If you, like us, keep one somewhat skeptical eye on Kickstarter’s trending campaigns or the latest toys landing in the hands of influencers, you may have clocked something called the Makera Carvera recently.

Despite having a name like a mantra some Disney animal would tell you to repeat to help ease your worries, the Carvera is actually a very clever, very chunky CNC machine. Its maker(a) describes it as “the most advanced desktop CNC in its class”, which is quite the claim. So, how is that claim backed up? And, should you hand over several thousand dollars to back it on Kickstarter?

The Carvera is a CNC machine with automatic tool changing technology and an in-built 2.5 W diode laser. That sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? This means multiple tools and processes can be carried out during the same job, so creating should be easier and less frustrating. CNC machining has, for too long, been overly complex and unintuitive to newcomers. Makera acknowledges this on its website and promises that the Carvera, when built, will be as easy to use as a 3D printer. Here’s hoping.

Quality CNC machining relies heavily on sturdiness. The Carvera certainly sounds sturdy with a footprint of around half a meter squared and a total weight of 50 kg, but it has to be sturdy inside too. Makera’s machine makes the most of linear rails on all axes, as well as ball screw linear actuators to try and deliver the best accuracy and longevity, 0.05 mm machining accuracy has been promised, and the working area is stated at 360 x 240 x 140 mm. There’s also an optional 4th axis available.

The work area is entirely enclosed and features a vacuum system for dust collection to hopefully keep things tidy. Within the chamber is the “tool library”, one of the key features of this machine, with room for 6 different tool heads that the Carvera can choose from and detect the length of using a clever probe system. How smoothly it will work remains to be seen of course, but it at least sounds promising. Just the fact that the machine can change tools itself should save a lot of time.

The spindle is 200 W in output, capable of a maximum 15,000 rpm and should work with everything from foam to soft metals pretty easily. The breadth of materials it can work with is exciting, and combining that with the ability to change tools easily should give makers a lot of possibilities.