454 Workshop documentation

454 Workshop is two apps that work together: 454 Design draws the parts, and 454 Control sends jobs to the machine. Both run in a browser, need no installation, and are free and open source.

Control: quick start From opening the app to a finished cut, in order. Design: quick start Drawing parts, opening VCarve projects, your tool library. Coming from Carbide Motion What works the same, and every place it doesn’t.

What 454 Control does

Opens G-code, checks it, and shows it in 3D before anything moves.
Runs the job, adding the things files leave out: spindle spin-up, travelling high, tool-change handling, and a predictable ending.
Jogging, zeroing, BitZero probing and BitSetter tool measurement.
Recovers a stopped job from the line where cutting actually stopped.

What 454 Design does

2D drawing for parts you intend to cut: lines, arcs, text, and the editing tools around them.
Dimensions that drive the geometry, in millimetres or inches.
Opens VCarve .crv files and DXFs, and lists the toolpaths a project contains.
Nests parts onto your material, and holds your tool library, imported from VCarve.

What you need

Chrome or Edge on a desktop to talk to the machine. Everything else works in any browser.
A GRBL 1.1 controller, which covers the Shapeoko and Nomad.
Nothing to install, and no account. Settings live in your browser and export to a file.

These apps move a real machine. Keep a hand near the e-stop, and air-cut anything new before cutting material.