CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

atx2020 — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 02:55:39 GMT

I also got a second hand egx300 engraver years ago. I still use it with my windows 10 machine using the 64 bit driver intended for egx350 model. This updated driver can be downloaded at the roland website. I also used tuxplot in my linuxmint machnie. Unfortunately, the developer no longer maintains the application due to health issues.

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

shabaz — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 17:10:43 GMT

Quite interesting, I opened a random SVG file in FreeCAD, and then in its Path Workbench, create a New Job, then it is possible to click on edges, then click on Engrave. Then, I selected Post Process, and it generated the following G-Code.

Looking at the G-Code, the main part is half-way down, in the section "(Engrave)". It contains the co-ordinates for the paths for the tool. The Z height values are defaults, but it looks like they are configurable as seen on the left side.

I'm surprised how straightforward all this is.

The lengths are taken from the SVG file, but if it doesn't contain them, then a conversion is used, where 96 represents 25.4mm. I've confirmed that by looking in the SVG file.

There's old Python code here: https://gitlab.com/heavydeck-projects/egx-cnc in a folder called egxmake, which can translate that G-Code to CAMM-GL II. It's very limited and buggy, I made a few changes and got it to just-about generate the following:

;IN;CS6;CA8;IP0,0,30500,20500;LT;PA;

PU;

PU;PU;PU2725,-2725;
PU;PD;PD2725,-2725;
PD;PD79,-2725;
PD;PD79,-79;
PD;PD2725,-79;
PU;PU0,0;PU;

That Python code needs more work, but it's very promising. With this approach, there's no need to have any drivers or old software, all of it's open source. Needs a ton more work to recognize more sophisticated G-Code which might have arcs etc.

Anyway, all this was just an experiment, I don't know if it's worth pursuing, if the simpler alternative is to just run old Windows. But I suspect the Roland software is more graphics-oriented, whereas the Python approach would allow very precise control, e.g. for PCB engraving (which I'm not currently interested in however).

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

dang74 — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:39:55 GMT

Nice. It hadn't occurred to me that you could something like this on the cheap.

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

Jan Cumps — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:52:34 GMT

There is still a Dr. Engrave installer on the Roland website:
https://www.rolanddga.com/support/products/software/dr-engrave

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

DAB — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 20:24:45 GMT

Yes, the older equipment was built to last.

RE: CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

kmikemoo — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 19:59:46 GMT

Nice! It's always impressive to see old hardware brought back to life. [emoticon:1435ff2429184e17bc948e4f19178e1e] We still get plastic plates with names engraved on it when we hire new people so this is still a current requirement. Engraving signs could become a "side hustle". [emoticon:fbd079a1c4f748c5a234faee215de9cc]