We don’t have dust collection set up just yet, so running the router on the new X-Carve is a messy prospect. Max Mahoney (Chemistry) has ideas about using the machine for some copper etching labs, so we set about adapting it for a pen. We fairly quickly found a model of a 3D printable pen holder for the X-Carve (CC BY Duane Northcutt), and printed it out, tapping the holes for M4 screws. PLA surprisingly seems to hold a thread fairly well.
After several experiments with various pens, we were able to successfully draw a pleasing circular Voronoi tessellation using an orange Vis-a-Vis overhead transparency marker on 12″ x 12″ piece of foam core board.
The whole thing took about 36 minutes to complete. Here’s a short, mesmerizing (to me anyway) video of the CNC hard at work.
X-Carve as Drawing Machine https://t.co/wiXL9koCkO #makered @Inventables
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That’s really great! I’m glad I can search the internet and find this, exactly the answer I am looking for 🙂
I have have been doing some machine drawings lately and as I watch the short clip of your drawing rig, I wonder if it is possible for the machine to draw faster?
I have been using a Roland plotter and it draws pretty quickly. It makes sense to me that the X Carve would move at that speed when routing/drilling, but pens can be moved much faster.