The software that is usually bundled with K40 style laser cutters can be very temperamental and isn't the most intuitive to use. This is certainly what Alex Eames found after buying his own K40 style laser cutter. Tinkering with the bundled software, Alex had eventually set up a 3-page procedure document to optimise his workflow - which doesn't sound all that optimal at all! Generally frustrated with this, Scorch Works has made its own open source software, titled K40 Whisperer
Seeing Blackpool MakerSpace running its K40 using K40 Whisperer on a Linux machine, Alex was inspired to try and get it running on a Raspberry Pi 3b, although he says it will also work on a Pi Zero. Overall, he says it has improved his workflow considerably, being able to send files to be laser cut over SFTP has been a boon, and the space saved by using a Pi instead a laptop is great when you're stuck for space!
Head over to the blog post to read the full guide, including installation. Alex Eames is the founder of RasPi.TV, dedicated to providing a whole host of Raspberry Pi tutorials.