I've got a 4x8 CNC router with a small 4W laser diode that I can add on for light engraving work. Discussions of safety, protective eyewear, interlocks, shielding are all very valid. the stray reflections cutting wood in open air mean that there is significant scatter. The other day I attempted to engrave cork and found the scatter to be terrible.<p>BUT, all of that can be managed with shielding, eye protection, and walls. When the laser is on, I've rigged mach 3 (CNC control) to turn on some lights at the top of my staircase so that nobody comes into the garage without protective eyewear. It is absolutely possible to be safe without also limiting all your freedoms. In general, safety standards and workshop use-cases are well aligned, and if safety is too much work then a lack of safety is not about freedom, it's about laziness.<p>AvE has also taken a crack at Cubiio, and I think it is worth repeating some of his points, and my own observations here.<p>1. Diode lasers for engraving are VERY sensitive to focal length changes. If my surface that I am engraving changes more than 1-2mm in height, I try to compensate for that in the engraving tool path. My minimum line width is .01" with the laser/lens combo I have, and if I am out of focus even .125" (3mm), the line width will probably double.<p>2. many materials reflect terribly while cutting. Especially pre-finished light colored woods like maple. There is practically no way to avoid this. If I cut those I'll often end up with uncut areas in the piece because 100% of the beam ended up scattered, and didn't manage to burn the piece at all.<p>3. the idea is very tempting. It would be very nice to have this functionality, but, for the average maker, I think you would be pretty unhappy with the power this can make. I frequently want a LOT more than 4W, this appears to be about 1/4 of that. Most commercial systems from Epilog start at 20-40w. The Cubiio would probably produce shallow, uneven cuts at very slow feed rates with really long run times to produce anything useably deep. If you ran it at faster feed rates it would probably produce a laser engraving so shallow that it would rub off.<p>4. I want their app. The ability to turn scanned art into vectors for G code is something I would pay for. AFAIK there is NO good commercial solution for this. I have tons of line art that I would love to laser engrave but have no way to produce simple paths from it.<p>Edit: this is the laser I have - <a href="https://jtechphotonics.com/?product=3-8w-laser-and-2-5amp-safety-compliant-driver-kit" rel="nofollow">https://jtechphotonics.com/?product=3-8w-laser-and-2-5amp-sa...</a> - I can vouch that it is well made and the vendor is great to work with - he assembles these himself and takes safety seriously.