicate directly with Home Assistant.

Congratulations, you've now bypassed the manufacturer's servers and no longer need to rely on the cloud to ensure your appliance works properly. Home Assistant will give you all the control you need and then some to orchestrate the device without ever needing the internet. This ensures the brand can never remotely hinder what you own down the line; you can do whatever you want with what you paid for.

The benefits are already apparent, and it's almost a no-brainer for enthusiasts. Frankly, this entire operation is not much different from building custom PCs: we choose the parts we want rather than settling for a one-size-fits-all solution.

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W is a fully enclosed laser engraver/cutter that features a variable-output laser module, which can be adjusted between 22W, 40W, and 60W to suit the task at hand. The 400 x 400 mm build area comfortably fits the commonly available 12 x 12 inch size for most sheet materials, and the 60W setting is advertised as capable of cutting through 22mm wood in a single pass.

The Creality Falcon2 Pro is an incremental improvement to the original Creality Falcon2 line of laser engravers, which do not include an integrated enclosure by default. By adding an enclosure and a laser module with adjustable output, Creality is going for a Swiss Army knife–style approach: a high-wattage laser capable of cutting through thick material while also creating delicate engravings, all neatly enclosed and designed to fit comfortably in a factory or in a garage workshop.

While we were impressed with the cutting speed of the high-wattage laser and overall operation of the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W, the top enclosure is made of very thin acrylic and doesn’t give the same feeling of stability and protection that thicker enclosures like the xTool M1 or the Creality Falcon A1 Pro provide. In addition, light leakage was noticeable from a hole in the enclosure as well as a faint blue glow through the side panels during full-power cutting.

We tested the ‘Single Unit’ 60W package, which includes the 60W laser module and a 1.6W laser module for fine detail and is available for $2,699, currently on sale for $1,899. An accessory worth considering is the optional Creality Falcon Air Purifier, a highly effective smoke removal tool that is listed at $649, currently on sale for $519. Additional accessories include a rotary engraver, a honeycomb working table, and risers for larger engraved objects.

Creality offers the Falcon Design Space software for preparing and processing jobs for the Falcon2 Pro, and the engraver is also compatible with the free LaserGRBL as well as the more expensive LightBurn software. Falcon Design Space includes several design examples as well as a variety of editing tools to isolate images, convert them to grayscale, and even add offsets for cutting around the perimeter of a design. The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W wasn’t added to our list of the best laser cutters and engravers, but if you’re looking for a fully enclosed 60W laser, it's an option worth considering.

Specifications of Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W: Included in the box

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W includes everything you need to start using the laser, but there’s some assembly required before you can start making your first masterpiece. The Falcon2 Pro 60W bundle includes both the 60W laser module and a 1.6W laser module for fine detail, an external air assist unit, safety goggles, and all of the bolts and hex keys required for assembly. Creality also includes a printed manual with comprehensive assembly instructions and troubleshooting steps, complete with picture diagrams and translations in multiple languages.

The product page for the Falcon2 Pro claims “Ready to go in just 10 minutes after unpacking,” which I found to be a fairly optimistic claim. I spent at least that much time fiddling with the acrylic covers for the enclosure, which need to be slid along a recessed path on the rails of the lid and will pop out if not inserted correctly. The assembly of the Falcon2 Pro took me just under an hour, with the lid being the most time-consuming and frustrating part of the process.

The external air assist has a hose for airflow as well as a cable for power, both of which plug into the side of the Falcon2 Pro. There is a recessed dial in the unit which allows for manual control of the amount of airflow during use, a nice touch that allows a user to make adjustments on the fly during a job. The air assist has four rubber feet which reduce the amount of vibration transferred to the engraver during use.

Design of the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W has a unique sliding-lid mechanism that opens from the top, as opposed to a hinged or removable lid like the Mecpow X4 or WeCreat Vision Pro 45W (which is currently the best laser engraver for home business on the list). This sliding lid closes to create a fully-enclosed build volume (with a few caveats, more on that later), and the tray can be pulled out from the bottom for cleaning and removing small pieces of material that fall out during cutting jobs.

Noticeably absent from the Falcon2 Pro is any kind of LCD, touchscreen, or other interactive UI. Instead, the Falcon2 Pro has a microSD card which can be used to store jobs and several buttons to interact with the unit. This type of interface may be familiar for operators of large-format laser engravers, but first-time laser engraver users will likely expect some kind of screen with controls like the one found on the Creality Falcon A1 Pro. The front panel has connections for power, a microSD card for storage, and a USB port for communication with a computer in addition to the power switch, E-Stop, and keyed safety interlock. There’s no built-in Wi-Fi or network connectivity, so you’ll need to use either USB or microSD for sending jobs.

The Falcon2 Pro uses long, thin slats to raise the workpiece and prevent charring on the underside from cutting moves. These slats are flexible, and they don’t snap into place on the sides of the engraver. Instead of fitting securely with a friction-fit, they are loose, allowing them to move freely with a significant amount of play within the alignment slots. As opposed to a honeycomb tray or other cross-braced design, this slat-based solution is probably more cost-effective to manufacture, but it doesn’t have the same stability as a single-piece cutting insert.

The first test engraving I tried came out wobbly and distorted from all the movement during engraving. The slats would wobble and move due to the motion from the gantry, vibration from the air compressor, and other movements during operation. There are no fixtures to hold a workpiece against these slats, and there are no included parts to connect the slats to each other to prevent this vibration.

I found references to this issue in other reviews, and also found a 3D printable stabilizer on Printables by user etotheipi. I printed several of these in Conjure Black PLA and used them to stabilize the slats while also holding material in place during engraving. Creality offers honeycomb tables that are cross-braced and allow material to be pinned down, and it’s surprising that a machine in this price range wouldn’t include one by default. At a minimum, workholding fixtures or clamps should be included to securely hold the material against the slats.

The Falcon2 Pro uses a manual alignment process to adjust the focus between the laser module and the material. The included multi-level fixed focus block is used to manually set the offset between the laser module and material, and the two setscrews are tightened once the focus distance has been set. Similarly priced laser engravers like the WeCreat Vision Pro have auto-focusing functionality, which can save time and reduce operator intervention when processing multiple jobs with varying thicknesses of material.

The USB camera is integrated into the top of the lid, and faces directly down on the surface of the build area. The camera requires a separate USB connection to plug into a computer for use, which means you’ll need two USB-C ports available to operate the Falcon2 Pro while using the integrated webcam. The camera is used for visualizing part layout in the Falcon Design Space software and the integrated light bar in the front of the engraver provides plenty of light in the enclosure.

Safety Features of the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W has a magnetic interlock on the front lid of the unit, which will automatically cut power to the laser module if the interlock is broken and the lid is opened. The interlock has an LED which will change from blue (when closed) to red (when opened). This, combined with a keyed power switch and large resettable E-Stop makes it clear that this unit would be right at home in an industrial setting.

The enclosure of the Falcon2 Pro has a few issues, and it’s probably the weakest part of the entire machine. The most serious issue is light leakage, which is worth exploring a bit. The Falcon2 Pro is advertised as being a “Class 1 Laser Product”, which is a fully enclosed device that can be safely used without requiring laser safety glasses. However, the acrylic panels on the side are identical, which means there is an unfilled hole where the camera USB-C cable plugs in on the opposite side. The laser radiation can be clearly seen through this hole, which may have safety implications.

When cutting thick material using the 60W laser at full power, a slight blue glow can be seen clearly through the 2.7mm acrylic panels on the side. This is the first time I’ve seen laser radiation visible through an enclosure, and it is something worth noting if safety is a high concern. Putting on the included safety goggles completely filtered out this blue light, and I saw the typical yellow glow of a laser through the protective goggles. The material that this protective enclosure is made out of is thin and easily bent when touched, so long-term durability may be an issue for power users.

The 60W laser module has three LED indicators on the front of the unit: AIR, FIRE, and LENS. These three LED indicators give real-time feedback for airflow from the external air assist, the integrated flame detector, and a notification to clean the lens if it has accumulated too much smoke. Overall, the Falcon2 Pro has a level of safety consideration I would expect from a piece of industrial equipment, but I would have liked to see a more robust enclosure for filtering the laser radiation.

Smoke Purifier for the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

Creality also included the Creality Falcon Air Purifier, a $649 optional accessory which is used to pull smoke from the working volume of the Falcon2 Pro and pass it through a series of filters. The multi-stage filter is composed of three layers: a pre-filter, a honeycomb filter, and an activated carbon filter. The Creality Falcon Air Purifier has a rated airflow of 310m³/h and has a single dial to control the intensity. The 15.3 kg / 33.73 lb. unit has two large handles for lifting, and also has small swivel caster wheels underneath which make repositioning and moving an easy process.

I’ve used several air purifiers in the past, and this unit is easily my favorite to date. The audible volume is a little high for a home office, but the overall airflow and filtration more than makes up for the noise. Unlike smaller units like the Desktop Smoke Purifier included with the Creality Falcon A1 Pro, the Falcon Air Purifier was a good fit for a laser of this size, and was more than capable of handling the large amount of smoke generated when making deep cuts through thick material. The handles and casters make the purifier much easier to reposition than smaller, box-style units.

Software for Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W is compatible with Creality Falcon Design Space, LightBurn, and LaserGRBL. LaserGRBL is a free and simple Windows-only tool. LightBurn is an advanced paid application for both Windows and Mac. Creality Falcon Design Space is a free app for Windows and Mac that sits somewhere between the two. Offering a good compromise between advanced controls and an intuitive workspace, Falcon Design Space is my preferred software for controlling the Falcon2 Pro.

When you’re just getting started with laser engraving, finding designs to test and master can be a daunting experience. Falcon Design Space includes a library of designs that can be easily imported into the active canvas and prepared for engraving or cutting. This feature alone makes Falcon Design Space worth learning for beginners, and even experienced users will likely find something interesting in the ‘Inspiration’ tab in the software.

For users without photo editing software like Lightroom, Photoshop, or GIMP, preparing an image for engraving or cutting can be a frustrating process. Falcon Design Space offers a robust selection of photo editing tools, including AI-assisted cutout, filters for dithering, and shape manipulation tools. These are useful for isolating a subject from a background, grouping curves into a single selection, and assigning specific shapes to specific layers.

Falcon Design Space includes a camera calibration utility that not only calibrates the image of the build area but also checks the functionality of the motion system and laser. After taking several pictures of the calibration board in various positions around the build area, the included sheet of basswood plywood is engraved with a series of numbers and shapes. The calibration utility then takes a picture of this engraving and the user is able to complete the feedback loop between camera and laser.

Falcon Design Space has a variety of materials and thicknesses available as presets, and Creality has also included a comprehensive matrix of presets for the 22W, 40W, and 60W laser settings in PDF format. These documents outline recommended default settings (speed and power percentage), tailored for various material types, thicknesses, and corresponding laser power combinations. While final results may vary depending on the application, these starting points are usually a good way to reduce the number of trials before arriving at the ideal settings.

Engraving / Cutting with the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W

Using Falcon Design Space, setting up a build for the Creality Falcon2 Pro can be done in only a few clicks. First, I uploaded an SVG (the ‘Snowflake Ornament Bundle’ by d.bang.199 on Makerworld), selected a material (walnut board in 3mm thickness), and set the order for the line cuts. Once the build is prepared, the job can be sent over USB to the Falcon2 Pro where the status can be monitored in real-time. I had a piece of 3mm walnut wood that had a little bit of space left on it, so I used the camera to position the snowflake in an unused area.

The 60W laser creates fast and clean cuts on 3mm walnut plywood, with minimal charring or discoloration to the material. The default line cutting settings for 60W (850mm/min speed, 100% power) took an impressive 47 seconds to cut the ornament out from the plywood sheet, and the air assist module blowing on the workpiece prevented any smoke or char from discoloring the finished ornament.

When using the 60W laser, the 850mm/min cutting speed directly translates to quick cutting jobs when making small and intricate designs. The ‘28 Hanging Snowflakes’ model designed by STL - Factory on Makerworld contains exactly what it says in the title: 28 intricate and unique snowflakes designed to be hung. Bringing these into Falcon Design Space and cutting them out of a sheet of 3mm basswood plywood took 15 minutes. At roughly 30 seconds per snowflake, covering a tree in laser-cut ornaments can be accomplished in a short amount of time.

With Christmas right around the corner and Secret Santa lists starting to fill up, creating personalized gift tags is a great example of something you can easily make with a laser engraver. Falcon Design Space includes a Smart Fill tool which allows you to duplicate a design across multiple workpieces. The duplicated design is automatically aligned, which makes it easy to toss a handful of parts into the build area, sketch out a design on one of them, and use the Smart Fill tool to automatically duplicate, populate, and arrange the files.

The Falcon2 Pro took 11 minutes to fully engrave all six tags with the design, and I was happy to see the text was lined up correctly on all of them on the first try. This is a pretty simple application of the Smart Fill tool, but it illustrates how useful it can be for anyone producing multiple copies of the same part in a single job. Not just for gift tags, the Smart Fill tool will duplicate any design you select, so you can even populate a job with a stock message while leaving a blank space to add in a personalized name, number, or other piece of information.

Creality also included a box of acrylic sheets, a colorful, glossy material frequently seen in signage and other custom products. Using default settings for acrylic, this large plaque took about 25 minutes to engrave and cut from a solid sheet. The resulting part looks clean and consistent, and would be right at home in a trophy case at a school, office, or even at home. It’s important to use a smoke purifier when cutting through acrylic, as the released fumes are not safe to inhale.

The ‘Frog Coffee Coaster’ by 3D Prints with Shin on Falcon Design Space is a great example of how the included library allows users to download designs and apply them to their own projects. Originally designed for a wooden coaster, I used this design on a slate coaster instead. After loading the project in the active canvas, I changed the material to “Square Rock Coaster” and used the 60W setting (10,000mm/min, 25% power) and engraved the coaster in only 11 minutes.

The stone coaster has a mostly-flat surface, but the outermost ring of engraving crosses over a few irregular areas. Though the circle looks consistent when viewed from directly above, the distortion is noticeable around the edges when seen from the side. The 60W laser didn’t seem to have any issues engraving on these non-planar surfaces, and the overall quality of the engraving looks like what I’d expect from a laser engraver in the ~$2,000 price range.

Faux-leather patches are a great fit for laser engravers: they are small, inexpensive, and easy to customize with designs and text. Using the 60W laser at 6,000 mm/min speed and 15% power, the Falcon2 Pro engraved this patch in 4 minutes. The fine inset line on some of the text was partially removed by the more powerful laser setting, but I was satisfied with the quality for a first pass. The fine detail is a better fit for the 1.6W laser module, which is designed specifically for fine-detail engraving.

Engraving with the 1.6W Laser Module

Creality includes a 1.6W laser module with the 40W and 60W versions of the Falcon2 Pro which is intended for fine detail engraving. This laser module is also sold as an optional accessory for $88.88 and is compatible with the Falcon2 as well as the Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro and the Ender-3 V2 Neo. The 0.06mm x 0.06mm spot size of the 1.6W laser is also smaller than the 0.08mm x 0.15mm spot size of the 60W laser module, allowing for more detailed engraving. The lower wattage means that it’s not ideal for cutting, so it’s best to save this laser module for engraving projects that need fine detail.

Using the default settings, I engraved the same image three times: once each with the 22W and 40W settings on the primary laser module, and once with the 1.6W laser module. The engraving on the 22W and 40W took about 9 minutes each, but the 1.6W laser took 33 minutes to complete the same engraving. The 1.6W created a much deeper engraving from the slower speed, and the fine details on the feathers can easily be seen. While the result is impressive, the process of swapping out the modules takes a few minutes and serves a narrow use case of “high-detail engraving”, which may not be useful for all users.

Bottom Line

The Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W is available in two packages: the $2,699 Single Unit (currently on sale for $1,899) and the $3,112.98 All-in-One Kit (currently on sale for $2,399), which includes a rotary engraving kit and risers, a honeycomb working table, and a variety of starter materials. These accessories are also sold individually, and the $649 180W Creality Falcon Air Purifier (currently on sale for $519) is the last piece you’ll need if you currently don't have a ventilation solution in place.

As sent, the Creality Falcon2 Pro 60W is a mostly complete package: a 60W laser for cutting through thick material, a 1.6W laser for fine engraving, air assist, optional smoke filtration, and other features all come together to offer serious capabilities for most users. Being able to toggle between the various laser wattage settings is a plus for users working on various projects, and the sliding tray is easy to clear out and clean between jobs.

Unfortunately, my experiences with the delicate acrylic top cover and wobbly thin slats make it hard to recommend this machine to anyone looking for a professional, out-of-the-box experience. The Creality Falcon2 Pro didn’t quite make the list of the best laser engravers, but it’s still worth considering if you need a higher-wattage laser capable of cutting through thick material.

The Falcon2 Pro 60W makes the most sense for experienced users who prioritize cutting speed and power over polish and an integrated UI. If you’re new to lasers or want a more turnkey, living-room-safe solution, the $799 Creality Falcon A1 Pro could be a compelling choice. If space is a concern and you’re looking for something that can comfortably sit on a desk and also travel with you, the $1,099 xTool F1 (one of the best laser engravers) might be a better fit.

YouTube and tinkerer Zac Builds has built an M4 iMac using an old iMac G3. Apple released the iMac G3 in 1998, and the device is often seen as one of the things that helped the company stave off bankruptcy in the ‘90s. Aside from that, it had a unique design and was one of its first devices to feature the “i” prefix, making it one of the most iconic Apple products. We can see in the YouTube video that Zac Builds started with an iMac G3 (although not the Bondi Blue version), which he then disassembled. After taking everything apart, he then replaced all the components with modern parts to turn it into an Apple computer you can comfortably use today.

He started by removing all the screws and covers, gingerly dismantling the old computer so he could reuse its frame and outer shell. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on some of the iMac G3’s parts — its speakers are completely gone, and the CRT screen’s bezel crumbled as soon as Zac touched it. Once he completed deconstructing the all-in-one, all that was left was the main motherboard frame and the white translucent case, which serve as the base of the build.

From here, Zac first started by 3D printing the parts needed to reinforce the shell of the old iMac, as many of the components that he took out earlier supplied some of the structural integrity of the computer. With that in place, he vigorously shook the computer to see if it would come apart, and it seems that his additions ensured that none of its parts were going anywhere. He then reused the G3’s power supply, carefully desoldering it from the original motherboard and then mounting it on a spacer to deliver power to the Mac mini that will serve as the brains of this build. This was a relatively simple operation; the original power supply simply worked like a power strip, delivering 120 volts to the internal components of the iMac.

The next step was to install the Mac mini inside the shell of the old G3. Instead of disassembling the modern mini PC, he just mounted it directly inside, trimmed its power supply to fit neatly inside the AIO, and then created a modular power system that will power all the components within the M4 iMac G3 through the original power cable. Since Apple charges an arm and a leg for extra storage, Zac added a dock with a built-in SSD slot to expand the computer’s capacity without paying hundreds of dollars for it.

With the brains of the build in place, he then added a pair of new speakers mounted on 3D printed enclosures to replace the old broken ones. They were then connected to a 200-watt digital amplifier, as the Mac mini’s 3.5 mm audio output is not powerful enough to drive them natively. He then installed it in such a way that the adjustment knobs are still easily accessible through the old RAM access door of the G3.

Of course, Zac had to 3D-print brand-new ports as he could not reach the Mac mini inside the case without removing the screen. He added a Thunderbolt port, a USB-C port, a couple of USB-A ports, and an Ethernet port, ensuring that he still had some of the functionality of the original computer despite being placed in the case. There’s no 3.5mm jack, though, as it’s already in use by the built-in speakers he added to the iMac. So, if he wants personal audio, he’ll have to stick with one of the best wireless gaming headsets.

With everything in place, the YouTuber installed a 14-inch 4K portable monitor with a custom 3D printed interposer that fills in the gap between the rounded front face and the flat display. And with that, we now have a fully working M4 iMac G3. This computer gives anyone who’s ever used the G3 back in the late ‘90s and early 2000s a hit of nostalgia, while remaining usable in modern computing. You can also catch a glimpse of the Mac mini powering the entire thing at the back, along with the clutter of wires that connect it all together. It probably would’ve been nicer if Zac cable-managed the internal spaghetti, but that’s just a minor detail in this certainly interesting build.

The xTool P3 80W CO2 laser cutter and engraver has taken the crown as the firm's flagship product in this segment. xTool heralded the arrival of the P3 as a machine that brings productivity-enhancing 'Intelligent automation' to the laser cutting world. However, those already experienced with laser cutters will likely eye this machine's outstanding hardware specs with some envy.

Two elephants in the room: the huge laser and the enormous price

This new flagship from xTool is unashamedly large. And, once you get it to where you want it to be, this is a good thing, with its fully enclosed 36 x 18-inch (914 x 457mm) work area providing ample room for ambitious projects, or preparing large batches of more modest products, and everything in between. However, if you thought the 55W xTool P2 was a behemoth, please recalibrate your expectations. And, if you have seen or had experience with the acclaimed xTool P2, you can take many of the best vital statistics from that machine and double them for a rough approximation of what the P3 offers.

The P3's voluminous work area isn't wasted with a low-power laser. xTool has equipped this machine with an 80W CO2 laser, moved and positioned by a sturdy gantry system, over a self-leveling bed. The laser head speed reaches an impressive 1,200 mm/s. Moreover, the laser is positioned with high accuracy using the P3's quad-camera sensor mix, which also provides a very accurate on-screen proofing system so you can ensure your artwork is positioned exactly where you want it.

The other elephant in the room, alongside this laser, is the price. The near-$7,000 entry price may be stepping a little beyond the hobbyist level into small-business territory. As such, a savvy potential buyer will want to justify this purchase with a cost-benefit analysis.

Does P2's new big brother belong among the best laser cutters and engravers in our list? The P3 is an excellent tool for larger projects where high-volume production and greater automation are desirable. So if you need the extra size, power, and speed this machine delivers, then the xTool P3 is the laser powerhouse of your dreams.

Specifications: xTool P3

Design of the xTool P3: performance and safety

Let us put some of the key specs of the xTool P3 into context against the P2(S) it now overshadows. To highlight the most important upgrades, we'd call out the work area, at 36 x 18 inches (914 x 457mm). That is much more expansive than the 23.6 x 12-inches (600 x 305 mm) offered by the P2. In fact, the work area is nearly 130% larger.

Performance is also significantly upgraded here. The P3 shifts to an 80W CO2 laser (vs 55W), and the cutting head speed is boosted to 1,200mm/s (from 600mm/s). In actual cutting performance, xTool claims the new flagship can cut 20mm of basswood and 25mm of acrylic in a single pass. Those max thickness figures for the P2 were 18mm and 20mm, respectively.

So, the xTool P3 is certainly a performance tool, but it also brings to the table (pun intended) enhanced safety. We were somewhat critical of the P2 laser packages having some safety features as optional extras, but that isn't the case with the P3. The new flagship earns Certification as a Class 1 device (improved over Class 4 of the P2). It also includes eight flame detectors and a temperature sensor to monitor your workspace. This is backed up by a built-in CO2 flame-suppression canister (currently included in all bundles).

You are still always advised to personally monitor the machine and its work area (you can use the twin built-in view cameras, remotely) whenever working on potentially flammable materials. That's most of the time, though, as you may be aware.

Receiving, unpacking, and preparing the xTool P3

Given the size and weight of the xTool P3 delivery, a special courier was arranged to deliver the palette to the curbside of my home. Thankfully, the delivery guy politely deposited it much closer to my house, so as not to scare my neighbors or passing dog walkers. By myself, there was no way that the P3 could be shifted.

First things first, I took the custom-designed P3 work stand from the top of the pile and brought it into my workshop/garage space to assemble. Anyone with any hard-earned IKEA experience will find making this wheeled stand a cinch. When finished, it was agreeably sturdy, yet the large lockable wheels helped it glide smoothly around the floor.

Please note that the xTool P3 work stand is not a standard accessory. It costs an additional $299 to purchase the base model laser package. Without it, I'm not sure what table I could have used to rest this monster upon. To finish this work stand construction, I pulled the delivery pallet apart and cut the main wood platform to the size instructed, then secured it (brackets, screws supplied) as a material shelf under the P3.

Getting the xTool P3 onto the stand and inside was an unenviable task. Thankfully, I was able to cajole three burly neighbors into helping me lift the P3 out of its packaging and onto the stand I'd prepared. Four people are recommended for unpacking the device. Please follow the instructions to prevent unforeseen injuries.

Then, the xTool P3 was easily wheeled into the garage. The wheels also made it easy to commission the laser, allowing me to walk around it to adjust various focal points, add and check coolant, and so on. Locking and unlocking the wheels is pretty easy with your foot, as long as you aren't in slippers or flip-flops.

So far, all I'd seen was the stand and the laser, plus a full work area-sized sheet of ply and white card, so I was wondering about accessories. All the accessories, fixings, and a small toolkit were securely packed inside the machine under the workspace lid, as shown in the picture gallery above.

After unpacking this tray of bits, the next job was to release the fixings that held the machine's movable components securely during transit. There were also various protective peels and tapes to remove.

Following the clear step-by-step guidebook provided by xTool, I worked through the above processes, finishing up by adding the correct mix and quantity of coolant, inserting the USB key, and plugging in power, before the powered-on machine configuration began.

Once plugged in and powered up, the xTool P3 sprang to life with fans and the chiller whirring, the bed and laser head adjusting, a well-lit interior, and the fancy rotatable, clickable jog wheel, which features a context-sensitive screen in its center. Processes I had to complete at this stage included opening the xTool Studio software and connecting the PC, performing some test laser firings, and answering questions about what I saw post-firing. I had to take off the rear cover and adjust some optics with an Allen wrench to align the red dot to my satisfaction. Some people might have thought it was fine as it was, but the small adjustment was worth it, in my opinion, as many jobs I planned would rely on the highest accuracy and consistency.

I downloaded the latest version of the xTool Studio software a day or two ahead of delivery, though it is still version 1.0.17 at the time of writing. But I've updated the P3 laser's firmware twice since it arrived. There have been a few software wrinkles, as you will find out later, but this is a brand-new suite for the P3.

xTool Studio: the new software

I like to create original artwork for machining, as I have some background in graphic arts and particularly in Adobe Illustrator. So, I didn't plan to use smart wizards or AI-based generation to create things worthy of output to this flagship laser using my selection of materials. Nevertheless, xTool Studio had some very worthwhile built-in resources that could generate new artwork, efficiently lay out work on your material, and provide direct access to loads of online 'Atomm' community templates and projects (many free, but some paid).

One of the first things you should do with any laser is a test engrave / cut matrix using your favorite materials. Like many rival laser makers, the xTool Studio software has an app, or what we used to call a 'wizard' for this job. Once clicked, you select your grid size and the scope of values across the axes, then generate the work project.

I was pleased with the automation results on the screen, but when the work was being engraved on some of my 3mm basswood ply, I noticed all the squares looked the same... I paused (eventually cancelled) this output. Investigations revealed that, yes, all the grid boxes were being engraved with exactly the same power/speed settings. Doh.

To rectify this issue, I had to manually click each box in the grid and adjust the power/speed to match that marked on the axes. Luckily, you can select groups and assign them the same value, so it wasn't as laborious a fix as it otherwise would have been.

I've since learned that this grid power/speed value error happens when you adjust the material type near the top of the right side panel after generating the test matrix. So, to get the material test array application to work as intended, don't use it until you have already selected the material type. I'd call this behavior a bug, or at least an unexpected and non-user-friendly feature. Basically, though, if you have manually set all your power/speed parameters, there is no need to then add a material preset. In practice, it seems a good plan to pick a material first, though, as you will then see recommended power/speed levels to 'ballpark' base your chosen array values on.

Now that I've explained that saga, I'm happy to report that the oodles of presets that xTool engineers have built in for a vast range of materials worked very well during my testing. In other words, you can usually use a preset for the material you are working on, and the pre-inputted scoring, engraving, and/or cutting parameters will work very nicely. It will definitely be worth honing these values if you buy this machine for either a hobby or money-making, though.

Importing original illustrations shenanigans

Earlier, I mentioned getting vector illustrations into XTool Studio. For such images, the software supports importing SVG and DXF files. Unfortunately, importing a precisely drafted object onto the software stage retains no sizing information.

Usually, such imports were greeted by the dialog 'image size is greater than the workspace, do you want me to scale it to fit?' or some similar query. This was a little annoying after I had painstakingly crafted a guitar component replica, for example, in Illustrator. But I worked around it.

In traditional print workflows, AI, PDF, EPS, and TIF files (for example) scale correctly from on-screen editors to output. xTool Studio has adjustment and sizing dialogs for imported objects, but they aren't ideal when an object is irregular or unsymmetrical.

A decent set of vector and raster image import filters is built in, including the aforementioned vector formats SVG and DXF, as well as common raster formats JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIF. Adding a PDF with object scale data preserved would be a good idea.

There are simple drawing tools, a text tool, and direct access to many shape primitives in xTool Studio AI. These are perfect for implementing a simple cutter shape around a picture imported for engraving, for example.

xTool could also make it easier to see artwork overlaid on captured images of its work area material. A transparency or intensity slider would be appreciated.

Online and AI

As well as allowing you to import, adjust, and manipulate your own artwork, the xTool Studio does a good job at providing apps to generate work, access to loads of online templates and wider projects, as well as some AI image generation and effects tools. Later, in my material tests, I'll highlight the source of the artwork.

My last comment on this topic is that the software felt slightly bloated, but it delivered acceptable performance on my modern AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 12C/24T processor, 32GB RAM laptop.

Engraving / Cutting with the xTool P3

With any jobs you have planned, take this tip and make sure you fully populate the removable support slats under areas that will be cut out and might fall. On one or two jobs I did, a cutout area would sometimes not fall down, and the laser head subsequently butted into the dangling material shard during its travels.

This impact could either damage the work in progress or knock the material out of position mid-process. When this happened, there was often an awful noise, and it was invariably a waste of time and materials. I'm not sure if I was partly to blame for not thoroughly planning where to put the removable slats, if it might have happened if I'd been more careful, or if it was also xTool's fault for not including enough slats to cover the entire bed...

Such occurrences are another good reason not to leave this laser unattended.

Part 1: Woody wonders

Now onto the fun part of actually working on my planned material-engraving and cutting tests. We are starting with wood as it is one of the most popular materials for laser users.

After completing the wood-engraving test matrix and a second bit of testing on a spare piece of bamboo, my first project was a Bamboo chopping board, which will go to my daughter's family for Xmas (don't tell them).

I'd put together a nice vector illustration of a family crest, with a heart for each child and a paw print for 'Noodle' the dog. Thankfully, the work came out exactly as on the old test piece, and I was happy with the appearance, engraving density, and color depth.

I'd note that there was a bit of residue around the edges of the logo engraving due to heat. This might have been better with more passes at lower power. More testing and experience help you tune such things. Nevertheless, a little fine sanding and or a sharp card scraper can minimize residue, and I was happy with the finished article. It might even improve with age.

Halloween lamps

My next adventure in wood was to engrave and cut a pair of Halloween lamps I'd seen in the software presets area, before the machine was delivered. Given the time of year, it was hard to resist the urge to try this project.

While cutting the last pumpkin box side, I experienced one of the aforementioned cutting head crashes, with a half-hanging piece of wood getting in the way. Though an alarming event, I'd later return to the project to output only the affected box side —no issues.

During this job, I first noticed that the 80W CO2 laser cut 3mm basswood ply extremely quickly. However, the engraving speed didn't really benefit from the powerful laser. Machines like this are well beyond the wood-engraving power/speed sweet spot. So to avoid things like scorching and jitter, more sedate settings must still be used. In this Pumpkin example, the whole process took about 41 minutes, with 39 minutes of engraving time, and just 2 minutes of cutting time. See my lantern photos, above, for the results.

Box generator app

I also wanted to try out one of the built-in xTool Studio applications called the Box Generator. This machine is great at plywood boxes, as I'd found with the Halloween lamps. Using this built-in app to create any size box with fancy tops, sliders, hinges, and more was a breeze.

With minimal engraving — mostly cutting — the work was output quickly. Then it just needs gluing. All the joints were perfectly sized and positioned. When using the generator, one of the important parameters you input is the material thickness. I'd moved to thicker 3.6mm ply for this job.

Cutting thick wood

I'd read about and considered the maximum wood-cutting thicknesses on this machine. Since it has a lot of power, I decided to see how thick I could cut a softwood plank and a hardwood board.

I determined that cutting 15.5mm pine was possible with 90% power and a 5mm/s feed rate (1 pass). For less scorching 90% power, 20mm/s, and four passes seemed to be a good configuration.

For a piece of seasoned hardwood I had, I could only cut to approximately 10mm deep with these same settings.

The last little bit of laser woodwork I did was a large ~20-inch-square AI-generated Japanese temple scene artwork. Again, this can be generated within the xTool software.

Even though I doubled the speed and laser power from xTool's recommended settings for the project, the job took an hour for a single pass, for a total of 2 hours. Some scorching is evident, and it was possible to pick some of this 'burned sap' away, but it still looks pretty good. For a better job, you would probably stick to the recommended lower speeds and power levels, and perhaps add another pass for greater depth of detail / contrast. Napkin math suggests such a task could easily take 5 or 6 hours, though.

Part 2: Adventures in acrylic

If you buy a P3, acrylic might be one of your favored material choices. xTool seems to think so, too, as it sent me two big acrylic swatch packs with easy-order reference numbers, as well as a trio of 12 x 12-inch clear and colorless 3mm acrylic blanks.

Guitar scratch plate

My first project with acrylic was one I'd planned for several days in advance. As a guitar design fan, I had previously bought custom pick guards (or scratch plates) for guitars. And I thought this was a great opportunity to make my own, for a Stratocaster-style axe.

In the images, you can see the original white one fitted, and a red tortoise-shell effect one I'd bought, routed for a humbucker bridge pickup that I'd used for several years. I decided to clone the latter and then cut it precisely in transparent orange acrylic.

To get an exact copy of my existing scratch plate, I scanned it on my trusty scanner connected to my PC. Sadly, the scanning area was just a little bit smaller than the object, so it needed Photoshop stitching. Then this was taken into Illustrator so I could carefully trace the design's curves and place the pickup routs, screw holes, dial holes, and the switch slot.

I exported this artwork as an SVG and a DXF for xTool Studio (to see which format imported better), but neither import format retained the precise sizing, so I had to enter the dimensions as the extremes of width and height from eye/ruler measurements.

My plan was to quickly cut paper on the xTool P3, overlay it on the original sample to pencil in required tweaks to the artwork, and repeat until everything was perfect. It was only really the screw hole positioning that seemed to have drifted. Nevertheless, it took until 'version 4' of the paper outline before I was happy that it matched the actual bought scratch plate.

Wouldn't it be good if the xTool Studio software could 'scan and copy' objects like this? It could have saved me hours.

After a quick orange perspex cutting test, which confirmed that xTool's P3 presets were spot on, my first cut seemed to have come out perfectly. I was worried when I saw one of the pickup slots see-saw after being cut out, but the laser head didn't bump into it, ruining the job.

Overlaying the laser-cut scratch plate with the bought sample, and on the guitar, assured me it would be a great fit. I'm awaiting two new single-coil pickups to make a completely new scratch plate assembly, so it is quick and easy to swap over.

I've thought about whether being totally transparent is a good thing for such a product. If I don't like it, I think I can wirewool the underside so it is opaque, or engrave it with a dense pattern for the same effect.

Xmas trees

Here's another project straight out of the online library in xTool's software. Another seasonal one. I tweaked this to remove the text, which was too fine to print at these dimensions. Moreover, I added some orange stars, as the 'trees' were far too boring in clear colorless perspex. I've hit them with a laser beam for the effect shown in the picture gallery below.

Engraved family photo

This output took about 40 minutes. As I mentioned previously, engraving at a necessary low-output energy remains slow on machines like this. Despite my tests, the photo came out too weak to show most of the family's faces.

Keeping the power level the same to avoid melting the work, I might chance a slightly slower head speed, or add a pass. Alternatively, I could work in Photoshop to adjust the levels in the upper part of the image, where details seem to have faded.

Key fobs - Mario and Taiwan island

In some spare corners of used material, I decided to output some fun tags and key fobs. Both engraving and cutting here looked just right in the finished work. I used the xTool present power/speeds.

Part 3: Slate and metal mastery

Slate coasters

I had some spare slate coaster blanks to test the xTool P3 on. It did a very good job, I think, with generally appealing levels of contrast and acceptable speed at the single-pass power levels I chose.

With the family photos, you can see that all are pleasingly clear and have decent contrast on the slate. I output them one by one to tweak xTool's suggested settings going forward, but I actually think the first one was the best — probably because of the tonal variance in each picture. On the P3, each coaster took about 15 minutes to process. Then you should wash it and let it dry to see the finished article.

My final slate test — the stock Christmas scene image on a slate coaster — shows that a better-adjusted, more cartoony graphic can look like it was made with the xTool P3.

Metal business cards

In my last test, it was interesting to see how finely the xTool P3 could engrave on painted aluminum business card blanks. I'd been hugely impressed during my ComMarker Omni X review of that UV laser's fine output on all things metal (with its touted 0.0019mm resolution). So how did the xTool P3 compare? Very well, I'd say.

The xTool output is shown on the black card. Firstly, it was far easier to align the laser output with the work on the xTool, thanks to the camera-based imaging and positioning system. So I got it exactly where I wanted it — bleeds and all — without double-, triple-, or quadruple-checking.

However, if you look closely, you can see that the Omni X UV laser delivers better detail and a cleaner finish. There isn't a lot in it, though, and at normal viewing distances, the xTool output seems to be of a similar quality. This is a 'horses for courses' thing, where some laser technologies are better in different scenarios on different materials. Remember, I'd received the xTool P3 with just a general-purpose 'M' lens. The firm also offers a slightly finer 'S' lens, which is promised to engrave finer detail, at the expense of cutting depth/performance.

Bottom line

The xTool P3 is a powerful CO2 laser with plenty of modern convenience and productivity-focused features on both the hardware and software sides. Its price tag, starting at $6,999, invites a potential buyer to thoroughly scrutinize its features and capabilities. This is beyond most folks' idea of a hobby purchase.

For those more on the prosumer or small business side of the market, however, the xTool P3's size, capacity, performance, and neat software with wizard apps and AI features make it an attractive choice. I think many businesses will appreciate P3-favoring factors like saved time (performance, various project generators), saved materials (great previews and the smart nesting function), and the expansive bed size (opening up very large project possibilities), all of which come together in this device.

Moreover, those with specific plans to work on even larger projects can purchase (or bundle with) the optional Intelligent Conveyor Feeder (for lengths up to 59 inches). Similarly, there's a Rotary MagSwap RA3 module for vases, trophies, cups, and other cylindrical work projects. While the powered IF2 extractor is standard, the SafetyPro AP2 Max Air Purifier could be important for those positioning their laser without access to outside venting.

I was very impressed by the wood and acrylic cutting performance here, as well as the accuracy, safety features, and clever software. The P3 laser can work well with other materials, too, and you should check my comments above on a per-material and per-project basis.

Probably the nearest comparison model in our laser review history is the xTool P2, from the same firm, of course. That's why we talked about the P3 through the lens of the P2 all the way back in the intro. Though, the key point is worth repeating: you can take many of the best vital statistics from the xTool P2 and double them for a rough approximation of what the P3 offers.

Several cherries on that performance-enhanced cake include the improved safety, by default. xTool's Automated Creation System (ACS) brings this device a step forward with features like dual-camera auto-positioning, LiDAR autofocus, and an AutoLift base. Moreover, xTool has added intelligent features, via the new software, and there are matching conveyor bed and rotary accessories for broadening the variety of work this laser-toting Goliath can handle.

The xTool P3 still had a couple of wrinkles during my testing, though. I've mentioned a couple of software features that may be buggy or should be expanded to deliver professional millimeter-accurate output. Having detection for when the laser head accidentally hits the workpiece might also be addressable in a software or firmware update.

xTool P3 Standalone: P3, plus IF2 Extractor MSRP $6,999

xTool P3 Versatile Bundle: P3, plus IF2 Extractor, Mobile Work Stand, Intelligent Conveyor Feeder, Rotary MagSwap RA3 MSRP $8,209

xTool P3 All-in-One Bundle: P3, plus IF2 Extractor, Mobile Work Stand, Intelligent Conveyor Feeder, Rotary MagSwap RA3, SafetyPro AP2 Max Air Purifier MSRP $10,459

Watch out for offers and trade-ins from xTool, which can really help you cut the prices above. For example, there is currently a Black Friday promo slicing $700 off the two lower-price packages you see above. For those with an eye on the All-in-One bundle, that discount goes up to a very enticing $1,500 off. Look out for the up-to $500 trade-in and sign-up bonuses, too, before you purchase.

Lastly, a 5W IR laser module is also on the way to expand the possibilities and broaden material compatibility for users of the xTool P3. We are still awaiting pricing for this optional extra, which will deliver worthwhile enhancements to the P3's fine-detail, metal, and plastic capabilities.

MORE: Best Laser Cutters

An LED testing ‘device’ which largely consists of a hot dog, two forks and a power supply has been entered into an electronics competition. Luckily, this is the 2025 Hackaday Component Abuse Challenge, where being zany is a winning strategy.

But don’t try this at home.

Ian Dunn’s 100% "Safe" 120VAC LED tester looks glorious, with its LED sprinkles. Bonus: if you test your LEDs in a hot dog connected to a 120V AC mains power source, your savory meat comfort food will be fully cooked and ready to eat in about two minutes.

We repeat, don’t try this at home.

Dunn helpfully includes all the instructions you need to replicate this (hot dog) maker project. “All you need is a power cord, two forks, and two bolts to hold the hot and neutral wires on the forks,” explains the electronics and hot dog abuser. “Stick the LED's that you want to test in the hot dog before you plug it in. They must be oriented with the leads facing the two ends of the hot dog. If they are oriented opposite the hot dog, then no current will flow through the LEDs.”

It is also noted that you can test as many LEDs this way, as long as there is room on the back of the dog. “It takes about 2 minutes for the hot dog to be fully cooked at 120 volts,” advises Dunn.

We can’t be sure what the cooking speed differences might be in parts of the world where 220V or 240V AC mains is the norm, because we don’t want to try this at home. However, we note that TechTuber Big Clive tested a commercial 120V electric hot dog maker on 240V a few years ago, if you want to see something sizzle.

A warning from the maker

Dunn ends his crazy hot dog LED testing device project post with a word of warning, as he should. “Don't touch the hot dog, the LEDs, the forks or the bun while the hot dog tester is plugged in,” advises the electronics expert. “It's wise to set something heavy on the cord so you won't trip on it and pull the hot forks on the floor.”

As well as the electrical safety concerns, we wonder what chemicals might be introduced to the hot dog using this cooking method. The LED ‘legs’ may be coated in some kind of factory residue, and be made of a metal that could taint the food.

A hardware hacker has installed a Minecraft server on a cheap smart lightbulb. Vimpo shows how this feat was completed and demonstrates the server working in a brief video, embedded below. Key to this achievement was the bulb’s BL602 RISC-V-powered microcontroller.

Hardware hacksawing

Vimpo begins their quest by taking a knife to the unfortunate AliExpress-bought LED bulb. Oldies like me still find it jarring to see a lightbulb popped open without terrible consequences – but LEDs don’t need to reside in a delicate vacuum.

Next up, our intrepid hacker desolders the microcontroller from the center of the bulb, where it sits surrounded by an array of LEDs. Remember, this lightbulb's microcontroller is powered by a BL602, which features a single RISC-V core, running at up to 192 MHz, and partnered with 276KB RAM, 128KB ROM, and sporting a modicum of I/O.

We then see the detached microcontroller with wires soldered individually to its headers. Vimpo confirms the connections are fine by quickly hooking up the wires to turn the lightbulb on and off.

A simple USB-to-serial adapter board is soldered to these connections for a steady, usable interface. We now have a ‘system’ ready, with monitor and input peripherals, upon which to run a Minecraft server.

Software shenanigans

Of course, hardware is only half of Vimpo’s solution. To get a Minecraft server operating on the limited resources of a smart bulb, the hacker has put together a system running an implementation dubbed Ucraft. You can find Ucraft code resources on GitHub, plus a guide to building the server system on a Linux machine.

Ucraft is gloriously compact, with a “binary size is approximately 46K bytes without authentication and 90K bytes with the authentication library,” says Vimpo. “Memory usage varies based on the number of active players. In the worst-case scenario with 10 players, heap usage will be around 70K bytes with authentication and 20K bytes without authentication.” However, the hacker is first to admit that Ucraft “lacks most, if not all, features of the vanilla server.”

In some ways, Minecraft is becoming the new Doom, used as a springboard for outlandish projects. Minecraft is now a leading light in inspiring hardware and software hackers to push the boundaries of the computing world. For example, in recent months, we’ve seen a 5-million-parameter ChatGPT AI model in Minecraft, as well as Minecraft running entirely in 8MB of VRAM on an old GPU, and another Minecraft server implemented using 63-year-old COBOL code.

The Creality Falcon A1 Pro is a 20W diode laser engraver that brings a full enclosure, automatic focus calibration, and a variety of safety features to the sub-$1,000 price point. An actively vented exhaust at the rear of the unit can be attached to an external smoke purifier, and the 358 x 268 mm build area is large enough to fit commonly available 10 x 10 inch sheets of plywood.

The unit used in this review is the $949 Basic Pack bundle, which includes the Falcon A1 Pro equipped with a 20W blue laser diode and a honeycomb riser platform. Designed as a platform with multiple available upgrades, the Falcon A1 Pro can also be equipped with a 2W IR laser for engraving on glass and metal, a rotary attachment for engraving on cylindrical objects, and other various upgrades.

Creality clearly invested time and effort into the build quality of the Falcon A1 Pro, and the overall industrial design allows it to stand out compared to the look of aluminum extrusions and loose wires typically seen on less expensive laser engravers. Throughout testing, I was impressed with the hardware and software experience of the Falcon A1 Pro and can see this laser being a popular choice for users who want something a bit more polished than a simple entry-level machine, but don’t want to make the larger investment required for a CO2 laser like the xTool P2.

The Falcon A1 Pro uses the free Falcon Design Space software for laying out and processing jobs and is also compatible with LightBurn and LaserGRBL. Falcon Design Space offers projects for beginners, recommendations for parameters based on material choice, and the integrated camera can project the job on a workpiece in the digital design area. The Falcon A1 Pro doesn’t quite make our list of the best laser cutters and engravers, but it’s still worth investigating for anyone interested in a more polished hardware experience while staying under $1,000 for the base unit.

Specifications of Creality Falcon A1 Pro

Creality Falcon A1 Pro: Included in the box

The Creality Falcon A1 Pro arrives completely assembled, with only a few connections required for the air assist, air filter, and external LCD screen. The components and accessories have all been carefully packed inside the unit, which also prevents the gantry from moving or bending during shipping. The top and front acrylic lids have a protective sticker applied to them, which can be easily removed before use. As far as assembly goes, this Falcon A1 Pro is simple, well-documented, and should be easy for even a complete beginner to put together in well under an hour.

The Falcon A1 Pro includes all the tools and cables required for operation (screwdriver, hex keys, etc.) as well as a flexible hose for the smoke purifier, an external air assist unit, a calibration board, and a single sheet of material for the initial camera calibration. The product manual is a refreshing addition, and it includes unboxing, usage, and troubleshooting information in multiple languages.

The air assist unit isn’t mentioned on the Creality site, and it’s also not present on the list of included accessories. I was surprised to see an external air assist unit included with the machine, as I didn’t see it included anywhere on the product page and it’s not mentioned in any of the advertising. Regardless, it’s a welcome addition and a critical part of the system to create clean and char-free engravings.

Notably absent from the included accessories are any kind of safety goggles, a surprising omission for a laser engraver that has a base price of nearly $1,000. While the UV shield acts as a filter for laser radiation, goggles are an important piece of PPE when using a laser to help prevent damage to your eyes.

Design of the Creality Falcon A1 Pro

The Creality Falcon A1 Pro is a well-designed machine, with smooth corners and countersunk bolts giving it a very intentional appearance. The build volume is illuminated with a bright array of LEDs, and the automatic focusing laser is concealed in the front right corner. The toolhead gantry moves without friction across a pair of smooth rods, and the toothed belts have an exposed tensioner to adjust if needed.

Unlike the lower-cost Creality CR Falcon, the Falcon A1 Pro is fully enclosed and contains multiple safety features and sensors that make it a more attractive option for prosumer or shared use. The overall build quality of the Falcon A1 Pro is solid, and it seems like Creality is really paying attention to the important little details to justify the higher price of the machine.

The input/output is on the side of the Falcon A1 Pro and includes ports for power, air, USB, and optional connections for the rotary kit and a USB drive. There is also a lockout feature that requires a special key to activate the machine, preventing it from being used by anyone who does not have access to the key. As far as safety features go, this is a very useful one and critical in any shared-use environment, such as a makerspace, R&D lab, or factory floor.

The laser toolhead of the Falcon A1 Pro is removable with only two sliding levers, so swapping it out takes under a minute. Creality currently offers two toolheads for the Falcon A1 Pro: the 20W diode laser for general non-metal cutting and engraving and the 2W IR laser for engraving on metal and glass surfaces. The toolhead is mounted on a sliding track, so the automatic focusing (more on that later) can be done without any manual intervention.

The optional $69 honeycomb for Falcon A1 Pro provides an elevated platform for laser cutting, which allows for airflow underneath parts being cut. Honeycomb platforms have a dramatic impact on the quality of parts produced on laser engravers, and adding this platform should be the first thing you do if you plan on producing parts to sell or even give away. Without this platform, the workpiece will rest directly on the metal baseplate of the Falcon A1 Pro, and parts will require cleaning immediately after processing.

The Falcon A1 Pro is capable of automatic leveling to detect the height of a piece of material, a useful addition that keeps users from having to manually set the height for every single processing job. The laser is integrated into the enclosure and allows for precision calibration in only a few seconds. I used the automatic calibration throughout the review and had no failures or issues with the feature.

The Falcon A1 Pro has a camera integrated into the top cover of the unit, an invaluable tool for visualization and laying out complex jobs across multiple workpieces. An interesting feature is the sliding cover, which can be raised up to block the view of the camera. This cover is actually inside the acrylic cover of the camera, which is something to note if you’re concerned about smoke eventually working into the enclosure and obscuring the view of the camera.

The LCD offers a user interface similar to a modern 3D printer with a list of jobs, machine settings, and tools available. The placement feels like an afterthought, and I found myself being careful when moving the unit to avoid snapping it off or breaking it from the bracket that attaches it to the machine. While I was very happy to have an interface on the machine to track engraving time and progress, it’s easy to imagine that this will be a frequently replaced part.

There is an Emergency Stop (E-Stop) button located directly under the screen on the right side of the unit, something typically seen on industrial hardware and machinery. Given the high power of the laser and typically flammable work material, the E-Stop is an excellent addition by Creality to increase the safety of the unit and make it easier to disable if something unexpected occurs. The Falcon A1 Pro also has a flame sensor, which immediately disables the unit if an open flame is detected, something I did not experience during testing.

Smoke Purifier for the Creality Falcon A1 Pro

Included with the review unit was the $179 Creality Falcon Desktop Smoke Purifier, a small dual-filter purifier designed to remove smoke and odor from the unit during the engraving and/or cutting process. I was surprised at the size of the filter, which measured around 7.3 x 7.3 x 8.1 inches and weighed a little over 8 lbs. This small and compact unit fits easily on a desk, and is clearly intended for home workshops where space is at a premium. On the product page, the “68dB Quiet Working” volume is mentioned before the filtration, which I took as an indicator of Creality’s priorities with this unit.

The Desktop Smoke Purifier has an advertised airflow of 115m³, significantly less than the 300m³/h airflow of the more expensive WeCreat Fume Extractor. The three speeds of the Desktop Smoke Purifier are quiet and not particularly disruptive, but I found that the filter was easily overwhelmed during cutting and was not able to effectively filter smoke from the unit. Even with the unit at the highest setting, cutting through plywood often resulted in smoke that lingered in the unit even after the processing was complete.

While it is available for a fraction of the price of larger filters, I think there’s a bit of a mismatch in the intended use of the Desktop Smoke purifier and the capacity of the unit. Using a smaller unit like this in a home office or workshop is a quick way to fill a room with smoke. In addition, the filter lacks an exhaust to vent outside, instead sending the exhaust directly out the bottom of the unit.

Software for Creality Falcon A1 Pro

Creality Falcon Design Space is a first-party software app that supports Mac, Windows, and mobile devices (iOS and Android). The interface will be familiar to anyone who has used xTool Creative Space, WeCreat MakeIt!, or LightBurn for controlling a laser engraver. Falcon Design Space allows users to adjust all the parameters you’d expect (speed, power, processing order), as well as basic image editing tools like cropping, offsetting, and similar operations.

Falcon Design Space also has a live view mode using the integrated camera, which is an invaluable tool for laying out jobs on material when a precise preview is required. The camera on the demo unit required calibration before use, which is performed using the included calibration sheet and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Included in the Falcon Design Space software is a robust selection of projects specifically designed for a variety of materials, occasions, and skill levels. I’ve found catalogs like this are a great way to get started with the laser to understand how to create products and models without also requiring a background in graphic design. While writing this review, I used several projects from this catalog and was generally satisfied with the level of documentation provided by Creality.

The Material parameter library includes various materials like basswood, acrylic, stone, and others with common thicknesses selectable. Selecting a material will automatically populate the parameters for either a selected layer or all layers, something to be careful with when you have a job with multiple operations.

Unfortunately, the material library doesn’t include photo examples of the impact of changing the parameters, like the Material test in WeCreat MakeIt!. While this isn’t a requirement for a processing software, it means that users will need to run at least one test to dial in engraving, fill, and cut parameters before committing to a larger job.

There are many useful tools in Falcon Design Space, including the Smart Cutout feature to isolate specific parts of photos with a ‘Magic Wand’ functionality. This tool worked well during testing, and when combined with a greyscale or B&W filter it’s a powerful way to quickly prepare a photo for engraving. The typical workflow involves using Smart Cutout to isolate an image, filter to simplify the image and adjust contrast / brightness, and offset to generate a conformal cutline around the part. These tools in Falcon Design Space are incredibly useful to beginners, but more advanced users may be interested in the highly granular controls offered in advanced software like LightBurn.

Engraving / Cutting with the Creality Falcon A1 Pro

The basic process when using the Creality Falcon A1 Pro is simple: set up a job in Falcon Design Space, place a workpiece in the build area and check alignment, and hit ‘Start’. The Falcon A1 Pro can use the integrated Wi-Fi to connect to the software as well as a direct USB connection to a computer. Falcon Design Space turbocharges this process by including a “Make It” button right on the project page, which will immediately open up a new project with laser parameters already populated.

The 20W diode laser creates sharp and defined lines during line engraving moves, as well as clean and deep features during fill engrave moves. The gantry moves the toolhead smoothly during large travel moves without stuttering or skipping, resulting in clean contours and even engravings. The default cutting speed for 3mm plywood is set to 550 mm/min, and the fill engraving speed is set to 6000 mm/min.

Falcon Design Space also includes a “Smart Fill” tool which will take a selected graphic and automatically copy it across multiple parts on a build. This is an incredibly useful tool if you are making multiple parts in a single build that have the same image. Using one of the included projects, I loaded and oriented a “Happy Halloween” graphic and duplicated it across 7 other parts. The tool worked without intervention and the graphic was automatically rotated on each of the tags.

The job took 16 minutes and 42 seconds using the default speed and power settings for 3mm basswood plywood. I placed one of the tags in the center of the workspace so the automatic focusing laser could be used to set the height, and this worked for all the other tags. This tool is also present in the xTool Creative Space software used by the xTool M1 laser engraver and other lasers that are aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs, which helps to create a complete solution for business owners interested in maximizing the efficiency of their investment.

The diode laser is more than capable of cutting through the Creality-provided 3mm walnut plywood quickly, processing a pair of monstera leaf coasters in just over 5 minutes. The organic engrave lines in the center are smooth and precise thanks to the fine spot size of the diode laser, with no jitter or areas of low resolution. The raised honeycomb platform prevented any burn marks from appearing on the surface of the coaster, and the underside was also completely free of defects.

Not just for cutting plywood, the Creality Falcon A1 Pro is also advertised as being able to process PU leather, stone, and other materials that you would typically see used with a diode laser. Using the default settings for a slate coaster, this design took 13 minutes and 55 seconds to engrave completely.

The 20W blue laser easily etched the surface of the stone coaster, and the quality of the engraving was consistent even across the uneven surface of the slate material. The appearance of the engraving can be altered by adjusting the speed and intensity of the laser, something which can be used to make engravings that appear to have multiple colors or layers.

Other materials like dual-layer PU leather patches are also capable of being engraved with the 20W diode laser, and I was satisfied with the overall quality of these engravings. Falcon Design Space contains basic parameters for this material and others, which allowed me to dial in the appearance of the engraving without needing to run multiple tests to figure out the base settings.

Bottom Line

Creality offers the Falcon A1 Pro in a variety of bundles, and the Basic Pack used in this review (which includes the laser and the honeycomb platform) is a solid deal at $949. While it’s not one of the best laser engravers, the Falcon A1 Pro is a solid entry in the sub-$1,000 price point for a prosumer laser engraver. Having a fully enclosed work area with an exhaust is a huge benefit for managing smoke and fumes, and the automatic leveling removes much of the manual work involved with setting up a job.

Optional accessories not covered in this review include a 2W IR laser for engraving metal and a rotary attachment for engraving tumblers, rings, and other cylindrical objects. Creality has also recently launched a larger air purifier for the Falcon that may be worth investigating if you think the smaller unit isn’t going to cut it.

If money isn’t an issue and you’re looking for something with a stronger diode laser, the WeCreat Vision Pro 45W sells for around $2,249 and offers a similar software experience. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, the smaller WeCreat Vista offers a lower power laser while keeping the enclosure and sub-$800 price point.

The WeCreat Lumos is a compact and portable laser engraver, small enough to travel to events for makers on the go. It’s also a great option for creative crafters with limited space, as the laser only weighs about 15 pounds and can be easily moved in and out of a closet or cabinet.

The Lumos actually has two lasers: a 10W blue diode for cutting and engraving things like wood, leather, cardboard, and paper; and a 3W infrared laser for engraving metal and some acrylics. The Lumos is a galvo-style laser, which uses a stationary laser mounted in the head and a system of mirrors to move the beam around a circular work surface. This is the secret to both the Lumos’ speed and small size.

The small size limits this machine to smaller projects like coasters, patches, keychains, and jewelry. It has an optional rotary attachment and slider for crafting larger projects, but this requires lifting the lid and switching to goggles for eye protection. The WeCreat website shows happy makers without eye protection with the protective lid up, which I find unsettling.

It uses a built-in HD camera for positioning materials and autofocusing. It needed calibration despite the manual discouraging it. The software had limited material presets, and its project library leans heavily on paid content, with most design files locked behind a premium service. There was also an annoying “nag” to activate a premium membership whenever I booted up the system.

Portability like this comes at a price. The Lumos retails at an eye-watering $2,399.99, but is currently on sale for $1,299.99. Like most lasers of this size, the target audience is entrepreneurs who can get more of a return from a premium tool like the Lumos.

Specifications: WeCreat Lumos

WeCreat Lumos: Included in the Box

The WeCreat Lumos arrived almost completely assembled. The laser unit tucks compactly into its base with the protective cover. Also included was a paper copy of the manual, a 3mm piece of basswood, an exhaust hose and connector, a USB cable, a power brick, a toolkit, positioning pieces, and two working panels (one for cutting and one for engraving). Notably absent is a pair of safety glasses.

We also received the optional rotary, protective cone for handheld use, and slide extension for the review.

Design of the WeCreat Lumos

The WeCreat Lumos has a compact form that fits easily in small spaces, with a carrying handle on top to make it easily portable. It features a built-in safety cover that can shield the workspace completely for smaller items. The laser head is round and rides on a recessed motion system driven by a single z-axis motor. The z-axis is used only for focusing the laser, either by aligning the red and blue dots manually or using the autofocus button.

The Lumos uses small mirrors (galvanometers) to move the laser beam around the work surface with higher speeds than can be achieved by moving the entire tool head. The one drawback to a galvo laser is that the usable work surface is limited to a cone fanning out from the center of the laser.

When cutting, the beam will make a diagonal cut as it moves further from the center point, which is noticeable on larger items or items placed toward the outer edge of the work surface. Most of the time this angle is unimportant, but could cause trouble when fitting together pieces with tight tolerance.

The WeCreat Lumos has a blue 10W diode laser and a red 3W infrared laser. The diode laser really shines while engraving and cutting wood, completely opaque dark acrylic, leather and other organic materials. The laser can cut basswood and opaque acrylic up to 6mm, and it can engrave a painted metal surface like a tumbler. Anything metal is better engraved by the infrared laser. The IR laser cannot cut metal, but engraves it beautifully, with terrific resolution.

Assembling the WeCreat Lumos

Assembling the WeCreat Lumos is mostly taken care of at the factory. The laser is secured to it’s base by a thumb screw, and a wrench is included if you need help.

The exhaust connector is attached to the rear of the unit with four screws, which are already mounted and must be removed. The exhaust hose fits on the connector and is secured with a cable clamp.

After that, remove the lens cap, plug in the laser, and you are ready to go.

Safety Precautions for the WeCreat Lumos

The WeCreat Lumos is a Class 1 laser when the cover is fully in place. When it is up, it becomes a Class 4, requiring laser safe glasses. Unlike many other lasers I’ve reviewed, this laser did not come with safety glasses and the unit does not have an emergency shut off if the lid is raised while printing. The software has no reminder about this, either. As an adult, the safety warnings can sometimes be overdone and are often bypassed. Suffice to say that this laser is suitable for experienced users only, and little hands and pets should be kept away while operating.

Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes plastics, fiberglass and certain foams.

The Wecreat Lumos has an excellent flame sensor that immediately pauses the laser if fire is detected. The machine can be restarted if the issue is small, and the setting can be adjusted if overly sensitive. There is also a tip sensor which will stop the laser if it tilts while running.

Software for the WeCreat Lumos

The WeCreat Lumos uses the WeCreat Makeit! App which can be downloaded from WeCreat’s website. You do need to make an account if you would like to have access to WeCreat’s ecosystem of projects. At the time of this review, there are 24 files listed for beginners, which are free. Currently, all the others require paying by the file, usually $0.99, or paying a premium membership, currently $7.99 monthly or 14 months for $95.99. You do get a free six months of premium membership with the purchase of the laser. If you are not a premium member, there is an annoying nag to sign up, every time you connect to the laser.

The software has a material preview, which does a good job of showing the options for the material and operation you are working with. The material presets are very good though the amount of materials listed is limited. Be prepared to search online for many material settings. Once you have a setting that works, it can be added to the presets.

Engraving / Cutting with the WeCreat Lumos

The review unit came with two pieces of bass plywood. For a first test using the blue laser, I engraved and cut a humming bird from the WeCreat MakeIt’s image library. After putting the material on the ventilated cutting plate and pressing the autofocus button on the machine, I chose to fill engrave the bird twice with different settings and cut it as well. The software accesses the camera by hitting the refresh button, showing exactly where the cutting and engraving will happen. I do recommend that you calibrate the camera, as mine was off quite a bit. The calibration is automatic and does require a piece of unused plywood the size of the work area. The rounded corners show the edge of the laser's cutting ability.

This simple engrave and cut took less than two minutes. The two engravings look identical, though one was done with the machine's preset of 55% power and a speed of 250mm/s. The other was done at 60% power and a speed of 200mm/s. The cut was done at 100% power and a speed of 7mm/s. I used the software’s enhanced cutting feature, which added a second pass of the laser, which was unnecessary in this case. The result was a very nice cut with no charring of the material.

From the free beginner section of the WeCreat MakeIt software, I cut a simple aircraft model. Using the blue laser and the machine preset for 3mm basswood, 100% power, a speed of 7mm/s and 2 passes, the project took 4 minutes and came out very nice, again with little charring of the edges.

I did a more intricate engraving using clip art from Canva and chose fill engraving. The machine default of 100% power and 140mm/s was a little too much for this design. The outside cut at 100% power and 7mm/s speed with 2 passes was perfect. In all, the engrave and cut took a little over 8 minutes.

Going off the beaten path and beyond the material presets listed, I engraved a couple hammers I swiped from my husband’s workshop. One is a 5lbs engineer hammer and the other is a rubber mallet. I’ll let you figure out which is which. I used power of 100% and a speed of 100mm/s. With an engraving time of less than 3 minutes each, both came out very nice, with one needing just a little pre- and post-sanding since the handle had a shellac finish on it. This project also shows the capability of the WeCreate Lumos to not lose focus while engraving on a curve.

For slate, the WeCreat Lumos has settings for both the blue and red laser. I used the blue laser to engrave a favorite college team logo. Engraving the image as a bitmap, I used the material preset of 78% power and DPI of 254. I cranked up the dotting duration to 500 and did 2 passes. In less than 3 minutes, the result was terrific.

While the 10-watt blue diode laser is a respectable cutting machine with limits, the 3-watt infrared laser won’t cut at all. Just for fun, I tried cutting a metal business card at 100% power and 3mm/s. Despite multiple passes, it didn’t make much of a dent. If you just want to engrave metal, then it’s pretty darned good.

For the first use of the infrared laser, I engraved business cards that turned out sharp, clear, and beautiful. The material preset for bitmap engraving of one pass at 100% power, 254 DPI, and 230 dotting duration was perfect, and the laser etched perfectly out to the edges of the work surface. The work time was just over one minute.

Next, I hooked up the optional rotary that was included for this review. It plugs into a port at the rear of the Wecreat Lumos and though it can be secured to the work plate with screws, it was stable enough on its rubber bottom pad that I didn’t bother. This is also the first time the laser cover had to remain up in order to use the laser. Again, I would stress the need for laser safe glasses and the need to keep the laser away from anyone unprotected.

The rotary can be configured for a variety of items from baseball bats to tumblers but the one that intrigued me the most was rings.

The software does a decent job of making the area that will be printed with the camera. The framing function also can help to line up the work. For round objects, you need to measure the perimeter at the engraving area. The included fabric tape measure works well enough. After the perimeter is entered, the 3d preview can show how far around the object the engraving will go and will show where to place your artwork if you are doing the front and back of an item and help avoid any overlap.

I was able to get a really nice engraving on my first try, but I did not realize that the engraving must be mirror imaged in the software to engrave correctly. I used the material preset for 1mm titanium alloy, since there was no preset listed for stainless steel. Using fill engrave at100% power and a speed of 10mm/s and a line density of 199, I engraved one ring with Make All The Things and JRR Tolkien’s One Ring. With a work time of 6 minutes each, they both came out nice and sharp and just look great. The WeCreat Lumos can also engrave the inside of rings by tilting the rotary head up, and it is not bothered at all by engraving items tilted slightly off 90 degrees.

Without even needing to remove the studs used for the rings the outer rubber feet can be used to hold the small tumbler I used next. There is a good preset available for stainless steel tumblers. Using fill engrave at 100% power, a speed of 158mm/s, a line density of 120 it took a little over 7 minutes. Again, the result is excellent.

Bottom Line

The WeCreat Lumos is a tiny power house perfect for crafting on the go. If you want to offer custom engraving at festivals and markets, this is definitely a laser to check out. However, if you prefer a stationary workshop experience, there are other larger lasers that would be more cost-effective.

The Lumos twin galvo lasers let it engrave nearly any surface you can stuff in the chamber. When projects get too large, the machine can be pulled off its mount, wrapped in a protective cone, and used as a handheld laser. I find it troubling that our review unit came with a rotary tool that requires the lid to be lifted, yet it did not come with safety glasses.

WeCreat’s custom software is aimed at beginners and is very easy to use. It is also compatible with Lightburn for advanced users who don’t want to be hounded into purchasing a membership.

The $2,399.99 price tag is high, but typical of portable lasers. I’ve been watching the price while I had it for review, and it seems fairly easy to pick up on sale. Currently, it’s on sale for $1,299.99.

It’s a very good machine, one that we’re pleased to add to the list of best laser cutters.

If your small business needs more room for laser cutting large items, the 40-watt xTool S1 is a great choice, and just a bit more at $1799. If your creativity can not be contained by a laser alone, then the xTool M1 Ultra with its laser, vinyl cutter, and embosser for $1148 can help you make all the things.

Phil, a high school chemistry teacher and YouTube creator, noticed that a small solar panel emitted a faint sound when connected to a speaker and exposed to light. From this, he deduced that he could transmit sound wirelessly using light, with the solar panel acting as a receiver. So, he decided to build a wireless transmitter using his iPad, a solar panel, and a cheap speaker, and shared the short build on his YouTube channel.

The first thing he did was to build an amplifier to strengthen the audio signal from his iPad, and then attach it to an LED light, both of which are powered by 9-volt batteries. The light would then vary its intensity when pressing play, indicating that the LED is receiving data pulses from the iPad as voltage variations. He then checked the voltage output of the amplifier, and, indeed, it synchronized with the music.

Phil tested his solar panel and speaker combo by placing it near the light, and it played the music from his iPad. The only downside is that if he moved the contraption just a few inches away from the bulb, the sound strength drops off proportionally to the inverse square law, which says that light intensity decreases by the square of the distance from the source.

To solve this, he replaced the LED with a cheap red laser diode that concentrated the light in a smaller area. He then pointed it a few feet away across his living room, and when he placed the tiny solar panel and speaker combo along the path of the laser, it started playing the music quite audibly. Sure, it might not be Hi-Fi quality with crisp sound, but it’s good enough that you’d understand the words of the song.

This isn’t actually groundbreaking technology, and the military has been using lasers to communicate wirelessly over long distances since the 1970s. It eventually entered civilian use in the 2000s, helping to establish high-speed communications in areas where laying fiber optic cables is impractical. It does have its limitations, though, especially since laser communications require a clear line of sight for them to work.

Still, Phil’s cheap and easy recreation of this technology showed how accessible it has become to nearly everyone. Moreover, his videos may spark the interest of students, helping to inspire the next generation of engineers and inventors.

Soldering is a skill and an art form. I’ve learnt the skill and I can confidently solder most projects into life. As for artistry, I am still panting by numbers. Just like an artist has their favorite brush / pencil / tablet, those who solder have their preferred soldering iron. Originally, I was team Antex, and the XS25 served me well. But then I started using smart soldering irons. Starting with the original Pinecil, then the Pinecil V2, Minware TS101, and many more.

Fanttik’s $77 T1 Max wireless soldering iron isn’t as smart as others that I have used, but what it lacks in “smarts” it makes up for in ease of use. With just a dial and a push button, the T1 Max gets to work, but deep inside the soldering iron, there are quality of life improvements to save the 2600mAh battery and the soldering iron tips.

Join me as I put the Fanttik T1 Max through its paces on my new workbench.

Fanttik T1 Max Specifications

Fanttik T1 Max Look and Feel

The design of the Fanttik T1 Max is pleasingly simple for a portable soldering iron. There is no OLED screen or buttons. We just have a dial at the rear of the unit which selects the soldering temperature. Set your temperature, then press and hold the power button to start heating the soldering tip to your desired temperature. The power button is about a third of the way from the hot end of the soldering iron, and the rubberized grip.

The grip is large and somewhat comfortable to use, despite being nearly an inch thick. But because of the soldering iron's balance, with weight at the back, it feels off-center, and I found myself gripping nearer to the power button. This meant that I was gripping an area with little or no friction, and my hand easily slid around. I quickly learnt to move my grip to the correct position, but there were a few times where I shifted my grip.

Another issue that I noticed was with the grip itself. It does provide a small guard from the hot end of the soldering iron, there is no “real” guard that will stop your fingers sliding off. Sure, there is no guard on the TS101, Pinecil, or Fnirsi HS-01 and HS-02 soldering irons that I have tested, but they were smaller and had “grippier” grips, or the grip was further back.

I would’ve preferred to have seen a better guard on the Fanttik T1 Max, but it would ruin the aesthetic. The thickness of the Fanttik T1 Max and uneven weight make it uncomfortable for long soldering sessions. A smaller, lighter soldering iron is much better for those tasks. But for quick projects, the Fanttik T1 Max is fine.

Just in front of the grip is a ring of LED lights that illuminate where you are soldering. This is an interesting idea, and my HOTO electric screwdriver does the same thing, but for both tools, it adds little to the task at hand.

The power button also provides a basic level of indication, alerting you to low battery levels, charging status, heating up, etc.

The Fanttik T1 Max rests in a rather fancy-looking holder. The hot tip points down, and is a couple of centimeters from the base of the holder. The holder can be rotated to bring the iron nearer to your hand, and it can be positioned for left and right-handed persons.

The base itself hides a compartment for a selection of soldering tips. Press the drawer inwards and it pops out with three spare tips (knife, hooked point, and precision point). This is a really nice touch, and it provides somewhere to keep alternative tips, instead of adding them to my overflowing soldering drawer. I did notice that at certain angles, the base was a little wobbly; it only has three points of contact to the desk; four would’ve been a much better choice.

The included sponges, in black and yellow, are housed in a circular dish, and a few squirts of distilled water brought my test sponge to life. They work well enough, but I much prefer brass wool to clean the tip.

Also in the kit was a solder sucker, which looks similar to my Engineer-branded model. I did not use the solder sucker, as it was not pertinent to the review, but it was nice to have.

Soldering with the Fanttik T1 Max

I connected the Fanttik T1 Max soldering iron to my Pinepower desktop station and, using a USB Type-C lead, I charged the unit ready for a morning of soldering. I expected the unit to charge using USB Type C PD, but my unit charged at 5V 1A until it was full.

I selected a small knife-edge soldering tip from the pop-out tray, and I unscrewed the collet and slid the soldering iron tip until there was resistance. I screwed the collet in place and then powered up the soldering iron. A mere 12.14 seconds later, it was up to my working temperature (350 degrees C), and I was ready to go. I really like the auto-sleep function, which drops the tip temperature if the soldering iron’s vibration sensor doesn’t detect movement for 15 seconds. If left for a full 15 minutes, the soldering iron will shut off.

My goal for this test was to solder up an RC2040 Computer Kit from Extreme Electronics. This kit uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to emulate an RC2014 Z80 type system running CP/M-80. I have a thing for old computers and soldering, so the two married nicely.

The kit comprises through-hole and surface-mounted components. Through-hole is no problem for my aging eyes, but surface mount is a challenge for both my eyes and dexterity. Let's see how the Fanttik T1 Max holds up.

Through-hole parts were a breeze. My choice of leaded solder melted easily at 350 degrees C, and I soon had all of the shorter components on the board. Next up, I had to solder in the micro SD card slot and the Raspberry Pi Pico. I powered down the soldering iron and left it to cool. In 2 minutes and 10 seconds, the tip was cool enough for me to remove and replace with the hooked point. Heating the iron back to 350 C, I tinned and prepared the new tip, then started soldering the surface-mount components.

I started with the micro SD card slot and, surprisingly, it went perfectly! No bridges or cold joints, just finely soldered connections to the PCB. The Raspberry Pi Pico was a different story. The Pico has castellated edges for surface-mount soldering, and these are sometimes difficult to solder. This was one of those times. With the hooked tip, it was difficult to get heat into the castellated edge and the PCB pad. I managed it, but after a while, I swapped back to the knife-edge tip to give myself a little more thermal mass, but the tip would occasionally get stuck in the solder. This typically means that the tip has lost temperature and needs a moment to heat up.

This happens with battery-powered soldering irons. The power supply won’t just dump power into the tip until the battery dies. Instead, it regulates the tip temperature, but sometimes what we demand is not what it can constantly provide. For my own peace of mind, I had to check the connections between the castellated edges and the PCB pads. I didn’t want to go to all of this effort for the kit not to work. So I grabbed my trusty UNI-T UT58C multimeter and beeped out (continuity tested) the connections. Some were bad, so I reflowed them and retested. After that, all was good.

I finished off the rest of the connections, and the kit was built and, yes dear reader, it worked!

Next, I wanted to test the Fanttik T1 Max with a larger solder joint. So I dug into my maker box and found some 3mm (AWG 9) thick marine-grade copper wire that I got when a local store closed down. This is the kind of cable used to supply power, so it has multiple strands of pure copper running through it, making it tough to solder. Many makers just use mechanical connections or a really beefy soldering gun. Can the Fanttik T1 Max solder this cable? In a word, “barely.”

There was just enough power at 350 degrees C to get the wire to accept solder, so I bumped the temp up to 450 C and things went better, but it still took a very long time to even tin the copper. Joining two wires together was frustrating, and I never had enough power to make them stick. I retested with the Fanttik T1 Max connected to a USB-C power source, and the result was the same.

For precision soldering on circuit boards etc, the Fanttik T1 Max is a good option, but for beefier solder joints, you’ll need a more powerful soldering iron like iFixit’s Smart Soldering Hub.

Fanttik T1 Max User Interface

As I mentioned earlier, the only visual feedback on the Fanttik T1 Max is the power button LED. It has three colors, red, green, and white, identifying the soldering iron’s current status.

I like this, but sometimes I had to refer to the instructions to understand what was happening. After using the soldering iron for a while, I got a grasp as to what was going on, but it felt awkward.

One thing that didn’t feel awkward was the dial used to control the temperature. This was so simple to use, and luckily it had my preferred working temperature (350 C), but what if I preferred 315C or 360C? Well, I am out of luck as the dial uses 50-degree increments, so I would have to adapt my soldering speed to match the heat of the tip.

Fanttik T1 Max Soldering Tips

The C210 soldering tips are very different to those used on the TS100, Pinecil, and even my faithful Yihua soldering station. But they look similar to those used on the WEP 982 III soldering station and the Fnirsi HS-02 smart soldering iron. I checked, and yes, standard C210 type soldering iron tips can be used. That makes finding alternatives / replacements on Aliexpress or elsewhere very easy (and affordable).

Bottom Line: Who is the Fanttik T1 Max For?

The design of the Fanttik T1 Max makes it look and feel like a lifestyle product, for those who want to solder something but have never picked up a soldering iron before. The performance backs this up, as it only has power for small / light jobs. If you have a big soldering project in mind, then you should buy a more powerful kit.

I enjoyed using the Fanttik T1 Max. It is a great soldering iron for lighter tasks, but its size and uneven weight make it feel a little too “alien” in the hand. That said, the simplicity it affords means that it suits those new to soldering, or for quick and simple soldering projects.

ComMarker has followed up its popular Omni 1 UV laser with the new Omni X, a similar 5W model but with some intriguing and perhaps compelling advances. We had the chance to have a thorough hands-on review period with the new machine pre-launch, over a period of several weeks, to assess how it ranks among the Best Laser Cutters and Engravers in the market today.

So, what’s new? Top of the list among the new stuff is, firstly, the fact that ComMarker has made this UV laser fully enclosed as standard. Building on this feature, there’s a sensor-backed auto-stop function to cease the powerful and potentially harmful laser light output if this cover is lifted – or if you try and start a job when the cover isn’t fully closed. This safety cover moves up and down manually, using a handle.

Secondly, ComMarker has added an optional slide extension, effectively expanding the piddling 150 x 150mm galvanometer UV laser work area to a more ample 450 x 150mm area. As per the feature’s name, this new ability comes courtesy of a motorized slider that integrates into the design.

Another update to the new device is the added convenience of LiDAR ranging. All you have to do is hit ‘Autofocus’ in the ComMarker application UI to ensure sharp and accurate results. The manual up/down buttons and steel ruler integrated into the galvanometer (galvo) head remain, so you can tweak settings manually should you wish/need. You might want to engrave glass under the focus point/surface, for example.

About UV lasers

While 5W might sound rather piddling in terms of power, due to the way UV laser technology works, we found it ample. Later in this review, you will see sample works, and we have shared information about timings, too.

We aren’t here to do a diode vs fiber (IR) vs UV laser technology comparison, but some would argue UV lasers are the cleanest, fastest, and most flexible - and are thus worth their obvious premium. See the chart below for some laser tech comparisons from ComMarker. The premium is hard to ignore, with the Omni X starting at above $5,000 (retail) without the optional slider or rotary extension accessories bundled in.

Included in the box

The ComMarker Omni X was provided in a part-assembled kit form. It had all the machine parts, fasteners, power and data cabling, and tools required for assembly (like Allen keys). Extra safety glasses were supplied, which was reassuring for double protection (the machine has a built-in safety visor), as was a 50cm steel ruler. Last but not least, ComMarker included quite a broad range of sample materials for makers to add their designs to.

Design of the ComMarker Omni X

ComMarker’s Omni X is quite a tall, imposing beast measuring 515 x 320 x 655 mm (20.3 x 12.6 x 25.8-inches), and weighing 32kg (70.5 pounds). The shipment came in at around 70 kg (~150 pounds), too. Once assembled, it isn’t ungainly, though. Most of the time you will only touch the machine to interact with the protective hood handle, to get to the working bed (which is bristling with threaded holes).

Access to the bed, various fixings, a finely adjustable platform, and buttons for emergency stop, power, and manually moving the laser head up and down are all at a regular table height, more or less. That is, if you place the Omni X on a regular table.

Assembly and preparation

This is quite a heavy and sizable machine, as shown in the specs table. Nevertheless, building it wasn’t a difficult task, as I would describe the device, as it was delivered already partially assembled. I spent a much longer time assembling the budget aluminum extrusion framed SculpFun S9 diode laser (with its pulleys and belts), which will likely become redundant now.

ComMarker had everything very carefully packaged, with components either obvious what they were, or clearly labeled. The provided manual guides you through starting with the platform, bolting on the height-adjustable pedestal, and then the laser head unit on top of it.

Quite a lot of allen screws were needed to secure the back/top cover, which is metal, heavy, and packed with fans atop. However, the trickiest thing I found was fixing the green safety cover. There were just two slim screws attached to the slider mechanism on either side, and I had to get help to balance this quite heavy component while it was fixed in place. If not for balance, I worried about screw, shearing, or cracking the green plastic.

Turning on the finished assembled machine for the first time, it is surprisingly loud. But the noise* doesn’t change whether cutting (or engraving), it is just the ‘ColdFront 2.0 thermal system’ keeping the UV laser components happy. ComMarker’s description of this cooling system as “quiet” might be relative to other UV lasers, but in PC cooling terms, it isn’t quiet!

I completed a rough test in my garage with a background noise level of around 34dB (fridge, gas boiler running, etc). Turning on the Omni X saw the dB meter read a sustained 68dB from about 30cm (12 inches) away.

* ComMarker wrote to us to say that it was implementing a sensor to "add a temperature control switch to the machine." The purpose of this, based on early review feedback, is to reduce the fan noise when the machine isn't actually cutting or engraving. According to the firm, this change reduced machine noise "from about 71dB to 63dB," in its tests. Omni X machines that ship to paying customers will include this refinement.

Software

I was advised to test this Omni X, a pre-mass-production sample from ComMarker, with the firm’s own branded new software package. The PC application installed easy enough and has an interface similar to other similar tools.

Central to the UI you see the canvas, which for most of my testing of the Omni X would be 150mm square. The toolbar to the left allows the creation of text as well as a few primitive vector shapes. These can be outlines (great for cutting) or filled shapes. Beneath these are icons to import a bitmap or vector graphics file straight onto the canvas. Then there are some more specialized tools.

To the right of the canvas area, a context-sensitive panel shows the laser marking settings for each selected object or group. Thus, you can place a few graphics and have different engraving intensities applied (for different effects or shades), If you were also cutting, you’d adjust parameters for the shape you were cutting to match the material.

The software was pleasingly simple, but with enough depth for multi-stage UV laser etching and cutting processes.

I must tell readers that I did have teething troubles with the ComMarker app, though. This might be understandable, as this is new software, but I wasted quite a lot of time, moving through three revisions of the software. And this is software which isn’t yet properly documented and surprised me with some of its issues.

As of the time of writing, on the latest software, everything seems to be working as intended though, touch wood, fingers crossed, etc.

Engraving and cutting

So, we have lots of engraving and cutting possibilities here. Some of these materials are confidently engraved or cut by diode and fiber (IR) lasers. However, the UV laser in the Omni X has its own strengths and weaknesses – mostly strengths though, as you should expect given the price tag.

To get ready for any job, you place the material on the platform and hit the focus button to the lower right side of the software UI. If it grumbles that it isn’t in focus, it usually manages it on the second press!

Next, you will want to check if the artwork you wish to laser cut or etch fits in the physical size constraints of the material. Click preview to see. You can also choose whether to preview the selected object on the canvas or its contour.

ComMarker supplies a green translucent paddle so you can check the preview bounds, as on many materials you can’t see evidence of the UV light bounds being repeatedly traced out by the galvo. This makes things a little tricky as the paddle is quite cloudy and about 5mm thick. On small, irregular shaped objects you can’t just put the paddle down on top, as it will slide or tilt.

The above processes apply to all jobs, but at some point before pressing ‘Start’ you will also need to load, input and/or adjust the Laser Settings parameters.

👉 First test – Wood

I am very familiar with engraving (burning) and cutting plywood sheets with my diode laser, so thought it was the best place to start. This was my first UV test!

Sadly, somehow the ‘continuous’ button, located just above the Start button, had been ticked by accident. So my first test of a material cutting and engraving matrix ran far far beyond the timer that claimed the process would take under 300s. As this was my first experience of the machine, and there are so many warnings about UV lasers, I thought it was a software bug where the 1s remaining dialog box would just go away a little later. I got fed up about 3 hours later, decided to hit cancel, only to find out my job had been ruined…

I talked with ComMarker, and they said the continuous checkbox was “mainly designed for long-running tasks like cutting through 5mm glass, where the laser needs to keep running without interruption.” They agreed it shouldn’t be alongside frequently toggled preview controls and right next to the Start button. They haven’t moved it deeper into the UI yet, though.

With that drama behind me, I found wood engraving and cutting quick and efficient on the UV laser. Indeed, the ‘cold burn’ technology here could cut the 3mm ply samples very cleanly and rather quickly.

ComMarker’s guidance had suggested 15 passes to cut this material, but I tested 10 passes with success, and even six passes worked. Of course, using fewer passes (if you can) means there’s less chance of charring, and it saves considerable time. In my example, moving from 15 to six passes reduced the work time for cuts from 50 to 20 seconds.

Engraving on wood was equally swift, with adjustments to number of passes, laser beam speed, and others providing different effects. Perhaps this is a weak point of a UV laser system, though. ‘Zero burn’ tech means that the wide range of black levels produced by laser-induced charring are largely absent here. Check out my other sample pictures to see what I mean.

Update: You can see some more wood engraving work as part of my feature where I make an Apple ADB to USB converter dongle.

On the guitar headstock logo I might fill the engraved text (GDR = Guitar Design Reviews) with some colored ink, lacquer, or varnish.

👉 Paper, fabric, leaves, slate

Using some of the paper samples in the ComMarker introductory pack, it was pleasing that the first tests, using the settings provided, worked without fiddly adjustments.

Etching a logo onto quite thin paper was quite impressive, delivering the translucency you can see in the images. On heavier card, a different, probably more impactful effect was possible.

Cutting self-adhesive stickers was also an effortless and quick process with the Onmi X. I asked the grandkids to let me know what other shapes they would like various stickers cut out. The process takes just seconds, with extremely fine and clean cuts.

The measured effects of UV lasers on leaves is rather special. I etched this stylized name/logo on a leaf using the recommended settings. As you can see, it came out beautifully and evenly.

👉 Metal, painted metal

I’d not tried metal engraving or cutting on my previous diode laser. For this model, I got some painted aluminum business cards I had seen others work on, with great results. However, the finished engravings in person seemed even more impressive.

ComMarker’s Omni X also fared very well on the metal samples with various color or mirror coatings. These line art engravings came out pleasingly sharp, and the results could be had very quickly.

My tests of printing photographs on metal weren’t as good as expected. Perhaps I need to tweak settings more, or adjust the images used for better reproduction.

👉 PC keyboard keycaps

I have an old mechanical keyboard on which the (ABS) keycaps have started to wear out. This peripheral came with blank spare keycaps, and a UV laser is supposed to be good for engraving various plastics without charring, melting, or burning. It looked a good candidate for a UV-laser aided fix.

Positioning the keys correctly was quite a challenge, given the above explanation about UV previews and the paddle. However, I think these two 'L' and 'O' replacements look fine. The RGB LEDs should shine though easily. Hopefully the rest of the black finish will be durable enough for a few months.

👉 Glass gave me some trouble

ComMarker supplied me with some beautiful glass crystal blocks for test-engraving. Since they look so ‘expensive’ I thought I would try one of the 12 mini shot tumblers I got from eBay first.

After poor results over several attempts, I talked to ComMarker, and they asked me to manually raise the laser head 2 or 3mm up from its LiDAR determined focus point. Even though the shot glasses slightly curve away at the sides of the logo, it remains pretty sharp, legible and doesn't look bad at all.

When I tried one of the glass crystal blocks, it engraved beautifully first attempt. Well, except for the output size being too big on the first shot - due to one of those software bugs I mentioned previously. The Tom’s Hardware logo looks great on this glass, even with one side ‘zoomed in’ like it was an intentional part of the design (it wasn’t). On closer inspection, though, it would probably be worthwhile tweaking the settings with the hope of getting sharper straight edges on some of the letters. There are various advanced line/hatching settings available.

I didn’t have any clear or colored acrylic samples for testing, but they should be easily within the capabilities of the Omni X, and I was given seven presets for different types of acrylic, and both engraving and cutting settings.

Bottom Line

The ComMarker Omni X delivers some worthwhile improvements to last year’s well regarded Omni 1. The safety visor is welcome, as is the 99.72% Dust Isolation feature delivered by the enclosure with suitable extractor hose attached. Another refinement here is the compatibility with the slider extension, as well as the existing roller/rotational add-on that fits the Omni 1 and X.

Standout positives included the UV technology at this laser's heart - with 'cold burn' and ultra precise 0.0019mm laser beam capability. Inherent to galvo type laser like this are fast movements, with the laser point capable of moving at a quoted 15,000 mm/s.

Pondering over negatives, we might complain about the size and weight of this device - which seems large given its 150mm square work area (without extender). I'd also repeat my grumbles about software teething trouble...

ComMarker’s software irked me during my few weeks of testing, and I went through versions of it which fixed one thing but then introduced a different brand-new wrinkle. However, getting the right settings and tuning to a sweet spot was the main battle – which can be the case with many a laser. I’ve talked with ComMarker about this, and they tell me consumer production machines will have all the correct calibrated parameters saved to the motherboard ahead of shipping. That way they will be out of the scope of accidental software tinkering. I’ve also found that the material library presets in the Laser Settings part of the UI have gotten better in the newer releases of the software. This provides a faster route to refining your settings for different materials.

It would be a shame if the software let down what seems to be excellently, sturdily built hardware. It is noted, though, that this UV laser is compatible with LightBurn software, which I’ve tried with good results before. Please note, you will need the $200 ‘galvo’ license of LightBurn to accompany this model, though. ComMarker told me the Omni X will launch with a USB stick for consumers, containing a LightBurn materials library and presets.

Personally, the UV laser is a big step-up in speed and cutting power, and opens up a lot of material flexibility. But machines like this come with a considerable price tag. We have been told that the Omni X will retail starting from $4,599, with bundles including accessories like the rotary and slider attachments rising to $5,099. And those are Early Bird prices.

However, if you have a workflow, or intended workflow that would benefit from the power, speed, and accuracy shown here, the outlay may be worth it. As is often the case, a wise decision is all about horses for courses.

• Omni X Basic Bundle: Early bird $4,599 / Regular $5,299
• Omni X Rotary Bundle (with R5 roller): Early bird $4,859 / Regular $5,683
• Omni X Slider Bundle: Early bird $5,099 / Regular $6,044
• Omni X Ultimate Bundle (Slider + R5 roller + 100W Fume Extractor): Early bird $5,689 / Regular $6,947

For alternative laser cutter and engraver choices, at all kinds of price points, please check out our frequently updated Best Laser Cutters and Engravers 2025 guide.

Engineer and origami artist Bogdan Ionescu, AKA BogdanTheGeek, has created a web server that runs on a disposable vape. Inspired by his growing collection of these disposables, and prior work he had done on semihosting on any Arm CPU using “a few lines of code,” Bogdan had a lightbulb moment and decided to host “a web server on a vape,” thus creating the VapeServer.

Disposable vapes can contain a surprising amount of computing power/components. Bogdan had been collecting discarded units for ‘future projects’ for a couple of years, with eyes on reusing the batteries. However, he recently became aware of “fancier” units that pack more advanced ICs and microcontrollers. They didn’t just contain PCBs with unknown ‘blob chips.’ He found some with more advanced microcontrollers.

Bogdan says one of the fancier units he disassembled contained an IC marked ‘PUYA C642F15.’ This sparked some research, and the engineer determined that this was actually a PY32F002B, which has the following specs:

• 24 MHz Arm Cortex M0+ processor
• 24KB of Flash Storage
• 3KB of Static RAM
• a few peripheral interfaces

Those are not stellar specs, and perhaps “about 100x slower” than a 10-year-old mobile, by our hero’s estimation. For web serving, though, Bogdan thought the PY32F002B-powered ex-vape with USB-C port could be leveraged to make a “blazingly fast” device.

The method, in brief, would see Bogdan emulate a dial-up modem on the microcontroller using SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) over the USB serial connection. Linux ‘slattach’ and ‘socat’ utilities enabled IP packet transmission, and then the microcontroller leveraged the compact uIP stack to communicate via TCP/IP and set up a web server. The web page, a copy of the linked blog post, just about fit in the remaining 20KB of flash on the PY32F002B.

Cutting page load times from 20s to 160ms

A university research team developed a novel technique to measure heart rates using Wi-Fi. According to the University of California, Santa Clara (UCSC), the team, which included Computer Science and Engineering Professor Katia Obraczka, Ph.D. student Nayan Bhatia, and high school student and visiting researcher Pranay Kocheta, used a low-cost ESP32 chip and paired it with a machine learning algorithm to detect changes in the Wi-Fi signal caused by the heart. They then run it through a machine learning algorithm, which can estimate the heart rate with an accuracy of around half a beat per minute after five seconds of monitoring (with the margin of error improving after longer observation and with the use of more powerful Wi-Fi devices).

This project, called Pulse-Fi, works as far as 10 feet away from the hardware, meaning you don’t have to wear it to get accurate readings. “What we found was that because of the machine learning model, that distance apart basically had no effect on performance, which was a very big struggle for past models,” said Pranay Kocheta. “The other thing was position — all the different things you encounter in day-to-day life, we wanted to make sure we were robust to however a person is living.”

More importantly, this wireless heart rate tracking is quite affordable, with the system built by the researchers costing between $5 and $10. More expensive Raspberry Pi chips, which cost around $30, are more accurate, but still cheap enough to mass produce. These numbers are close to the price of pulse oximeters, which are what most medical professionals use to monitor heart rate and oxygen saturation.

However, these must have skin contact and are typically worn on the finger. Pulse-Fi works remotely, allowing you to monitor patients remotely.

Aside from counting your heart’s beat per minute, the team behind Pulse-Fi is also working to develop the system for measuring breathing rate. This can be useful for detecting conditions like sleep apnea, which is often done with a portable monitor that the patient must wear. If the team can prove that Pulse-Fi can do it wirelessly and accurately, this will make detection and diagnosis easier and much more comfortable.

Prompted by the recent launch of the Alien: Earth series on FX/Hulu, electronics hobbyist Rob Smith has built a ‘fully working M314 Motion Tracker’. This project has been a long time on the drawing board, 10 years apparently, but Smith has now committed to this Raspberry Pi-powered device, which he claims can “actually track motion up to about 15 meters.” Of course, you won’t know what is moving, just like in the movies, so make sure to have your M41A pulse rifle at the ready.

Smith, host of the RobSmithDev YouTube channel, laments in his video how some prior M314 Motion Tracker builds looked perfect for the part, but usually only show a video clip on the tracker screen. We don’t know what prior works Smith is talking about, but perhaps this kind of project from Adam Savage (MythBusters) is what he means. However, Smith’s device has actual motion tracking shown on the display, can see through walls, and even has authentic synthesized sounds…

Radar modules: In space, no one can hear you mod

What seems to have been the main sticking point of this project, which led to it being delayed so long (other than lack of time), was the availability of a suitable radar sensor. Smith talked us through his first revelation of finding the RCWL-0516 Arduino Radar Module, which uses a 3.18 GHz radio signal and enables the analysis of reflections. It was a step-up for this project compared to infrared alternatives with their inherent limits.

However, this component choice was switched from the parts list several times before the gadget you see demonstrated on the video took its final form. Smith moved from the RCWL-0516 to the HFS-DC06H, to the HLK –LD2410, then the HLK –LD2420, before finally settling on the ‘cutting-edge’ new DreamHAT+ Radar.

By luck, information about this new radar module arrived in Smith’s inbox. This device, though not cheap, boasted of 60 GHz mm-wave radar and a 15m range. Marketing materials showed the DreamHAT+ Radar was adept at motion sensing. As you can see in the video and product links, the DreamHAT+ Radar is built with the Raspberry Pi (model 4 or 5) in mind.

Though the new radar module seems to be the best so far, Smith noted that, in testing, the range seemed to be half what was quoted. Moreover, it only detected one movement at a time – what if there were multiple aliens?

Next up, we hear about the other hardware picked to complement the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and DreamHAT+ Radar, already selected. Some other key components, like the accelerometer and TFT screen, are also linked in the video description.

Looks and sounds a lot like the original tension-stoking movie prop

In the latter half of this video, which is part one of a two-part series, Smith shows that he has successfully achieved a ‘realistic’ looking radar display. He’s even softened the arced-grid-line UI to make it look more like a CRT output.

Pleasingly, a similar level of attention to detail was shown in the sound design. The audio feedback from the M314 Motion Tracker plays a large part in the building of tension in the movie(s), and the entirely synthesized variable pitch sound Smith has implemented seems to hit the spot.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one “craft studio in a box” that can laser, blade cut, draw, emboss, and do a little color printing, the xTool M1 Ultra is just what you need. This jack-of-all-trades boasts nine different processing methods that can handle a wide range of crafts. It can laser wood, etch acrylic, emboss leather, engrave metal, and cut paper, fabric, felt, and leather. It can also do some limited printing with inkjet.

With a retail price starting at $999 for the basic kit, the machine is not cheap. But considering that it easily takes the place of two different crafting machines, it's worth the price. The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of a built-in camera for positioning, which is something reserved for xTool’s higher-end machines. A phone app is meant to replace the camera, but I was never able to sync it properly to the machine.

Swapping between tool heads is quite easy, allowing you to combine multiple techniques in one craft without disturbing your material. The build quality is excellent, with a UV-safe lid that makes the laser safe to use without glasses. xTool’s Creative Space (XCS) software is intuitive and easy to learn, with smart features to suggest the perfect settings for each material. The inkjet print head is not as well-developed as the other features and lacks the ability to print sharp details. It’s ok for adding a splash of color to a wooden project, but not good enough to produce stickers, which is a real shame.

The M1 Ultra basic kit comes with a 10-watt laser, cutting blade and pen set for $999. The advanced bundle is $1,149 and includes a rotary blade for thicker fabrics or leather, a foil transfer tip for embossing, and the ink module tool head. The $1,719 deluxe bundle adds air assist, a riser, and a rotary attachment. The machine comes with a pipe for an air purifier, but that is an additional $899. We were able to use one from a different xTool machine for this review.

xTool offers lots of support for makers wanting to spin their hobby into a crafting business. Its website has a fully stocked shop of unbranded materials to use, plus ideas and tutorials to inspire you. Though you could source materials yourself, everything that xTool sells has a preset profile in the M1’s custom software to make engraving, cutting, and embossing effortless. The xTool M1 Ultra is one of the best laser engravers we’ve seen for home studios.

Specifications: xTool M1 Ultra

xTool M1 Ultra: Included in the Box

The M1 Ultra includes a tool kit, sticky mats, small material clamps, a hose for the air duct, and samples of wood and acrylic to engrave. Free software is available online to create artwork to burn and fully operate the machine.

The inkjet tool head, rotary blade, foil transfer tip, and air assist are all extras we were provided for the review.

Design of the xTool M1 Ultra

The M1 Ultra is a fully enclosed box with a laser-safe tinted acrylic top and swappable tool heads. There are two buttons on the machine for the operator, and no screen. So all commands come from either the computer or the mobile app. The outer case is plastic, while the motion system and interior are metal. A strip of LED lights on either side of the compartment light the interior.

The machine only operates when the lid is closed, even if it’s in cutting or drawing mode. It will immediately turn off if you try to open it while running. The front silver button serves as the start/stop, and the white plastic button is used for manually marking the processing area.

Our review unit came with a 10-watt diode laser, although a 20-watt option is available as an upgrade. The laser tool head has a slot that can hold either a blade cutter or a pen. This allows the machine to use a pair of tools back-to-back without needing to change the tool head. You can stack any of the machine’s techniques into one programmed project, as long as you don’t mind swapping the tool heads.

The air assist, which helps clear smoke from the work area, is factory-installed, but the pump itself is an optional purchase. This means that if you buy the air assist, you only have to plug it into the back of the machine and don't have to worry about routing the tubing to the tool head. It is powered by the laser, eliminating the need for a separate plug and power switch.

It also has a powerful cabin fan to remove smoke through a hose you can run out your window or exterior door, or feed into an optional air purifier.

The basic machine comes with a box of loose triangle-shaped bars to elevate your materials off the baseplate for airflow while cutting. It’s pretty simple, but works well. There is also a sticky cutting mat for when you’re etching or using the blade cutter or pen plotter.

My only complaint with the xTool M1 Ultra is the lack of built-in camera. You are supposed to be able to use the mobile app to take a photo of your work area, then use that photo to line up several projects. This would be incredibly handy for doing multiples of anything, or cutting out stickers printed on a separate paper printer. I couldn’t get the phone app to calibrate for love or money, and I even tried with two other phones belonging to family members. Fortunately, the manual marking method works, but it is too tedious to use with more than a few objects at a time.

Speaking of printed stickers, the ink jet tool head is not very crisp. It’s fine for laying down some pastel colors on a wooden project, but not up to sticker making standards.

The M1 Ultra requires a separate computer to operate – ideally a laptop as the first connection must be made with the USB cord. You can later connect over Wi-Fi or Ethernet to your local network. I used Wi-Fi and operated the laser from both a desktop PC and laptop. There’s a start button on the machine to prevent unattended operation, so you’ll still need to stay in the area.

The machine needs to probe the surface of the material with a metal pin to focus. Because it lacks a camera, you need to push the tool head over your material, but after that it handles all the calculations itself.

The probe can also be used to pinpoint the location of your materials in the x and y dimensions, which allows precise placement of designs. The more points you give it, the more precise it can be. A rectangle only requires 2 corners, a circle three points, and odd shapes can be nailed down with as many points as you need. This is a manual process, but the M1 Ultra gives you a targeting crosshair which is incredibly precise.

Assembling the xTool M1 Ultra

The xTool M1 Ultra arrives fully assembled. You only need to unpack it – the chamber contains assorted tools and accessories. The tool head is swappable and arrives with the carriage empty. The directions tell you to insert the laser module first, which slides into place and is secured with a lever.

A smoke exhaust unit is clipped to the back. The filter is replaceable – they include several extra. The flexible hose can point either left or right, which is very convenient.

You’ll also plug in a USB safety “key” which enables the laser. The key can be removed if you don’t want other people (especially children) to operate the laser when you aren’t around.

The M1 Ultra comes with a full color magazine style manual to help you get the machine set up. There’s also a video on their website if you need extra help. The company’s support center also has lots of articles and videos to help you learn how to use your laser.

Safety Precautions for the xTool M1 Ultra

xTool has added a new safety course that users are required to complete before given access to the software. It’s a quick 8 minute 30-second YouTube video that runs through basic laser knowledge and safety, illustrated with every xTool machine in the shop. Even if you think you know lasers, it’s a good watch and has helpful advice. It also includes information on blade cutters, which are used in the M1 line.

After watching the video, hit “process” to let the software know you’ve finished watching. It will download a certificate onto canvas so you can print…or laser it.

The xTool M1 Ultra is a very safe Class 1 laser while the lid is closed, but if the door is somehow over-ridden, it can damage your eyes and burn skin. It also produces smoke and fumes while engraving or cutting materials. You must take precautions to operate the machine safely. Use this and any other laser at your own risk.

Since the laser is literally burning material, never allow it to operate unattended and have a fire extinguisher handy just in case. An optional fire safety kit can be purchased for $169, which includes sensors to detect flames, bottles of CO2 gas to extinguish them and a smart plug to shut off power to the laser. This system is independent of the M1 Ultra and works with any enclosed laser, including those from other brands.

Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes plastics, fiberglass and certain foams.

Software for xTool M1 Ultra

xTool provides free software – xTool Creative Space – that you can download from their website to design projects and operate the laser. The program operates on Windows, Mac, MacOS and iOS. They’ve also added AI powered “Atomm” software to assist with designing your own AI art and finding community projects to match your machine and materials.

XCS is easy to operate and has everything a beginner needs. It’s also tuned to work specifically for your machine – you must link the M1 Ultra to the PC running the software– and has many helpful presets for materials sold by xTool. You can draw shapes, vector lines and add text with XCS. Best of all, the software understands JPGs and PNGs so you can import photos and clipart without trouble.

The presets are specifically labels by thickness and material type which can give you a jumping off point for items you’ve sourced yourself.

It is helpful to either have the M1 Ultra in the same room as your computer, or install the software on a laptop to run it. xTool also has a phone app which can handle the basics.

The one weakness in the software is the complete lack of a reliable camera. Though you can use a manual marking system, having a camera to register items is a huge perk when trying to cut or engrave several objects. The system uses the mobile app and the camera in your phone to provide restoration. I was able to use the mobile app to send a photo to XCS, but was unable to calibrate it. It was, sadly, a good 8 to 10 millimeters off.

Engraving / Cutting with the xTool M1 Ultra

The M1 Ultra we reviewed has a 10-watt laser that can cut through 10 mm bass wood and 8mm acrylic in one pass, with a max speed of 400mm/s. It can also blade cut fabric, paper, vinyl and leather, print with an optional ink jet, and emboss foil.

xTool’s software includes preset starting points for most of the materials the machine can handle. You’ll still want to run a test, but I found the presets spot on, especially when using materials purchased from xTool’s shop.

A complete list of materials and suggested settings is located at xTool’s website. These settings also correspond to materials the company sells on its website.

I tested the M1 Ultra ability to cut and etch with a piece of 3mm basswood from xTool. I dropped the Tom’s Hardware logo into xTool Creative Space as a PNG and traced it using the xTool software. I then added a ruler SVG file and lasered the whole thing in three passes: once to etch, a second pass to score the outline and a third pass to punch out the hammer and cut out the ruler. The whole operation took 8 minutes, using the laser’s presets for basswood. It looks super crisp with no discoloration from the smoke. Engraving was done at 20% power and 150mm/s, scoring used 60% power and 60mm/s, while cutting was cranked up to 100% power but only 6mm/s.

I lasered my favorite Laser Shark onto a xTool slate coaster, using the “rock coaster” setting. This took 5 minutes and 45 seconds using the engraving mode, with 40% power and 120mm/s. It’s super clean and crisp.

I cut my blog logo out of vinyl and ironed it onto several shirts and a tote bag. The blade tool did an excellent job cutting out the tiny details of my logo, and the shirts have held up to several washings.

Photos with the ink jet weren’t as good as the other functions. The picture of my dogs lacks details and is overall too muddy to use.

Embossing was a bit fiddly but worked really well. This horse embossed on leather in 4 minutes and 53 seconds going very slow at 20mm/s.

Bottom Line

The 10-watt xTool M1 Ultra is a remarkable one-stop shop for a vast array of crafting techniques. I made shirts, can koozies, leather bookmarks, a rubber stamp, tote bags, coaster and I feel like I just scraped the surface of this machine’s capabilities.

I was really hoping to make some stickers with it, but the lack of quality of the ink jet and the inability to line up a whole sheet of images printed on my normal paper printer made this a no go. Not being able to calibrate the phone app’s camera to the machine was a huge bummer.

The $999 starting price for a fully enclosed laser that can also safely do vinyl with a blade makes this a great crafting tool for the serious hobbyist who wants to make ALL THE THINGS. It also has a lot of potential for entrepreneurs who want to level up their Etsy game.

If you want to etch metal or take your laser to events, then check out xTool’s F1 laser, our favorite portable laser currently on sale for $1169. If you need more power, then the xTool S1 with it’s 40-Watt laser is pretty awesome with a sale price of $1899. Of course if you want to laser, cut AND 3D print, check out Bambu Lab’s H2D Combo and truly craft your heart out for $2899.

Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot production plans have been halted, according to Taiwan’s Digitimes. The industry journal cites unnamed China supply chain sources, who informed reporters that Optimus was facing a redesign. Moreover, the rumor indicates that "works to refine key technical components" will need to be completed before a new mass production schedule is drafted.

In January, the polarizing CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, told investors that roughly 10,000 Optimus robots would be built by the year-end. “Will we succeed in building 10,000 exactly by the end of December this year? Probably not, but will we succeed in making several thousand?” Musk asked investors rhetorically. “Yes, I think we will.” He also confidently expected these robots to be “doing useful things” straight away.

Today’s news of the redesign and expected delay stems from the rather vague assertion by China-based sources that “works to refine key technical components” are necessary. That’s interesting because in April, we reported on Optimus production being delayed due to a magnet issue.

At the time, Musk explained the production snag was due to negotiations with China to “get a license to use the rare-earth magnets.” China was seeking reassurance that its magnetic materials wouldn’t be put into military hardware, and Musk seemed dismissive of such a notion, but we don’t know how that would reassure the CCP.

Recently, we learned that China loosened rare earth material restrictions in a deal to reopen the licensing of chip design software from the U.S. and allies. So, we wonder whether Tesla’s magnet sourcing woes are now over, or the refinement of key technical components must go on due to some other factor(s).

Testing shone a light on need to recalibrate

Back to today’s industry-sourced rumors, Digitimes indicates that Tesla had completed the assembly of around 1,000 Optimus units in June. However, it stopped parts procurement mid-month, with its engineers asking for approximately two months to recalibrate.

Reasons for this pause and design rethink include “overheating in joint motors, limited lifespan in transmission mechanisms, and inadequate battery endurance,” according to DigiTimes. It is also claimed that multiple parts suppliers are being assessed for new versions of components like joints, grippers, fluids, and manipulators, key to robot dexterity. The impact of rare earth procurement delays isn't brought up in the new report.

More time also precipitates refinements

It isn’t all bad news, though. Digitimes also notes that there are some major upgrades present in Optimus Gen-3. Specifically, the humanoid robot’s hands now offer improved articulation, with “22 degrees of freedom—five fingers with four joints each, plus two in the wrist.” At this stage of the evolution of robots, humanoid form factors are still tricky for tin can robot designers.

Though it looks increasingly doubtful Tesla will meet its self-imposed thousands of Optimus robots being useful target, for late 2025, improvements are welcome. First impressions are also crucial for this kind of consumer-facing technology, and a refined initial offering to the public, despite delay, seems like a worthwhile tradeoff against being punctual with a quickly apparent, flawed product.

Amazon – fewer frills, more delivery

Say what you will about going outside, but there isn't an AdBlock program for real-life billboards and ads. At least, there didn't use to be. A software engineer on X (formerly Twitter) has built an augmented reality app to identify and block out advertisements, billboards, and product branding in real life.

Stijn Spanhove, a Belgian programmer, has engineered an advertisement-blocking app for use with Snap's fifth-generation AR Spectacles. Google's Gemini AI identifies advertisements and brands visible through the smart glasses, and promptly blocks them, replacing the advertisement with a red square, naming and shaming the blocked brand.

The above video shows the glasses in action, with the app correctly identifying and visually blocking out ads on posters, pedestrian billboards, and a newspaper. The captured video also shows the glasses blocking out the brand names on food packaging.

Spanhove says the project is still very early in its production, but "it’s exciting to imagine a future where you control the physical content you see." Spanhove continues to brainstorm the future of the app in his replies, hinting at future features allowing users to replace the glaring red prohibited square with custom photos or lists from a notes app.

The app is built from libraries and APIs shared by Snap on its Github on its Depth Cache development, making the app, for now, a Snap Spectacles exclusive experience. Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest enjoyers will need to wait a bit longer for similar experiences to arrive on their screens.

Snap, best known for its flagship social media app Snapchat, has been developing its AR Spectacles since 2016, though the camera goggles were originally designed to help people capture life events, rather than AR devices. While companies like Microsoft and Meta have abandoned or paused their augmented reality projects in recent months and years, Snap has seemingly been carrying the banner forward, with its fifth-gen Spectacles available for $99 per month for developers.

While mere mortals without development interest will need to wait a bit longer to experience a true They Live anti-propaganda glasses experience, the questions the app raises are perhaps the most interesting part of it. What will a world look like where we can control what, or perhaps who, we see? At least for now, it will look just like the normal world, just with a few extra red rectangles.

You’ve taken a look at the best soldering irons and soldering stations, and you are ready to put some fresh solder into a project. But what are the “hot soldering tips” that you need before you get started? We’ve got them right here for you!

Safety First

Before you start soldering, you need to be safe. So let's make sure that you are! I know that this will read as a downer, you want to get soldering! But it is best to follow these safety steps first, rather than risk injury or accidents.

1. Don’t hold the hot end! We’ve all seen the meme. Heck, I parody it in the lead image. Seriously, soldering irons get hot. Don’t touch the hot end, even if you drop the soldering iron, don’t try and catch it. I have a scar between my fingers that proves soldering irons are hot!

2. A clear workspace is a must. Move everything that you don’t need. Clutter can be distracting, especially when you are trying to work around it. Give yourself space to work.

3. Put your equipment within easy reach. Think about it. You’ve got a 350 °C soldering iron in your hand, and you need to grab something. Put the tools within easy reach and make sure that your dominant/soldering hand is near the soldering iron holster and that the wire is not across your body/lap/desk. Any tools should be out of the soldering area, but easily reachable. Use a silicone soldering mat to denote the soldering area, and protect your bench.

4. Solder fumes are bad! Soldering with lead or lead free solder means there are fumes. These fumes are typically made from the flux, used to flow the solder. The flux cleans and prepares the surface to receive solder and burns off as we apply heat. Get some good extraction, or at least open a window and solder near it!

5. Eye safety, because new eyeballs are expensive! Don’t do “the safety squint” (yes, I used to do that.) Get some safety glasses to protect your eyes! A splash of hot solder to your hand hurts, to your eyes it will be agony and require a trip to the ER.

The Right Tool for the Right Job!

As spoken by Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, you need the right tools for the job at hand. Just like 3D printing needs tools, so does soldering. With the right tools you’ll have a pleasant experience building a project. The wrong kit will make it difficult and miserable, yes I have done that and learnt the hard way!

1. Pick a soldering iron that is up to the task. That 8W USB soldering iron is not going to solder any heavy duty cable, and a soldering gun is not a precision instrument. Personally, I favor a soldering station with a hot air wand, like the Yihua 938BD+. It covers 90% of the tasks that I need, but it isn’t portable, so what I am soldering has to be on the bench. If you need portability, iFixit’s portable soldering station is a capable piece of kit, but you’ll pay for it!

Smart soldering irons such as the Frnirsi HS-01 and HS-02 are a great balance of power and portability. I prefer the HS-01 as it feels much better in the hand, but both are viable. Pinecil v2 is a great soldering iron too, as is the Miniware TS101 which has both USB Type C and DC power inputs.

2. Pick the right soldering tip. If you want to lay down the heat, then you’ll need the power to do so, and the right tip. The go-to conical tip is great for most jobs, hence it comes as standard, but if you need precision then a sharp pointed tip is a must. The problem though is that there is very little surface area and that means it’ll take longer to heat up. Chisel tips are a good compromise. I use a 34 degree chisel tip that gives me surface area to lay down the heat, but the angle means I have a level of precision. The best thing you can do is buy a selection of soldering tips for your soldering iron.

3. Good flush cutters are a must. You’ve just soldered something beautiful, but it has ugly component legs that need to be cropped. Do you just buy a cheap pair of flush cutters? You can, and they will work, but a good pair of cutters will make your hard work look better. I use a set of Engineer NS-04 Micro Nippers and they produce clean cuts every time!

4. Components get hot, keep your hands safe. The human body is fragile and we don’t react to heat very well. You need some tweezers to hold components in place, because your fingers will get burnt. This is especially important when soldering surface mount components.

5. Keep your tip clean. Your soldering iron tip should be clean and free of debris. Any crud on the tip will ruin your soldering. Most soldering stations come with a sponge, add a little water and use that to keep the tip clean. I prefer a brass tip cleaner as it keeps the tip clean and removes any water from my bench. You should also periodically clean the tip, preparing it for the next soldering session. I use a tip tinner to remove crud and oxidation from the tip.

6. Choose the right solder. Solder comes in many different combinations, but it boils down to leaded or lead-free. Lead-free is perfectly useful, it melts and joins components together. It is a little trickier to work with, but you will adjust your soldering temperature and timings accordingly. The benefit of lead-free solder is that you can sell products that use it, unlike lead solder. Yes, lead solder does contain lead, and that is classed as a hazardous material, but if used safely and correctly, you will be fine. Ventilation is key, mainly for the flux fumes. In the UK you cannot sell products that use lead solder.

7. Get some isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is a wondrous thing. I use it to clean boards after a soldering session, it removes flux residue and makes the board shine. Pour a little into a cup and use a fresh toothbrush to scrub it onto the PCB. It also works really well on sticky residue and for general cleaning. Get a high strength bottle, it will last ages!

8. Buy lots of soldering kits. Nobody is instantly great at soldering. You need to learn, so go on Aliexpress / Temu / eBay and buy lots of cheap soldering kits. Sometimes known as “suites” these kits are a cheap way to learn soldering without risking the expensive stuff. Buy a load of through hole kits, and some surface mount (SMD) practice kits and have fun. The LED dice kit is a great way to learn soldering and have a useful tool at the end.

Soldering Time!

You’ve followed all the rules and now you are ready for soldering! So let's get you started and talk you through the key points on soldering components to a board.

1. Set your temperature. The working temperature of your soldering iron is a personal choice. I work at 350C as it gives me plenty of heat, and time to apply it. For larger joints I will boost up to 400C, but 99% of the time I am at 350C. However you set the temperature for your soldering iron, do it and let the tip stabilize before you put it to work.

2. Tin the tip. Bring a little solder to the soldering iron tip and let it melt. This will “tin” the iron and ready it for soldering. Wipe the excess from the tip.

3. Bring the soldering iron tip to where you want the heat. It should be touching the points of contact. For example the leg of an LED and the pad on the PCB.

4. Heat it for a second or so, then bring the solder to the points of contact. It will melt into place and flow around making a nice joint. Move the soldering iron and solder away from the joint and have a good look.

5. Check the solder joint. Does it flow around the joint? Are there gaps? Is the joint “hovering” above the point of contact? If so, bring the soldering iron back to the joint and reflow, add some more solder if you need to. In the pic you can see 40 solder joints for a Raspberry Pi Pico, all neat and tidy. Ok, bottom row, six in from the right is a bit ropey, but I fixed it.

6. Check it again, use a magnifying glass if you want.

7. Use your flush cutters to trim the component legs.

8. Personal preference, return the soldering iron to the joint and heat it up. This will smooth the freshly cut area and it looks nice.

Follow these tips and you will have a safe and fun soldering experience. Happy hacking!

The WeCreat Vision Pro is a fully enclosed 45-watt laser engraver and cutter that has superseded the original WeCreat Vision machine, a popular choice for home businesses. The Vision Pro features a large build volume of 19.7 x 12.6 inches (500 x 320 mm), a powerful 45-watt laser, and a sleek, satin-black enclosure.

During our review, we engraved slate coasters, silicone watch bands, birch plywood, and even stainless steel with ease. The Auto Pass Through Feeder enabled the processing of long sheets of material, the Rotary Pro worked flawlessly to engrave on stainless steel tumblers, and the 2W IR Laser Module easily engraved a stainless steel bottle opener with no surface preparation required. All these optional accessories can drive up the price, which is the primary drawback of this system.

The WeCreat Vision Pro Super Pack bundle ($3,449.99 as of the writing of this review) is absolutely deserving of a spot on the list of the best laser cutters and engravers, and earned the title of Best Laser Cutter for Home Business, replacing the previous generation WeCreat Vision. The beginner-friendly features like the project library and material test array on the MakeIt! software are simple and intuitive for beginners, but advanced users and small businesses will no doubt appreciate the ability to add accessories à la carte depending on their offerings.

Specifications of WeCreat Vision Pro

WeCreat Vision Pro: Included in the box

Arriving in a box that measured 36 x 26 x 16 inches and weighed 78 lbs., the WeCreat Vision Pro shipped with all the tools and accessories that are needed to get started. The inside of the Vision Pro is filled with foam and boxes for the accessories, and there are six screws that need to be removed after shipping to allow the unit to lift up and down during auto-focusing.

The laser bed trays, rotary attachment, air assist module, wi-fi antenna, and all of the attachments are included in boxes in the unit as well as all the cables required for use. The Vision Pro also includes a pair of test engravings to demonstrate the machine is functional before shipping. Included are both a bitmap engraving of a cat as well as a linework test that shows fonts, straight lines, and circular profiles in an array.

Design of the WeCreat Vision Pro

The motion system and internal wiring of the Vision Pro is composed of prosumer components that have been designed with service, maintenance, and replacement in mind. The gantry is stiff and uses linear rods to move the engraving module back and forth in the X-axis, and the cables running up the Y-axis are safely wrapped inside a cable chain that prevents them from getting kinked, tangled, or caught during fast movements. The air assist is external to the unit, and provides compressed air to the toolhead to blow smoke away during engraving and prevents buildup or charring on top surfaces.

The power switch is located on the rear of the Vision Pro, and is located next to the air assist power plug, flexible hose coupling, USB port, and exhaust for the fume extractor. The addition of Wi-Fi is a welcome feature, and allows jobs to be sent without having the engraver directly connected to a computer. The included Wi-Fi antenna worked perfectly for connecting to a local network and I was able to send jobs remotely before starting processing by pressing the green button on the front of the unit.

The Vision Pro is a large machine, and occupies a substantial footprint on a workbench. The signature feature of the Vision series from WeCreat is the auto-focusing laser, which moves the entire enclosure and laser gantry up and down to compensate for the thickness of the material. This clever addition allows for a project height of up to 140mm (5.51”), so taller objects can be engraved without needing to manually focus.

This automatic focusing is a unique feature on the WeCreat Vision family of engravers, and it’s one of my favorite things about the Vision Pro. Focusing the laser and setting the height is similar to leveling or calibrating the bed on an FDM 3D printer: simple in theory, frustrating in practice, and everyone has their own process or secret for making it work. Lower cost lasers like the Creality CR Laser Falcon typically use a hinged arm to drop and manually set the offset, a step that is completely skipped by the Vision Pro.

By removing the manual step from the process, WeCreat has significantly reduced the time it takes to set up a build or run trial-and-error tests to find the right offset. The 45-watt diode laser is advertised as being the equivalent of a 60-watt laser due to using a concentrator that WeCreat refers to as BeamFocus.

The HD camera is located underneath the lid of the Vision Pro, and doesn’t require any calibration after assembly. This camera shows the available work area and gives an accurate image that can be used for precisely positioning jobs to avoid misalignment or cutting off the edge of a piece of material. Just like the automatic focusing, this brings down the barrier to entry significantly for new users and makes planning cuts a simple process.

The Vision Pro has multiple safety features integrated, including a fire-retardant metal enclosure, a light-blocking lid for reducing the intensity of any reflected light from the laser, and is rated as a Class 1 laser device. The exhaust port on the back pulls smoke and odor out of the machine through a flexible hose, which can be connected to an external vent, air handling system, or the optional fume extractor designed by WeCreat.

Fume Extractor for the WeCreat Vision Pro

While engraving plywood may only result in a small amount of smoke, using the laser to cut through a 5mm piece of basswood is a quick way to fill a room with smoke and odor. The Vision Pro has an exhaust port on the back, which can be used to mitigate the amount of smoke generated during material processing. The AirGuard Ultra Fume Extractor is an optional accessory that connects to the exhaust port via a hose and filters the air through a 5-stage filter to catch large particulates as well as fine dust and other VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

I tested the Vision Pro in a garage, and the amount of smoke generated during cutting would make using the machine impossible without some level of air handling and filtration. Using the AirGuard Ultra, the smoke is visibly pulled from the enclosure and into the fume extractor, providing much-needed filtration during material processing. Compared to the more industrial look of the original Fume Extractor that was launched with the original Vision and Vista, the AirGuard Ultra looks more like a portable humidifier or a small AC unit.

Software for WeCreat Vision Pro

The WeCreat MakeIt! software has two primary uses: a catalog for sorting through projects and a build processing preparation interface. The ‘Discover’ tab in MakeIt! allows users to search for projects based on keywords or materials, so it’s easy to find art designed specifically for a holiday, special occasion, or other interest. For example: I saw this cycling medal display while searching through the catalog, and decided it was perfect to commemorate a recent cycling ride.

The integrated camera in the WeCreat Vision Pro provides a full layout of the available work area, making job layout an easy task. I found a piece of plywood with enough space for my design, set the line type to ‘Cut’, and watched as the Vision Pro cut out the design in 12 minutes and 48 seconds. This was accomplished without any additional work beyond changing the material type in the software; the focusing and cut parameters were all set automatically and without any input from me.

Choosing a project in the catalog and sending it to the laser took me longer than the laser took to cut out the design, and it was ready to hang on my wall in under 30 minutes from when I first saw the design. The MakeIt! software exposes all the parameters required for serious work and dial in the laser, but the default settings worked well enough for me to believe a beginner could get started with the Vision Pro without running into any issues.

The Material Testing feature is a powerful way to quickly validate new materials and test parameters without having to set up dozens of individual tests. The MakeIt! software includes the ability to generate an array of squares with a min/max power setting as well as min/max speed settings, which is a quick way to test how a specific material will behave during engraving.

I ran an identical test on both birch plywood as well as walnut plywood, and the impact of the parameter adjustment is clear. On higher power and speeds, the birch plywood appears darker while the walnut plywood appears lighter as the top layer is progressively removed. Test swatches like this are helpful to understand engraving depth before committing to a larger or more time-consuming build.

The ‘AI Generate’ feature is an interesting one in that it gives users the ability to enter a prompt (Ex. Highly detailed image of a brown bear by the river, mountains in background, deep engraving style, in black and white) and generates a bitmap image as an output. I marked this feature as a negative on the original WeCreat Vision due to the heavy promotion of this underwhelming feature, but the Vision Pro includes it nearly as an afterthought. I experimented with a few different styles before hitting a daily limit of generated images, and made a logo for a non-existent sporting goods company.

The bitmap quality is high, and the engraved image on plywood looks almost like a carving or handmade engraving. When making a similar version of the image for a different aspect ratio, I found the image changed too much between each generate to get a consistent feel. The AI function is fun to experiment with but lacks refinement, control and suffers from an unclear daily limit. This feature will likely only be useful to someone looking for a quick image that would be too time-consuming to draw manually.

One of my favorite features of the MakeIt! software is the ‘Extract Image’ tool, which allows users to put something under the camera of the Vision Pro, take a picture, and isolate or process specific parts of the image. I placed the box of the 2W IR Laser module in the machine and snapped an image of the component illustration. Then, I extracted and processed the linework I wanted to duplicate. Using the offset tool, I also added a contour around the illustration and assigned it to be a cut line to complete my duplicate of the illustration.

With impressive resolution, the Vision Pro first traced out the bitmap image that I isolated and then cut around the perimeter, creating a scaled-down replica of the illustration I initially extracted. For anyone looking to duplicate an older logo, simple illustration, or other image without needing photo editing software, this feature highlights the power of the MakeIt! software.

Engraving / Cutting with the WeCreat Vision Pro

For users without laser engraver experience, the WeCreat Vision Pro makes it refreshingly easy to go from vector image to finished build in only a few clicks. The projects included in the software are on the simple side, but creating something like a ‘World’s Best Mom’ trophy without any design work is a fun and easy way to make personalized gifts without a degree in digital illustration.

During engraving, the table that the Vision Pro was on would occasionally shake and cause the workpiece to move around on the laser bed slightly. I found the WeCreat Laser Bed Clips by Printables user jekamis and printed a few in Prusament Galaxy Black ABS on a Bambu Lab X1-Carbon, one of the best 3D printers. These worked great for holding the workpiece down during engraving and reducing the impact of vibrations caused by fast travel moves.

One of my favorite materials included in the sample pack was the Dual Layer Silicone watch band, which happened to be compatible with my Apple Watch. This dual-layer material is black on the outside and has a rainbow gradient underneath which is revealed by removing the top layer. Using some of the included images, I added a few fish and some linework to the strap and revealed the colorful artwork by using the ‘Fill Engrave’ mode and default speed and power levels.

The Vision Pro also includes presets for working slate coasters, a popular item for customization due to their small size, durable nature, and ease of engraving. Using the default power and speed settings for slate, I customized one of the projects in the MakeIt! library by adding my name and scaling to fit the coaster included in the material sample kit.

Using 100% power at a speed of 453mm/s, the coaster took just under 18 minutes and came out perfectly on the first try. When first removed from the work area, there’s some dust from the engraving process scattered across the surface of the coaster. This was removed by gently wiping with a damp cloth, and the engraving looked even and professional after cleaning. Coasters like this are one of my favorite gifts to make for friends and family, as they are fast, durable, and inherently useful to almost everyone.

Using the 2W Infrared Laser Module

WeCreat included the 2W Infrared Laser Module with the Vision Pro, an optional accessory that is designed specifically for engraving on stainless steel, silver, gold, and other metals. Swapping out between the standard 45W diode module and the 2W 1064nm laser module involves removing 5 screws and took me about 5 minutes. The entire module rests on a PCB that sticks out from the back of the toolhead, which made me a bit nervous when swapping it out due to the relatively fragile nature of most printed circuit boards.

Engraving on a stainless steel bottle opener as a test, I grabbed artwork from the MakeIt! sample library and used the ‘Fill Engrave’ setting to process the design. Engraving this small pattern took about 20 minutes, but the resulting engraved stainless steel bottle opener looks like a professional job that would be at home in a gift shop, tourist attraction, or corporate swag bag.

It’s easy to get excited by the results from using the 2W IR laser module, and the razor-thin linework on a material test array shows that the Vision Pro is ready to tackle the challenge of engraving metal at home. This type of engraving can be used for customizing and personalizing consumer products like bottle openers as well as engraving serial numbers or tracking information on high-value machined components.

Rotary Engraving with the WeCreat Vision Pro

Like many other laser engravers in this price range, the Vision Pro is capable of rotary engraving for things like drink tumblers, glasses, rings, and other cylindrical objects. The optional Rotary Pro module includes several new features specifically intended for engraving on larger tumblers (such as the incredibly popular Stanley 40 oz.) as well as spherical or smaller objects. Installing the Rotary Pro only takes two bolts and a few minutes, most of which was spent fiddling with the just-slightly-too-short cable to plug in the back of the unit.

The Rotary Pro tagline is “Become an Expert on Your 1st Try”, and I found it to be an accurate description of the rotary process. The MakeIt! software includes a special cylindrical layout when using the Rotary Pro, which shows not only the available work area but also all of the same settings available in the standard layout. Once again, the auto-focus of the Vision Pro is a huge benefit here for hands-free calibration on cylindrical models: just measure the circumference, diameter, lay out the project, and click ‘Start’.

Using the 45-watt diode laser module, I whipped up a Mother’s Day tumbler using one of the provided project files and a coated stainless steel tumbler. Just like the 2W IR laser module, this optional accessory offers tremendous value for the price and will be an easy-to-justify purchase for anyone interested in expanding their small business offerings.

Pass Through Engraving with the WeCreat Vision Pro

If the 500 x 320 mm build area isn’t large enough for your projects or you want to make more parts per job, the optional WeCreat Auto Pass Through Feeder allows you to feed even larger sheets of material up to 460mm x 3700mm (14.17” x 145.67”) for batch processing. The staggering 12-foot length is long enough to fit most sheets of plywood sold at hardware stores and is large enough to cut a sign or engrave an ad for a shop.

The assembly involved setting up the primary base and adding the material rollers, and required the full use of a pair of four-foot tables pushed together. Once assembled, the bottom is removed from the Vision Pro, and the entire machine can be placed on top of the feeder. The Auto Pass Through Feeder uses a knob to adjust the tension on the rollers. This can be adjusted depending on the thickness and type of the material. The second knob can be used to advance or retract the material, which is useful for the material preview on the MakeIt! software. Using a sheet of 5mm birch plywood that measured 12 inches wide and 24 inches long, I adjusted the rollers, advanced the material, and moved on to the software prep.

The MakeIt! software has a dedicated ‘Auto Pass Through Feeder’ mode, which shows a camera preview and allows the user to lay out parts past the view of the camera. I was impressed with how easy the process was, and decided to make some simple medallions to test out the functionality. After creating an engraving and cutting step, I duplicated the model and moved it to a few different locations on the board.

Each individual medallion made a satisfying ‘click’ as the cut line was completed, and the Vision Pro would automatically move the sheet of plywood forward and begin working on the next engraving. The Auto Pass Through Feeder worked flawlessly, and advanced the material during the job each time one of the medallions was complete.

Bottom Line

The amount of ancillary equipment like fume extractors, air compressors, and other safety equipment means that buying a laser can be a daunting experience for a first-timer. The WeCreat Vision Pro is clearly targeting the market of prosumers who want a laser for small business but don’t want to source everything piece-by-piece. The large, enclosed, and vented build area combined with a fume extractor allows users to hit the ground running within minutes of unboxing, not hours. If you are thinking about striking out on your own with a business manufacturing custom engraved trophies or collectibles, it’s easy to see the Vision Pro as an essential part of your growth.

Overall, I was impressed with the Vision Pro during testing and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a beginner as a first laser. I also wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a power user looking for advanced functionality with the optional add-ons, so it’s safe to say the Vision Pro has earned its spot on the list of the best laser cutters and engravers as the Best Laser Cutter for Home Business.

The Vision Pro, as reviewed (Super Pack variant), is currently listed at $3,449.99 if purchased as a bundle. Ordering the Vision Pro as a standalone unit and purchasing all the accessories separately totals to $4,269.94, an amount that should make users think about buying the bundle if they’re considering expanding the abilities of the Vision Pro in the future. If you like the integrated ecosystem of the WeCreat family but are looking for something slightly less expensive, the WeCreat Vista is available for $699.99, but lacks several of the advanced features of the Vision Pro. For an even more economically priced model, the $169.99 Two Trees TTS-55 also shows up on our list of the best laser cutters and engravers and offers a no-frills, stripped-down experience.

The LaserPecker LP5 is a small laser cutter and engraver that works on nearly any material thanks to twin galvo lasers: a 20-watt diode and a 20-watt fiber. It can cut and engrave softer materials with the diode and also carve metal and stone with the laser fiber. The machine is advertised as portable, but like the LP4 before it, there’s still a tiny gap in the protective shielding that requires safety glasses for anyone in the room. LaserPecker sent the custom enclosure for this review, which makes the laser safe around your family and pets.

The LP5 has a few improvements over the LP4 we reviewed in 2023, but it also has a puzzling lack of its best features. The very informative touch screen – with a time display – is sadly missing. Also, there doesn’t seem to be an off button, but it can be powered off by holding down the pause button for a few seconds. This isn’t explained in the manual, and I only discovered it after prowling internet forums. Before figuring this out, I thought you had to unplug it.

The lack of a countdown timer on the laser or an estimated burn time on the software is maddening. Maybe a timer isn’t needed for etching wood when it only takes a minute or two, but the real showstopper is LaserPecker’s ability to deeply etch a 3D bas-relief in stone or metal. This took hours. Twice, I started to etch a brass coin, only to pull the plug because I needed to leave the house or go to bed after 2 or 3 hours of burning. I finally got the sample coin to complete when I started it in the morning. It took over 4 hours to burn.

The software provided by LaserPecker is missing material presets, which requires you to run your own tests. This was a major let down and not something I would expect with a premium laser dubbed “smart” on its website.

Retailing at $3,299 and currently on sale for $2,899, the LaserPecker LP5 costs more than many larger lasers with similar features. While it's a powerful machine and fun to experiment with, sadly, it did not make our list of best laser cutters and engravers. The optional enclosure we tested costs $699 but is on sale currently for $559.

Specifications: LaserPecker LP5

LaserPecker LP5 : Included in the Box

The LaserPecker LP5 comes with everything you need to assemble the laser: a pair of laser safety glasses and a shield. You also get a few samples of wood, slate, leather, and metal for testing. There was also a nice wooden keychain. However, I accidentally set it on fire due to lack of settings.

We also requested the optional enclosure, which included a built-in camera.

Design of the LaserPecker LP5

The LaserPecker LP5 is a compact, portable laser that looks a bit like a high-end kitchen mixer. It has a premium feel to it, with brushed metal surfaces and tangle-free cords wrapped in fabric. The fans needed to cool this beast down are pretty loud and always on. It comes with a pipe to vent the exhaust away – you can put it outside a window or door, but we ran it through an air filter from a different manufacturer. Metal dust is pretty thick, and we clogged up one filter during our testing.

Unlike large flatbed machines, the LaserPecker is a Galvo laser. This means the laser stays in one spot, and the beam is moved across the work surface rapidly with a set of mirrors. This is the same motion system seen in laser light shows. The nature of this motion restricts its burn area to a circle, so it can’t reach into the far corners of its build plate. You get the best results from items placed dead center.

The LaserPecker LP5 has PC software and mobile apps that you can download for free. The mobile app duplicates all the functions of the PC software, so you don’t need to be tethered to a laptop if you have the app installed.

One of the things I miss from the LaserPecker LP4 is the top-mounted touchscreen, which displays valuable information like burn time and percentage complete. The new LP5 has no screen at all, just a preview button, an Emergency Stop button, and a pause button (which doubles as an off button).

The flat baseplate has holes for screw mounted material holders – these holes go completely through the plate and so it should not be used for cutting. A grill with a solid bottom is provided for cutting, which offers much needed airflow for cleaner edges.

The laser module can tilt on the stand to engrave large objects placed next to it. It can also be completely removed from the stand and used freehand if you’re feeling particularly brave.

The laser is hooded with a detachable cone for safety, but there’s a slight gap at the bottom, so you’ll still want to wear the safety goggles provided. The cone has been improved since the LP4 and now has a removable panel to allow access to the work pieces inside. You can purchase an optional enclosure, which allows you to use the machine around other people and your pets.

Focusing the laser is very easy. When you click “preview,” in the design software, you’ll get two red dots from the laser. Position your material under the dots and raise or lower the laser until the red dots combine into one. There’s also a “live preview” box that projects a blue rectangle that represents the artwork to help get everything in the right spot.

I requested the enclosure to test for this machine to be extra safe as I don’t want to lock myself in a room away from my family and pets while testing the laser. The enclosure is valuable for professionals who need to use a laser in public spaces like stores, studios, and craft fairs. It replaces the stand, with the laser module screwed into the top of the box. A camera located inside the box helps frame your work.

Assembling the LaserPecker LP5

I assembled the LaserPecker LP5 in about 15 minutes – it was just a matter of installing a few screws and plugging in USB cords.

Safety Precautions for the LaserPecker LP5

The LaserPecker LP5 is a Class 4 laser that can damage your eyes and burn skin. Placing it inside the enclosure elevates it to a Class 1. It also produces smoke and fumes while engraving or cutting materials. You must take precautions to operate the machine safely. Use this and any other laser at your own risk.

The machine is equipped with a safety cone over the laser module that covers the working surface. An emergency panic button on the top of the machine will halt operation. You can set the machine to turn off when the cover is removed, but this is not on by default. Another sensor detects high temperatures and can shut off the laser to avoid fires. An exhaust fan removes smoke from the laser area to improve performance and the environment. A tilt detector will shut off the laser if it tilts during operation.

There is a slight gap between the shield and the material. Because of this gap, you must always wear safety glasses for extra protection. A pair is provided with the machine.

The optional enclosure is well worth the extra cost, as it completely seals the laser from view. It also helps control smoke emitted from the materials that you’re burning.

Prevent pets and other people from observing the laser while in use. Since the laser is literally burning material, never allow it to operate unattended and have a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

This is a portable laser, which means you can use it freehand if you take appropriate care.

Some materials should not be burned with a laser due to their chemical makeup – they could melt, catch fire or produce toxic fumes. Dallas Maker Space has published a list of safe and hazardous materials to use with their laser. The list of no-nos includes plastics, fiberglass and certain foams.

The laser lens can get dirty from smoke and fumes. You will need to wipe it clean – while unplugged – before each laser session. If it’s allowed to become dirty, the laser will lose some of its capability.

Software for LaserPecker LP5

LaserPecker has its own software suite and a mobile app called LaserPecker Design Space. It’s also compatible with premium LightBurn software, though lacking a current subscription, I didn’t test LightBurn.

Design Space on either platform lacks good presets for materials, so you’ll need to do a lot of testing. The program waffled between engravings that were too light and setting my materials on fire. This was a disappointing experience for a modern $3,000 machine.

The LP5 connects using Wi-Fi, USB cord, or USB stick. The connection wasn’t very stable for my phone, and I struggled to get it working. The app should be a miniature version of the PC software, and it seems to have a lot of features, but it wasn’t very intuitive to use.

There were no tutorials on the phone app for the LP5 at all, so hopefully, a future update will fix the problem.

Engraving / Cutting with the LaserPecker LP5

The ability to cut or engrave materials is determined by the speed and power settings of the laser. The LaserPecker LP5 has a medium power, 20-watt diode laser that can cut through thin wood up to 15mm, and a 20-watt fiber laser that can slice thin metal sheets that are one millimeter thick.

This machine’s best use for wood is for light engraving, as the lack of air assist causes a lot of flame and char. I was able to sand off light brown char on some of the wood I engraved, which makes the finished pieces much nicer. On the samples below, I made a QR Code to the Tom’s Hardware website using a tool in LaserPecker’s Design Space. The suggested preset was too light, but increasing power introduced smudges from the smoke. I tried using masking tape to protect the wood – which might work for simpler designs. In the end, sanding the piece gave me the best results.

Design Space lets you pick different resolution levels, from 1K to 8K. It also measures the speed with “depth”, but a 40% depth is not necessarily a 40% cut through your piece. The best result on these precut wooden tags was a 4k resolution, with a 40% depth and 40% power. This burn took a few minutes, and the software did not record the time nor give me an estimate.

I tested the LP5 with various metal pieces. This is one of the 0.007 inch painted aluminum business cards I picked up from x-Tool. The machine made quick work of this clip art flower, but without presets, I had to make a few guesses on the settings. I used the fiber laser at 100% depth and 100% power, and it cut it out in less than a minute with one pass.

Turning down the depth setting on the fiber laser allowed quick engraving of the painted aluminum. This was 50% depth and 20% power and only took a few seconds.

3D engraving metal coins is a real showstopper, but Design Studio doesn’t tell you how long it will take. I had to try it a few times after I ran out of time and did not want to leave the laser unattended. The first coin is after 2 hours of burning, and the completed one is after about 4. This was a presliced demo on the USB stick, so I’m unsure of the settings. The coin also needs to be polished (I used a Dremel) to make it shiny once you’re done.

Bottom Line

The LaserPecker LP5 is a very fast and versatile Galvo laser that can engrave just about anything thanks to its dual Diode and Fiber lasers. Not having good presets leads to a lot of trial and toasted wood to get it right. The $2,899 retail price tag is a bit steep for what you’re getting – a small, portable laser that still requires safety glasses and/or an additional enclosure to use.

It’s got a lot of potential as an engraving machine, but the software makes it frustrating to use. Design Space has plenty of creative tools and the ability to import photos or clip art to transform them into lasered art. Not having a timer or estimate anywhere is super annoying, especially since you’re not supposed to let a laser work unattended.

If you want a dual diode and IR laser that’s truly safe and portable, check out the xTool F1, currently available for $1,399. If you want more room for lasering large items, then check out the 20W WeCreat Vision for $1,299.

Finding the best soldering iron or soldering station is subjective. I can tell you what I like, point you in the direction of a good choice, but ultimately it is how it feels in your hand that matters. I started soldering professionally with an Antex XS25. This simple soldering iron had no temperature control. but it was thermally balanced and a joy to solder with. But, it quickly burnt through tips.

Since the Antex XS25 I have used a slew of soldering iron, smart, dumb, hot air, soldering guns etc. The latest to cross my bench is the $99 WEP 982 III. A temperature controlled ESD safe soldering station with two soldering iron handles, and a selection of tips. The tips are “hot swappable” (pun intended) and the compact unit looks good, but how does it solder?

To find that out I need to put it on the bench and dig out a selection of soldering kits, including the last of my Maplin kits and a kit to prevent a Commodore 64 PSU from killing my beloved C64.

Serious note. The first unit that I received for review worked for a few hours, and I conducted 70% of the review using that unit. Unfortunately that unit had a fault on its power circuitry which resulted in deformation of the wire used as part of the power switch. The issues manifested themselves as intermittent power outages which triggered me to open it up and take a look inside. WEP has replaced this unit, and I have sent the original review unit back for inspection.

WEP 982 III Technical Specifications

WEP 982 III Look and Feel

A mix of plastic and metal, the WEP 982 III is a solid piece of kit which sees the soldering iron placed centrally, above a color LCD screen and two buttons to increment and decrement your chosen temperature.

The soldering iron connects to the rear of the station via a DIN style connector. Right next to the DIN connector is the power switch and the mains cable. On the side of the station is a grub screw, used to secure a “bungee” to the station. This bungee keeps the silicone cable out of the way. At the front of the unit is a bright and clear color screen, with two buttons. The buttons are responsive, perhaps a bit too responsive when held down. You can easily shoot past your target temperature, yes I did, many times. Single presses will notch the temperature up/down by a degree and the button press is very clicky and annoying.

Under the buttons is a brass “sponge” to clean the soldering iron tip, there is also a pot for a damp sponge. Your choice between brass and damp sponge for tip cleaning is up to you. I prefer the brass sponge as it doesn’t cool the soldering iron tip.

Soldering with the WEP 982 III

The WEP 982 III comes in a choice of two soldering iron handles. The WEP 706A is a larger unit and takes the larger C210 series tips. The smaller WEP 106A takes C115 tips. The two are not interchangeable and in the case of the WEP106A, if you try to insert a C210 tip it will break! Only one soldering iron can be used at any one time. I received both sets of tips and handles for this review, but retail units ship with your preferred choice. For this review I used the C210-K (knife) tip which has both precision and thermal mass. I also received the full range of tips, from needle-like tips to larger tips designed for thermal mass.

Soldering Iron Tips

Both soldering handles are plastic, with a rubber-like cable connecting to the soldering station. The handles have a dense foam grip, a bit like handlebars on a bike. At the end of the handle is where the tips are inserted. Both types are needle thin and secure using friction. Of the two, the 706A handles felt nicer in my hand, and allowed me the precision that I required. The cable from the soldering station to the soldering iron has a “bungee” which helpfully keeps the cable out of the way. It can be connected on the left or right side, and I really like it, which is a strange thing to say.

With everything setup and ready to go, I flicked the switch and the soldering iron heated up to its default sleep temperature of 200 degrees Celsius. This takes around 5 seconds, and the unit will go into a deep sleep if left for a few minutes. Heating up to 350C (it can reach a maximum of 450C), my preferred working temperature, takes 2.52 seconds! Wow! The WEP 982 III beats the Ifixit Portable Soldering Station by just half a second, and over $100! But we have to remember that the WEP 982 III is bound to your desktop, whereas the Ifixit can be taken with you.

The iron detects when it has been lifted by contacts between the metal collet of the iron and the frame of the soldering station breaking contact. I found this out because the foam grip was too low on the handle, causing it to not make contact with the frame.

Soldering the last of my Maplin kits, an Electronics starter kit consisting of multiple different circuits, was a joy. The lead solder just flowed to where it needed to be. The knife tip was the best choice for precision and thermal mass. The soldering iron (WEP 706A handle) felt comfortable and at no time did the wire get in the way, thanks to the “bungee” moving the wire away.
I also tested the WEP 982 III’s performance on large solder joints, specifically those of a 9-pin D-SUB connector from a PIC chip programmer. I had to leave the tip on the joint for around five seconds, but the solder did melt. Bumping the temperature to 400C would be a wise move for larger joints.

When I was done with the knife tip, I wanted to use the C210-SI tip. This is an angled tip for precision soldering, like SMD. Changing the tip while hot is usually a big no-no, but theWEP 982 III has a metal guide rail which is used to grip and remove the hot tips, and to push a new tip into place.

Slots and notches cut into the metal enable the removal and replacement of red hot tips. This was really easy to use, but you must always take great care when doing so. Sometimes removing the tip can be tricky, as the metal has expanded due to the heat. Using the V-slot, find the lip on the soldering iron tip and gently pull the soldering iron handle away from the station. It should drop off into the metal container. Now you can insert the new tip using a compatible notch on the metal guide. Do not directly insert the new tip with your fingers! Remember the soldering iron heats up to 250C in 2.5 seconds, and yes, it does hurt, as I found out!

Using the C210-SI tip I soldered up my C64 Saver PCB and it went together beautifully. The tip gave me the precision that I needed for a few tight solder joints. It also gave me some thermal mass to reflow joints after trimming the component legs.

Who is the WEP 982 III for?

The WEP 982 III is more for precision projects; this isn’t a soldering iron for chunky solder joints. It can do it, but you’re pushing the limits. This is a great soldering station for makers working on surface mount components, and electronic repair.

Bottom Line

I mentioned that our first unit arrived with a fault that manifested itself after a few hours soldering. I’m glad to say that this issue did not present itself on my second unit, but it does present a worry. Buying directly from WEP gives you a 12-month warranty but you will need to arrange for any returns to go back to China. In my dealings with WEP the customer service team has been extremely helpful.

So it boils down to, would I pay $99 for this soldering iron? Yes, but I would buy it from a UK reseller (or US if I were based there) so that I could return it should an issue arise. The unit also goes by the name of a Yihua 982 III on Amazon. In fact the unit is made by Yihua, a brand that I have used for well over three years now.

The WEP 982 III is a solid performer, and the tip selection and heat application are great. Swapping tips on the fly is an interesting idea, the application of which is possible if a little tricky. The soldering iron (706A) is comfortable, and the auto-sleep function keeps the iron ready for use, without burning the tip out. This is a good soldering station for precision electronics projects and I’ve enjoyed my time using it.

RISC-V, the open source ISA, has made some great progress over the years, and the new HiFive Premier P550 from SiFive is claimed to be “The Highest Performance RISC-V CPU Development Board in the World” and for $400 it better be. The unit that I have on the bench is the $399 16GB RAM model, but if you want / need more RAM, for $499 you can grab a 32GB model. Also, don’t forget to add your sales tax.

Before we get too deep into the review, we have to qualify that this isn’t a board for those of you who want a PC form factor SBC. It's not a desktop computer, nor is it a Raspberry Pi alternative. This is a development board for those that want to develop software and hardware around the RISC-V platform.

If you were looking for a Raspberry Pi killer, I’ll save you some time, this isn’t it. But, what I can say is that this is showing that RISC-V has improved, and could offer a viable platform for those who demand a truly open platform.

RISC-V is an important and interesting concept. An open standard instruction set architecture (ISA) based on RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), RISC-V is open source meaning that anyone can make their own RISC-V board. Linux support was added around 2022 (Kernel 5.17).

SiFive are a well known name in this space and have produced a number of RISC-V boards that follow PC motherboard form factors. RISC-V is important to the open source community as it offers a truly open ISA when compared to the closed source ISA produced by the big names (Intel, AMD, Arm etc). The chips may not be as powerful as their contemporaries, but they are steadily improving over time.

So, how does the HiFive Premier P550 work, and what can we do with it? Let's find out!

HiFive Premier P550 Technical Specifications

HiFive Premier P550 Design

Right away you know that this isn’t a Raspberry Pi type SBC. The HiFive Premier P550 is more closely aligned to a Mini-ITX desktop PC but with a large SO-DIMM slot for the SoM. Essentially the motherboard is just a large breakout board for the SoM. We’ve got a collection of the typical ports along one edge of the motherboard. Including a USB Type C and Ethernet port which are there for debug and monitoring the onboard MCU.

The PCIe Gen 3.0 x16 slot supports up to x4 mode and you could connect a GPU but driver support isn’t stellar, so an older AMD card will get you better results than the best GPUs for gaming. You’ll find a better use with a PCIe based storage card, just remember that you are limited to PCIe Gen 3 speeds! Wait, why do we need a PCIe card for storage? Well there is no onboard M.2 NVMe storage option, the only M.2 connector is for a Wi-Fi / Bluetooth card. There are no other M.2 slots, not on the motherboard or the SoM. Yeah we have a SATA 3 connector, and that should be fast enough for most.

There is a 40-pin GPIO, but we hit a catch. How do we use it? There is nothing in the user guide or forums to show how it can be used from Linux. I reached out to SiFive for guidance and its response was "GPIO access is not currently supported in Ubuntu 24.04 for the HiFive Premier P550. This is an item for future updates."

The only means of networking are two Gigabit Ethernet ports. If you want Wi-Fi then you will need to add your own card via the M.2 slot. I was unable to test this as I have no compatible cards. Did you spot the additional Ethernet port? This RJ45 port is for remote board management using the dedicated MCU

A USB Type-C (USB 2.0) port provides a USB to serial connection between the P550 and another machine. Using PuTTY on my Windows 10 machine, I was able to make a serial connection to the P550 and run a terminal. Handy if there are boot issues, or you just need to make a quick connection.

How do we power the board? Via the DC barrel jack? Nope. We need a 24 pin ATX power supply, yes the same one that is probably inside your PC. I used a Cooler Master MWE Gold 550 that I picked up cheap. It's not just a matter of connecting the power and away you go. There are two switches and a power button in the process to power up. First there is the ATX PSU’s power switch, then the P550’s power switch. Lastly there is a power button which spins the fans and powers up the board. Yeah, the last bit eluded me for a few moments.

On the 128GB eMMC, we have Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS pre-loaded and ready to run. Ubuntu is a great choice of OS. It is easy to use, there are plenty of applications and it is relatively lightweight. Though Lubuntu / Xubuntu would’ve been lighter, and you can install it yourself if you wish. As Ubuntu 24.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS), it is a great choice. The stability of an LTS means that developers aren’t running bleeding edge, and often fragile applications.

HiFive Premier P550 Performance

Let’s set the record straight; this is no Raspberry Pi 5 killer. In fact, the Raspberry Pi 4 gave the HiFive Premier P550 a thorough beating. Running a Geekbench 6 benchmark, the HiFive Premier P550 achieved a single-core score of 136 and multi-core score of 423. For a Raspberry Pi 4, the same benchmark returned 295 single-core and 719 multi-core. For further reference, the Raspberry Pi 5 returned 784 single-core and 1566 multi-core.

Yeah, the HiFive Premier P550 may be the most powerful RISC-V machine, but it's not going to beat a Raspberry Pi just yet. But that isn’t its goal; rather it is an open source ISA offering an alternative to closed source ISA that we typically use.

YouTube Playback

In the technical specifications, we can see that there is an Imagination AXM-8-256 GPU, but this GPU is not yet supported in software. This means that video encoding and decoding is not supported by the OS and for now that leaves the CPU doing all of the heavy lifting. At 1080p and using the default Firefox browser, Big Buck Bunny dropped 96.4% of the frames. Essentially I saw a few frames over a one minute period. The P550 really needs software support for video decoding.

I re-tested with a 720p video and it was better, but not a great performance. Dropping 82.9% of the frames is an improvement, but it still doesn’t make for a great viewing experience.

We really need video decoding support to be enabled, and hopefully someone will do that in the near future.

CPU Temperature Benchmark

Normally we see a big difference between the idle and stress temperatures, but with the P550 we don’t. Why? Because the fan is always on and it's not that quiet!

The fan is always on, and always at 100% so the idle temperature of 31.39 degrees Celsius is low! Using the Stress Bash tool I set all four cores to 100% for five minutes and monitored the temperature. The highest CPU temperature recorded was 35.9C, not much higher than idle. The CPU always runs at 1.4 GHz, there doesn’t seem to be a scaling governor in place

Despite a decent eMMC, boot times are quite sedentary. Largely down to a GRUB bootloader and then a lengthy boot process that streams a log of data to the screen.

The Raspberry Pi 5, booting from micro SD, managed to boot in a third of the time.

Opening Applications

Synthetic benchmarks don’t really tell us how the P550 “feels” in use. So, let's test opening applications.

These times aren’t bad, and feel about right for a RISC-V PC. They certainly feel faster than the Sipeed Lichee that I reviewed last year. But then, the P550 is proclaiming itself as “The Highest Performance RISC-V CPU Development Board in the World”.

Compared to a Raspberry Pi 5 4GB running from micro SD, the Pi 5 wins with GIMP and Libreoffice, but Firefox was 2.3 seconds slower than the eMMC used on the P550. So what does this indicate? Well it proves that the P550 isn’t a generic SBC for desktop use; rather it is for RISC-V developers who want the best. Sure it can be used as such, but why pay over the odds when a Raspberry Pi 5 will do the job?

Storage Performance

The onboard 128GB eMMC is decent and provides enough storage and speed for RISC-V developers. But, how fast is the onboard storage? Using Ubuntu’s Disk Benchmark tool I recorded the following.

The eMMC speeds are good and certainly fast enough. The PCIe Gen 3 speeds were achieved using a WD Black SN850X (a PCIe Gen 4 drive) in the PCIe x16 (x4 in reality) slot via an adapter. Those speeds are on par with the Raspberry Pi 5’s PCIe Gen 3 performance with the plethora of M.2 HATs. I couldn’t find a way to boot from NVMe, but it should be possible with some tweaking. The same applies to SATA 3 which would offer a noticeable boost over eMMC.

Who is the HiFive Premier P550 for?

This is an easy answer, RISC-V developers. In the RISC-V ecosystem, this board is the top dog and it will enable developers to get their RISC-V projects built at pace. This is a board for those who want to push the open source ISA and develop their own products.

Who is it not for? Those of us looking for a Raspberry Pi alternative. The OrangePi 4A is a cheaper alternative to consider, but the Radxa X4, powered by an Intel N100 is a serious alternative to the Pi 5.

Bottom Line

I love what this board represents: the onward march of progress in the RISC-V sphere. I’m not the intended customer. I don’t build RISC-V projects; I’m a maker. But if I were a RISC-V developer, then the SiFive HiFive Premier P550 would be the board that I would use. But, the $400 price tag for our review unit seems to further place this as a tool for developers and not the general public.

It is well made, and offers decent performance and port selection. Booting via NVMe would’ve been nice, but the onboard eMMC is fast enough. The PCIe slot is useful, as long as your intended add-on has a driver. I can’t fault the hardware build quality, it is solid. This is a considered purchase for developers.

For many of us (me included) our gateway to the world of making was via the Arduino. It may not have Megabytes of memory, and Gigabytes of storage, but it does have GPIO pins that we can control using code. The Arduino Uno is still a powerful machine for imagination and experimentation, but what if you’re just getting started with electronics? Well you will need a kit, and the $78 Arduino Plug and Make Kit makes it so much easier to get started, thanks to a great series of tutorials, and a range of “Modulino” add on boards that simply connect to each other.

Is the Arduino Plug and Make Kit for you? What can we make with it, and more importantly, is it worth our money? Let's find out.

Arduino Plug and Make Kit Technical Specifications

Assembling the Arduino Plug and Make Kit

Inside the rather lovely box is everything we need to get started. The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi board is the heart of the kit, but it's the “Modulino” boards that are the stars. Each of these boards are basically Stemma QT / Qwiic add-on boards for RGB LEDs, distance and temperature sensors, rotary encoders, buzzers and buttons. It's next to impossible to incorrectly plug these in and that makes them ideal for learners

• Modulino Knob: for super-fine value adjustments
• Modulino Pixels: eight LEDs to shine bright, dim down, or change color – you choose!
• Modulino Distance: a time-of-flight proximity sensor to measure distances with precision
• Modulino Movement: to perfectly capture movements like pitch, roll or tilt
• Modulino Buzzer: to generate your own alarm sounds or simple tunes
• Modulino Thermo: a sensor for both temperature and humidity data
• Modulino Buttons: three buttons for quick project navigation

All of the Modulino’s are standard electronic components which have been made into modules that use the I2C protocol to communicate with the Arduino. This means that we can daisy-chain the modules using the included wires.

The Arduino Uno R4 introduced the Qwiic connector to the Uno range, and it is great to see it being used so effectively in this kit. We can build the Modulino boards on our desk, or into a project enclosure, but Arduino also provides a 140 x 140mm board on which we can build a project. This board is made from PCB material, and is essentially a large PCB, but it doesn’t become part of the circuit. Rather it is there to offer a mechanical means to attach the Modulino and Arduino boards using the supplied screws and nuts. It's a great way to secure and demonstrate a project, and it reminds me of the display stands used at events.

Once you are done with your project, it all fits back into the box, yes, even when it is assembled. So next time you build a project, you can just take it out of the box and get started.

Using the Arduino Plug and Make Kit

The Arduino Plug and Make kit has a full range of tutorials that take advantage of the Arduino Cloud, an online IDE where we can create projects which are called “things” that are a mix of web dashboards and Arduino code “sketches.”

You don’t need to know anything about the Arduino Cloud to use this kit. Follow the getting started example and use the provided template to create a web interface (dashboard) for your first Thing. The dashboard will suggest combinations of Modulino boards to build example projects. Adding the Modulino Buttons and RGB LEDs will create a simple race game, where players have to press a button to get to the other side of the strip before their opponent does. Using the temperature modulino will get the temperature and humidity and then display this information on the Arduino Uno R4’s 12 x 8 LED matrix.

Let's back up a little, how does this Arduino Uno R4 WiFi communicate with our web app? Arduino has thought about this, and part of the install process sees your Arduino and Cloud IDE paired together, so that they can communicate using the Uno’s onboard ESP32.

With the getting started project out of the way, Arduino has a series of supporting projects that we can use to get to grips with the kit. I tested out the gesture controlled lamp, and the 8-bit synth. The tutorials were easy to follow, and the writers explain what the context, purpose and goals are for each section that we work through. Once you are confident with the kit, you are free to make your own “Things” using the Modulino boards.

Keep in mind though that the free tier for the Arduino Cloud has limitations on the resources that you can use, so you may have to pay for the next tier, or delete some old project files. The free tier has become better over time, and I can see why Arduino places limitations on the free tier, but I’d still prefer to write my code using the offline editor. And while I can easily do this, the problem is that it loses the purpose of this kit. You see, creating Things and dashboards is part of the appeal of this kit, and something that the offline IDE is not capable of doing to the same standard as the Arduino Cloud.

If you are buying this kit, then most of the intended audience will be new to Arduino, perhaps moving on from the Raspberry Pi. You’ll be ready to follow the Arduino Cloud process, and likely eager to drop some cash on a paid tier. For this old Arduino hacker, I’ll use the Arduino Cloud when I need to, I still prefer to use an offline IDE, which has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

Who is the Arduino Plug and Make Kit For?

Educators, learners, eager minds, you’re the audience for this kit. If you are an experienced Arduino user, there isn’t much to see here. Sure the Modulino boards are interesting, to an experienced maker, but you’ll likely have a huge stash of boards and sensors already.

Bottom Line

I like this kit; it offers everything a beginner needs to take their first steps with the Arduino. The kit price is right. The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is $27 on its own, so we’re paying the difference for the Modulino boards, tutorials and supporting hardware.

The Modulino boards are great, and offer a quick and easy workflow to using sensors and add-ons with your Arduino. The Modulino standard is basically Qwiic / StemmaQT and that means we can purchase a plethora of additional components to create further projects. Your mileage may vary though, as the Arduino Uno R4’s Qwiic connector introduces an issue with the wire library which is used for I2C communication. Some libraries are for other Stemma QT or Qwiic boards, so read up before you make a purchase.

The Arduino Cloud is great fun, and the free tier should be enough for all but the most serious users. It's not a perfect product, I find the Arduino Cloud workflow to be a little cumbersome, but once you get into the flow, you’ll do ok. Educational users will love this kit, and will likely add it to their classrooms.

The Fnirsi HS-01 was a bit out of the blue in 2023. After a slew of the best soldering irons and soldering stations passing across my desk, the HS-01 offered a cheap and consistent experience. Sure it was a little larger than a Pinecil or TS100, but that’s ok, because it was comfortable.

Now in 2024, Fnirsi has released the $29 HS-02 in two configurations, the HS-02A and what I have for review, the HS-02B. The difference? The HS-02A uses slightly longer (9cm) soldering tips and takes around five seconds to get to a working temperature. The HS-02B uses shorter 6.6cm tips and claims to heat up in 2 seconds (something that I cover later on).

Will the HS-02B make it to the best soldering irons page? Will I prefer it to my Pinecil v2 or dedicated Yihua soldering station? To know this, and more, I’ll need to dig out some electronics kits and get soldering!

Fnirsi HS-02B Specifications

Fnirsi HS-02 Look and Feel

The HS-02 is a larger, chunkier soldering iron compared to the HS-01. When compared to the Pinecil or TS101, it is a hefty beast. But it is light in the hand, and feels comfortable to use, once you find your preferred grip point..

The “grip to tip” ratio is short, unlike with other smart soldering irons. We have a rubber guard / grip which is less than 2 inches from the tip of the iron. The rubber is knurled and grippy. The buttons and LCD screen are out of the way, and we won’t accidentally press anything when we are soldering.

The 0.96-inch LCD color screen is bright and clear. The interface is easy to understand, and not too cluttered. The addition of color is used sparingly, and really all you will notice is the red highlight identifying the channel (CH) in use.

Included in the kit is a generic stand, useful to keep your soldering iron from touching the desk. Also included is a rather nice “silicon” type USB Type-C power lead which keeps out of the way when soldering, unlike PVC cables which twist and snake around the desk. It also has some weight to it, meaning that it keeps still on the desk.

Powering the HS-02B

To power the HS-02, we can use either USB Type-C or DC power via a DC to USB Type-C adapter. The included 100W adapter provides more than enough power to get the soldering iron up to temperature. Should you not be near a USB Type-C power source, the USB Type-C to DC adapter is a viable option. You’ll need a 19V 2A or adapter in order to get a similar performance. At 19V 2A, the DC power supply will drop the voltage down to around 14V (confirmed with my Yihua 3005D III bench power supply). In order to keep the voltage at 19V, I needed to supply at least 2.5A.

Most of us will power the Fnirsi HS-02B via the 100W USB Type-C power supply. You can also use a 19V USB Type-C laptop charger, or in my case, I also tested with a Pine64 PinePower desktop power supply, which supplied 20V to the iron.

Soldering with the Finirsi HS-02

Let's get to the meat of it. The Fnirsi HS-02B heats up to 360 degrees Celsius in 3.6 seconds! This makes it the fastest soldering iron that we have tested! Just 3.6 seconds to get to a working temperature is amazing! I used the HS02B-K pointed chisel tip and it provided plenty of thermal mass to lay down the heat. It also gives us a sharp tip for precision.

Swapping tips is tool-less and we don’t have to unscrew a collet to loosen the tip. The tips have a 22 x 2.5mm section which is gripped by the iron. A 1.5mm thick section is used to make a connection to the power pins inside the soldering iron’s handle. This does mean that the HS-02 is incompatible with the HS-01’s tips, a damn shame as I already have a complete set for every soldering scenario.

I went through my standard soldering test. First I grabbed a 555 monostable switch kit, a classic kit to get to know the Fnirsi HS-02B. The HS-02B felt good in the hand, and my hand didn’t ache or slip during use.

The smaller components were soldered into place with no effort. The lead based solder just melted into place. For the larger joints, like the mounting pins of a 9-pin D-sub connector on a PIC microcontroller programmer board, it took just under a couple of seconds to melt the solder into place. I’m confident that this little iron could solder up thicker cable, but you would need to bump up the temperature to 450C to get the job done.

I mentioned earlier that I chose the HS02B-K soldering tip. I also have the HS02B-I (precision) and the HS02B-IS (precision hook). I tried out the HS02B-I and it was precise, but it also lacked thermal mass. Use this tip, or the HS02B-IS for surface mount soldering.

In my opinion, the HS-02A has a better selection of tips. Two knife tips (HS02A-K and KU), a hook tip (HS02A-JS), precision tip (HS02A-I), a general purpose conical tip (HS02A-B) and finally my personal favorite style of tip, the conical bevel edge (HS02A-C2). Why do I like that style of soldering iron tip? It provides the best of both worlds: lots of thermal mass, and just enough precision for most jobs.

Fnirsi HS-02 Software

With smart soldering irons, they typically have a config file on a small “drive” inside the iron. We connect the iron to a computer and it becomes a mass storage device, with a config file that we can edit. This is not the case with the HS-02B. Instead we press both arrow keys to enter a configuration menu. From this menu we can set functions like the sleep timer and calibrate the iron.

The “Handle set” menu is where we can configure three preset temperatures, listed as CH1, CH2 and CH3. Using the arrow keys we select the temperature; pressing OK moves to the next CH. A long press of OK will return us to the Handle menu, and again to the main menu. After a short time, the soldering iron will revert back to the OK, flashing to indicate that it is ready to start soldering.

The user interface when soldering is pressing the ok button to switch between CH1, CH2 and CH3. The arrow keys can be used to tweak the temperature in 5 degree increments. This can be tweaked in the main menu, for finer or more coarse increments.

Firmware upgrades are handled via the System menu, under firmware. This sets the soldering iron up as a mass storage device. Just connect it to your computer, download the new firmware from the Fnirsi website, and drop the file on the drive. The next time you power up the HS-02B, it will have the latest firmware. I updated my review unit to v1.7 firmware, but I couldn’t see any difference to v1.6.

Bottom Line: Who is Fnirsi HS-02 For?

The Fnirsi HS-02 is a good “upgrade” from the HS-01, and I can see it being used by hobbyists and professionals alike. Its fast heat up time makes it ideal for quick jobs, but it also has the power to tackle much larger projects. The price of the iron, $29 without a power supply makes it a bargain as most of us will have a compliant USB Type-C charger. Solid hardware, good software, and a low price make this a great iron for the workshop and the kit bag.

Black Friday deals are still in play this weekend. For most people, especially parents like myself, this time signifies that the holidays are just around the corner, which means buying gifts for my kids… and more importantly, availing those precious cost-saving discounts before they’re gone! Black Friday/Cyber Monday is that small window of time when most toy makers offer their best and most popular products for less. And so, the hunt is on to find the coolest and best educational gifts that you know your kids (and even “big” kids) will love. There is no better feeling than seeing your child excitedly tear into their presents and get lost playing with them for hours on end. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) toys spark creativity, promote critical thinking, and boost self-confidence.

From programmable cars, pets, and robots to electronic building blocks and puzzles, we are here to help you find the best deals on STEM gifts for the young enthusiast in your life.

Quick Links: Best STEM Deals

• Up to 40% off all STEM Kits @Amazon
• Popular Coding Kits for kids ages 8 -12 @Amazon
• Lego Learn-to-Code Kits @Amazon
• mBot2 AI Robot, now $109 (was $159)
• Petoi Bittle X Dog, now $223 (was $279)

Our Favorite STEM Deals

STEM Shopping Guide: What to Buy?

Whichever STEM kit you buy, you should pick one based on your child's current interests and the specific STEM skills you want them to develop. Here are a few examples:

• Robot kits: Not surprisingly, these are the most popular STEM toys. A good robot kit will teach your child how to code by having them write programs that cause a real-world device to move, perform tasks, and generate lights and sounds. The best robot kits also teach some engineering skills by having you build the device from parts. Bonus: your kid won't be disappointed when they open up a toy that looks like it's from a sci-fi story.
• Programming kits: Similar to robot kits, these toys allow children to control a real-world object through programming. However, the device is not what most people would call a robot. Think of a lightbox or even a drone, for example.
• Circuit kits: These fun toys teach kids about electricity and electrical engineering by having them build small circuits, complete with inputs and outputs like motors, lights, and sensors.
• Computer kits: There are a lot of kid-friendly computers on the market. Choose ones that are explicitly designed to build STEM skills. Most come preloaded with a slew of programming challenges for your child to conquer.
• Construction kits: These toys may look a lot like standard building blocks (such as Legos), but also include engineering lessons.

To make anything we need tools, and sometimes the best maker tools can hurt our wallet. Cyber Monday is a great time to grab all the tools that you need (or want) while saving money!

We've scoured the Internet and found the tools that we would personally use to create our next project. Many of these, we've already spent our own money on!

Whether you need a new set of screwdrivers, pry tools and spudgers to open that old laptop, a new soldering iron, or fancy a second multimeter, we've got the deals for you!

These are my favorite deals:

USB soldering iron: was $12.99, now $8.79

HOTO Precision Electric Screwdriver: was $49.99, now $29.99

Wuben E7 Flashlight: was $29.99 now $23.99

Don't laugh, but this cheap USB soldering iron is actually good and I spent my own money on one!

I know you're thinking "USB soldering iron, LOL", and yeah I understand. This USB soldering iron won't be fixing the speaker terminals on your Hi-Fi. Nor will it have the power to heat up a huge ground plane on a motherboard. But it is great for quick soldering jobs, where you need a soldering iron to heat up fast, do a little work, and then cool down fast enough to go back in the tool drawer.

There are three temperature settings, selectable via the single button.

Green: 330-350 degrees Celsius

Blue: 370 to 400 degrees Celsius

Red: 430 to 350 degrees Celsius

I own a version of this USB soldering iron, and it may not have all the bells and whistles that my iFixit Smart Soldering Hub has, but it is a fraction of the price. Charged using a USB to micro USB port, this is a neat soldering iron for those of us who don't need a dedicated, expensive setup. It's also ideal for younger makers as the pencil-sized grip is much easier to hold.

I now own two HOTO electric screwdrivers, but this HOTO Precision Screwdriver set is too good to miss

HOTO make some great screwdrivers, just ask Managing Editor Matt Safford who seems to be inducting everyone on the team to HOTO tools. Is it because he is on commission? No, its because they work really well.

A year ago I bought the HOTO NEX 01 Pro and since then it has been used to build PCs, IKEA furniture and, excitedly, a two-player Picade Max arcade cabinet. But, I wanted needed a smaller precision electric screwdriver, because in the course of my work, I take a lot of tiny things apart (sometimes on purpose).

HOTO's Electric Precision Screwdriver set comes with 25 steel bits, Phillips, Torx, Hex, Flat head and those Y shaped bits that you need to fix Nintendo Game Boys. They are all magnetically held in the screwdriver.

The driver itself is made from aluminum, and has two buttons for clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation. Charging is via the USB-C connector on the end. All of the bits and driver are stored in rather nice case.

I wonder what my next HOTO tool purchase will be? Probably the hot glue gun.

Now we get to the HOTO Cordless Hot Glue Gun

I mentioned it before, and the HOTO cordless hot glue gun is on my wish list. Why does a maker need a glue gun? Primarily to stick things down. We can rapidly build projects with hot glue ("hot snot") in a variety of materials. Wood, paper, card, heck even metal if you use enough glue!

But hot glue can also be used to create strain relief for cables, and to offer some insulation from moisture (but don't rely on it). If you've built a circuit and have some wires running out from a case, hot glue can be used to secure the wires to the PCB. So when the case gets yanked off a desk, the hot glue takes the brunt of the damage. Even big manufacturers use hot glue to secure components and wires to a chassis.

I've already got two hot glue guns, and they both plug into the mains, which means there is a wire dangling around, ready to knock things off my messy desk. HOTO's hot glue gun is charged via USB-C (like most HOTO tools) and the 2000 mAH battery is good for 328ft of continuous glue flow (so you could run a line of glue from the ground, to the observation deck of the Kyoto Tower, though we wouldn't recommend trying that).

After learning that fact, and looking at this low price, you should grab yourself one while they are cheap!

Stripping wires isn't fun, but with this automatic wire stripper it can be quicker

I've got a Stanley Fat Max automatic wire stripper and it has saved me many hours of work. You pass the wire through the jaws and then light pressure will grab the wire. A little more pressure and the wire sheath is broken, exposing the wire within. This model is similar to my own, in fact it has a better cutting edge, and now I want this one!

Automatic wire strippers work with cable thicknesses between 24-10 AWG, and adjust to the wire diameter. All you need to worry about is setting the length gauge to ensure you remove enough sheath. I've used mine to cut jumper wires, thin cable and "twin and earth" which is used in the UK for high-current appliances like ovens.

But what, it doesn't just strip cable! It also cuts cables and it can be used to crimp connectors. Ferrules, bullet crimps, spade connectors, basically anything for DIY and auto electrics. The kit even comes with a plethora of connectors ready for you to use.

Grab one while it's cheap, and it'll save you lots of time when making the control interface for that arcade cabinet that you will purchase from eBay.

An illuminating deal on this Wuben rechargeable mini flashlight

You're now thinking "A flashlight, on Tom's Hardware, is Les going mad?" I'm not and yes, a flashlight is handy whether walking at night, searching for screws that fall down the back of your workbench and when building a PC.

I own a Wuben C3 flashlight, and it is like having the power of the sun in my hand. It is super bright, and useful when I need to go under the house to run cables. But the Wuben E7 is a different beast. It has six modes of brightness, charges from USB Type-C, it can be used as a headlamp, and it has a magnetic base. So while you're routing cables inside of a pitch-black PC case, you can stick the flashlight somewhere secure and give yourself a little more light. Or you can attach it to a baseball cap and have light wherever you look.

My general rule when making is to always have more light than I need. A good flashlight should always be on hand when poking around inside a PC case, arcade cabinet or that broken robot toy that you're hacking back to life.

Wuben make great flashlights, and its prices are pretty good. But for Cyber Monday, they are now much lower, and you should grab one while you have the chance.

Danger, Danger! HIGH VOLTAGE!!! Measure it safely with the Fluke 15B+ and Aneng 681 multimeters

Multimeters are great. I now own four of them and every maker knows that you need at least two multimeters at any one time. These devices measure voltage (AD/DC), current, resistance, capacitance, and power. Some of the fancier ones can even be used to view a waveform of the measurement, similar to a logic analyzer.

If you want the best in multimeters, then Fluke is the Rolls-Royce and often commands a hefty price. But the Fluke 15B+ is an affordable option for the serious maker.

If the Fluke is a little to expensive, then this model from Aneng is a good price for a hobbyist maker.

The Aneng 681 features a large 5-inch screen that looks like a smart phone. In fact it has its own Lithium battery, so no need spend extra on a 9V battery.

The Aneng 681 can measure AC/DC voltage and current, resistance, capacitance, diode test and continuity. It even has non-contact voltage testing (NCV) for when you need to trace an active power source.

I've got two Aneng multimeters. The old AN8008 which has served me well for five years, and the 620A which looks very similar to the 681.

Aneng multimeters may not be the Rolls-Royce, but they get the job done and leave plenty of cash in your wallet.

This Yihua 995D+ soldering station is more than just hot air!

If you've got a lot of soldering to do, then you need a dedicated soldering station, and the Yihua 995D+ is a great choice. I tested the Yihua 995D+ for my best soldering irons and hot air rework buying guide and found it to be a solid performing iron with an easy-to-use hot air rework wand. Ok, the user interface is a little unintuitive, but I managed to work around it.

The Yihua 995B+ has a solid build quality and has the soldering iron held in its own stand, away from the main unit. This gives you flexibility to move around a project and create a left- or right-handed setup.

You get a choice of soldering iron tips, all of which use a collar system to lock them to the heating element. The cables for the soldering iron and hot air rework are silicone, not PVC, so they stay in place and do not dance around your workbench.

Temperature control for the soldering iron and hot air rework wand is via a central knob; just remember to select the correct output.

Fix your broken tech with this Strebito Electronics Precision Screwdriver Set

We live in a world where it is easier to throw away our old tech, rather than fix it. I hate that and i try to keep my tech for as long as possible. That is why I still use a Lenovo X220 with a second-gen i5 CPU for my maker projects. I've taken that thing apart countless times. Replaced the cooling fan, heatsink assembly, and repaired a USB port.

Getting into laptops, phones, tablets requires extra tools. Of course we need screwdrivers, but we also need spudgers, pry tools, suction cups (for the screen), tweezers, anti-static brush, and a pad to mark where each screw goes.

The Strebito precision electronics screwdriver kit has all of this, in a handy tool roll for a low price. It'll get the job done, store away neatly when not in use, and not blow a massive hole in your wallet.

Protect your lungs with the Kotto Solder Fume Extractor

I love soldering. No, I really do, otherwise reviewing all of the best soldering irons and soldering stations would've been difficult! The problem with soldering are the fumes. The smoke that emanates as we solder isn't good for us. The fumes are a mix of the chemicals that make up our solder of choice. I use lead, with a flux core, both of which are not great for your health, so I use a fume extractor to pull the fumes away into a fan with a carbon filter.

The Kotto solder fume extractor is a smart purchase. It pulls fumes from up to six inches away and uses an activated carbon filter to keep the fumes out of the air. The filter can be easily replaced and found for very little money.

Put this on your bench and keep your lungs healthy as you spend hours soldering your next project.

Print all the things with this great low-cost 3D printer from Elegoo

I've got the predecessor to the Neptune 4 Pro, the Neptune 3 Pro and I find that printer to be reliable and with great precision. The Neptune 4 Pro retains the reliability and quality but with the inclusion of Klipper firmware and linear rails, coupled with violent (it was called that on release) cooling the Neptune 4 Pro can print fast, while still keeping the quality high.

In our review, Andrew Sink loved this printer's (hence we gave is an Editor's choice Award) quality and speed. The direct drive extruder can be used with a plethora of filaments, from soft TPU to ABS and PETG.

There are more expensive 3D printers out there, but for price and performance, the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro will do the job for most makers.

Your 3D printer needs food, this is the brand that I feed my printers with

I've got two 3D printers. The Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro, and the Creality Ender 2 Pro, both of which are fed a steady diet of Overture PLA and PLA Plus filaments.

I first discovered Overture filaments by pure chance. I'd just bought my Ender 2 Pro and I saw that Overture PLA Silk, in a stunning neon green, was cheap so I bought a roll, and then another, and so on!

The Overture PLA Silk prints really well on both printers, so I gave the PLA Plus a try. The key difference between PLA and PLA Plus is that the latter is stronger than PLA. Overture claims that PLA Plus is five times stronger, but I can't back that up. I can say that it prints well, feels strong, and doesn't clog up the extruder. I use it as something between PLA and PETG. I want the speed and ease of PLA, but the strength of PETG.

Set your print settings according to the label, and you should be good to go. I did have to slow it down on my Ender 2 Pro. Why? Because "somebody" installed a 0.8 extruder nozzle, double the size of the usual 0.4.