After watching a video of a new pen plotter made by Evil Mad Scientist we wanted to have a similar device. And having a 3D printer at hand plus some CAD software like Onshape or Fusion 360 it was a good exercise to design the whole thing. As usual the process was not completely straightforward, as initially it was more about copying the model we saw but as things were coming together some new ideas were explored. So while the first mock-up was based entirely on laser-cut parts (some of them glued together to make them thicker as the crappy laser I have access to is really depth limited as it is low-power). Why laser-cut? Well because it was faster (or so it was supposed, but don't get me started on that). Once the first model was put together several ideas pop up: First, motors are in the way of carriage motion and reduce a bit carriage travel along smooth rods. Second, motors require another part that could be fused with the machine feet and rods support. Third, t...
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