Yo tinkernut for years I had this automated CNC machine idea but on a larger scale. What if you built a automated CNC machine that can measure the size of your car, hold a automotive paint sprayer and paint your car automatically. you would have to mix the paint yourself and pour it into sprayer and do a test pattern spray. to do this, you will need a auto paint and body expert, robotics expert, programmer, machinist with welding skills and yourself to build it. you can just start off with a small scale modal that can hold a spray can and paint the car automatically but without the floor moving.
One use might be to have it operate a solenoid air valve (extra port required), then use it to deposit glue dots on the 1st pass, using an air-driven syringe, put solder paste on the with the 2nd pass, then on the 3rd pass, have it control air from a small vacuum pump and a square-ended needle to pick & place SMD components for a small PCB. You heat the whole PCB to fairly exact temperatures for fairly exact times, to do that sort of soldering, but that's maybe another project out of an old toaster?
Hey Tinkernut! I'm considering building this, but I heard from you that the desktop power supply is dangerous. Is there a way to use something less dangerous? I'm not very advanced in any electronics assembling, so I want to minimize any risk.
This is really the videos i needed, i have wanted to get into CNC og 3d printers for a while, but had no way to get to it. Now i got the arduino and easy drivers on the way. So thanks. what i need it for is to cut some plastic for an NES emulation project i got going. using an actual NES case. but i don't wanna destroy the case so i'll add some cnc'd stuff. this is a great tutorial to learn how to use it.
Good idea but then you have to figure out how to tell it how much filament to push out at the right time and when to stop, and how fast it has to go... But hey it's worth the challenge so, let's see who can do this.
Best project I've seen in a while, has gotten me really inspired. This is one I'm actually going to try on my own. Probably to aid in all my restoration processes like, recreating sticker labels and such. Thank you so much!
Use more motor axis and a micromotor for a drill/dremel tool for shaping and cutting. You can use the same concept to allow your CNC too for 6+ axis CNC. If you extend the range of the modules, you can expand the working area to a larger work area than the current limitation imposed by the existing range of travel. If you can salvage old printers instead of CD/DVD players, you would have a much larger work area using the same concept.. People throw away printers/scanners all the time. Would love to see you use them instead of the limited range of a CD player.
Great video overall but you speed through some of the more important areas such as the software. That area is quite important and it gets a slight glance.
3D printing , Painting , Drilling .. all these jobs can be done with other machines without this much work, i would appreciate doing something more creative with this, just like; 1. A robot which helps to pin wires on a bread board 2. A toy which moves it's head and hands with command of user 3. Automatic soldering machine 4. A robot which fires a candle,gun,crackers (can be controlled through Bluetooth) If we can make this stuff move little more faster, then we can make 1. A musical instrument which works automatically 2. An instrument which can check the durability of keyboard and mouse 3. Automatic DJ 4. A JCB toy I dun think that these ideas are so good, but i just commented .. .. If you like it, then try to implement those :) (Sorry for bad English :P)
+Sreekanth R I'm only showing the basics. I'm leaving it up to you to come up with different ways to use it. You've got some great ideas, so feel free to use this as a starting point to make them. Let me know how it goes!
+Tinkernut do not listen to that guy, because its just not true.. if i or anyone else could make a 3d printer easier and for less than the cost of what is essentially free. minus the 10 bucks for the uno and all 3 controllers combined..everyone would do it and the world would be a totally different place.
I want to build this, but the GRBL Controller link is a 403. I know it's not you problem, but people need to know about this! I hope this is just temporary...
Making one right now. Pain in the ass to mount right.. I think in terms of improvement, below we should make it 2-axis and above only the Z (up and down). Putting 2 above in some cases might invite vibrations and possibly other glitches. But what I really like about YOUR setup is that you did not use a servo push up and down mechanism for the Z-axis, which creates a ton of chaos.. What could be done with it? Really, really charming stuff with a small yet sufficiently powerful burning laser... cut pieces out, make all sorts of badges even...draw something cool in pencil or make small yet really cool body art :)
What I usually do when I need to use PSUs outside of PCs is put a toggle switch between the green and black wires, that way I can turn it on and off more accurately than unpluging it.
+Jack S It's not really that dangerous to use an old PSU from a computer along as you don't go sticking wires in stuff that doesn't belong. Max output from the PSU for the computer side is 12 volts at a few amps(depending on the supply). If you short something, it will either turn itself off, blow it's fuse, or just die. They are designed not to catch fire if something shorts or goes wrong. So, along as you don't open its case (especially while it's on), you will be fine.
I did everything exactly as you did, but unfortunately my X axis is not even able to hold and move the Z axis, when i try to print something the X wont move properly i gets stuck. if i remove the Z the X will move OK, am i missing something? it seems my steppers don't have enough power to hold some little parts.
i have 3 cd stepper motors with 3 different configurations for the wires coming from the motor. how do i know which one goes to each connection to the motor controller? im assuming it matters.
Whoa. This is really neat. I've been wanting to get a hold of a 3D printer for awhile now for really basic, small things like enclosures for small circuits, and a milling machine for etching my own PCBs. This is a really, really good idea and it looks like if it's accurate enough for drawing it's accurate enough for printing and etching. I have regular access to lots of computer junk so it looks like I'll be making one of these.
It may not be accurate enough for printing, or strong enough for milling PCBs, but this gave me an idea - old scanners/photocopiers/printers! They've got better motors!
i made it but it is not working, xloder says file uploade (26580 bytes uploaded) but Gbrl controller 3.5.1 says "No data from Com port after connect. Expecting gbrl version string > CTRL-X)..... help plzzz
Quite a useless project. A somewhat good learning tool, but I'd go directly to dot matrix printer(inkjet printers have servo loops inside them, not steppers) carriages. Same setup, much more applications and space for expansion.
Hello , you might as well make a video on how to reset all motors to the right position and limit , I have followed your schemes but the engines go on his own. help me
+GamerJyden Search for DIY CNC machines on the web. Some of my favorites are ones built by homofaciens. His approach is dirt cheap. Don't let the fact that he sounds like a mad scientist put you off. Bear in mind that increasing the precision of routing or milling, size of the bed and hardness of the material you intend to cut will make the cost go up exponentially.
THIS IS GREAT!!!!! I am buying all the stuff to make this right NOW!!!!!!! But I am using a 3D Pen and modifying it so then it can be a 3D Printer!!!!!!!! Instead of using your power source tho, I am using a GameCube Power Supply. This is awesome THX!!!!!!!
+ProGamer1515 I highly suggest you dump the newer printers, and use the dot matrix ones. They have steppers pre-built in them, whilst printer carriages have an optical feedback servo system, and an arduino or any small processor cannot, simply cannot do 3 or more servo loops at the same time. Or one, really, for that matter, since it's not a multithread system.
ProGamer1515 Does the main carriage have a thin greyish plastic stripe running across it? If yes, it's not a stepper motor drive, it's an optical encoder feedback system with a regular DC motor on the belt. Dot matrix printers have steppers instead, so you can easily control them with some kind of driver.
+Spirit those old dot matrix printers have some incredibly powerful for their size motors. Takes some oomph to slam that print head back and forth. You could gear down with a belt system as well.
Can someone help me ? I import a svg file in makercam scale it , folow path op , calculate all, export g code, I do thath exactly like in this video , but my picture or letters wont get written as they shoud ......
Thanks for this awesome post.I have a problem controlling the stepper motors,they work fine when i connect them to the arduino individually but when i try to connect all the motors to the arduino not a single motor works.Please help !!!
This is great, I don't care what any of the others are saying. It gives me hope that I can put together my own CNC, using the concepts explained here. HOWEVER (and you knew that was coming, right?) It also opens the question-door on so many other things such as: 1) Will the driver-boards support larger steppers (I would assume so)? 2) If I'm wanting to cut wood and maybe acrylic, how do I decide how big a stepper to use? Or just get the max size that the driver-board will support? 3) Is there a site someplace that lists all the various freeware software that would support this arduino/driver combination? Thanks!
Hi Tinkernut! I want to build one of these small plotters but I have some questions I'd like to be answered: -I am using an old printer axis, which means there are pulleys and belts: do I have to configure something? -I have a pretty wide (10x12 inches) drawing surface: is there a setting to modify in the controller software? -Can I use a servo for the Y axis? If yes, where do I connect and how do I configure it? Thanks in advance!
Well, the Lego EV3, with some Lejos firmware modifications, is basically an arduino, and the Lego servo motors are easily programmable, so if a I can make an X Y and Z platform, and attach a 3D pen to it, I could make a Lego 3D printer. The only problem would be getting the EV3 to control the pen, as Lego has some hefty hardware restrictions, but hacking can do the trick. Weekend project!
hi i tryed following the link to get the grbl controller but on the download link it keeps coming up with a 403 error, any other way of get the controller?
+Tinkernut thanks for the detailed tutorial. I made mine, it's not working well yet (to much weight on the X axis), so I'm trying to improve it. I also used some alternative methods (compiled my own version of grbl) and used other software, as I'm on a Mac. Anyway thank you ! It was my first Arduino project and I had much fun doing it. Ah I also did the power supply, but I made easy connectors attached to its side, so it's easy to use alternate tensions, to different projects. I'm waiting for you to post new fun projects.
i Just liked and subscribed :) , im so sorry i thrown all those DVD drives away :( if i can get 3 DVD drives i will DEFENELY make this project , it;s too fun
I would create circuit boards with one. I have seen hobbyists do this with CNC machines. However this is the first DIY CNC machine. I am thinking about collecting this parts to make one myself.
NOW is hardly working on all axes but... i changed several cd / dvd motors because they have no power at all if you attach something else ... any idea on how to increase the power of the motor ?
this is an awesome idea. I love projects like this. and PC builder/modder and I have a bunch of drives just laying around. I think I'm gonna try using the infaread DVD burner diode to make a desktop engraver, using this method. would you be interested in hearing about my build?
I want to build a very similar small CNC for making PCBs for small electronics projects. I don't have access to a laser printer conveniently enough to make the common laser printer resist + chemical etching method feasible for my needs. Any suggestions on drills attachments to look into for such a project?
I have a question, the xy axis of a cnc machine is usually the horizontal plane, why did you put the y axis on the z axis, and does this effect how the g code works, I'm really interested in building this with the xy on the bottom, I'm a machinist so making and fabrication are no issue to me... just want your thoughts... thanks...
I found an old Teac floppy drive that I would like to use for this project, the only problem being that the stepper motor for the floppy drive is unipolar (it has 5 wires). How can I connect it? Can I run it as a unipolar motor or should I just look for another CD drive?
Why no just use the thing that brings the computer tray in and out? The only problems I'd find doing that would be the bulk and maybe the accuracy. But on the plus side you'd only have to use two cd or DVDs drives.
Can you use H bridges? and if you only used 2 cd roms and a servo for lifting a pen how do you make the grbl controller work with the servo? tell it that's a "z axis" and turn accordingly?
A cool project! You did really great job! so, I'm trying to make this cnc machine, a 3d printer, but I don't have money to buy a 3d pen. So how can I attach the hotend to the machine, and what setting should I change?
working on replicating this but the stepper motor just vibrates and doesn't turn. I'm positive I got the wiring correct from the stepper motor. Any suggestions???
i want to do this with a raspberry pi. as we speak i have literally built the hardware and everything is mounterd but i have no idea about the pinout of the GPIOs for this project as im using a RPi. most RPi schematics say to connect 5v to the gpio and then to the h bridges but if i were to connect external 5v to the h bridge and normal micro USB to supply power to the pi could this work?
Would it be possible to add one extra cd drive on each axis so that there would be 2 on each and six in total, which would make the print size a 9cm cube instead of a 4.5 cm cube? If its possible, would I need an additional 5v to power the extra 3 steppers and drivers, or would the one 5v line be enough.
Hi i was think of building this for a school project. Are you using the Easy servo drivers for Arduino? and is there any type of motor that you can use to cut out small PCBs that's low cost?
great video! how can i minimize risk when i’m using the desktop power supply? i don’t have a lot of experience with electronics and wiring nor can anyone supervise me with this. I’m very interested in building a cnc machine and later turning it into a 3d printer.
Once you set this up, is there any way to get slicing software to output Gcode that works with this? It may be small but, it'd be nice to say run Repetier host to drive it. For many small purposes.
Great project. I really like the combo of animations and real footage. This is a good direction to be going in I think. I don't think you mentioned the name of those stepper controllers. What are they?
hello I'm 12 years old and I'm gonna build my own 3d printer and I'm not all that good with power supply anyone recommend something also couldn't u use a rpi for this
Teacher: Your work must be written in pen and not printed.
Student: Turns text to GCode and uses a draw bot.
Hahah ...:)
+YOTTAZOID We have a genious right here!!
+YOTTAZOID Yup. I was thinking of the same thing but, you said it first. The first person to do it should be president.
+YOTTAZOID try microtechstelladata.com/TextToNCcode.aspx ;)
or you could try mach3: www.machsupport.com/software/mach3/
+pgmann Nice finds!
You've almost got a printer there! You just need more expensive pens and that "out of ink" message that shows right after you add a new cartridge.
HP printers robbery
Wow this is awesome! I almost have all the parts! This would be perfect for a milling machine to make my own gears!
Another great video m8!
Yo tinkernut
for years I had this automated CNC machine idea but on a larger scale. What if you built a automated CNC machine that can measure the size of your car, hold a automotive paint sprayer and paint your car automatically. you would have to mix the paint yourself and pour it into sprayer and do a test pattern spray. to do this, you will need a auto paint and body expert, robotics expert, programmer, machinist with welding skills and yourself to build it. you can just start off with a small scale modal that can hold a spray can and paint
the car automatically but without the floor moving.
Great idea, I am already working on my own drawbot
can you show us how it draws a complicated picture ?
+Afro ThuGz The G Code should have all instructions on how to draw that, so don't worry
Shahe Ansar
yes but i just would like to see it, since i dont really have the talent too make something like that myself :p
Afro ThuGz Don't worry about that, it'll be the work of the gcode interpreter, as long as you have one on your MCU, you don't need to do zilch
+Shahe Ansar You are missunderstanding what he is saying.
He is curious and wants to have a visual representation of what it can do.
Mat Smith
that is indeed what i want :)
Great explanation. I feel like I could do it now without any prior knowledge of anything in this video.
One use might be to have it operate a solenoid air valve (extra port required), then use it to deposit glue dots on the 1st pass, using an air-driven syringe, put solder paste on the with the 2nd pass, then on the 3rd pass, have it control air from a small vacuum pump and a square-ended needle to pick & place SMD components for a small PCB.
You heat the whole PCB to fairly exact temperatures for fairly exact times, to do that sort of soldering, but that's maybe another project out of an old toaster?
Hey Tinkernut! I'm considering building this, but I heard from you that the desktop power supply is dangerous. Is there a way to use something less dangerous? I'm not very advanced in any electronics assembling, so I want to minimize any risk.
This is really the videos i needed, i have wanted to get into CNC og 3d printers for a while, but had no way to get to it. Now i got the arduino and easy drivers on the way. So thanks. what i need it for is to cut some plastic for an NES emulation project i got going. using an actual NES case. but i don't wanna destroy the case so i'll add some cnc'd stuff. this is a great tutorial to learn how to use it.
anyone put a 3d drawing pen like the 3doodler on this?
good idea
+Teo Tornaci (TeoIzAwezome) Upvote That
the best idea I'll try it :D
Good idea but then you have to figure out how to tell it how much filament to push out at the right time and when to stop, and how fast it has to go... But hey it's worth the challenge so, let's see who can do this.
+MrAjw31213 tinkernut already did that :D
Best project I've seen in a while, has gotten me really inspired. This is one I'm actually going to try on my own. Probably to aid in all my restoration processes like, recreating sticker labels and such. Thank you so much!
Use more motor axis and a micromotor for a drill/dremel tool for shaping and cutting.
You can use the same concept to allow your CNC too for 6+ axis CNC. If you extend the range of the modules, you can expand the working area to a larger work area than the current limitation imposed by the existing range of travel.
If you can salvage old printers instead of CD/DVD players, you would have a much larger work area using the same concept..
People throw away printers/scanners all the time.
Would love to see you use them instead of the limited range of a CD player.
Great video overall but you speed through some of the more important areas such as the software. That area is quite important and it gets a slight glance.
I want to see a part three with a drill added on to it.
Impressive! Your videos remind me of Mr Wizard and Bill Nye the Science Guy.
3D printing , Painting , Drilling .. all these jobs can be done with other machines without this much work, i would appreciate doing something more creative with this, just like;
1. A robot which helps to pin wires on a bread board
2. A toy which moves it's head and hands with command of user
3. Automatic soldering machine
4. A robot which fires a candle,gun,crackers (can be controlled through Bluetooth)
If we can make this stuff move little more faster,
then we can make
1. A musical instrument which works automatically
2. An instrument which can check the durability of keyboard and mouse
3. Automatic DJ
4. A JCB toy
I dun think that these ideas are so good, but i just commented .. ..
If you like it, then try to implement those :)
(Sorry for bad English :P)
+Sreekanth R I'm only showing the basics. I'm leaving it up to you to come up with different ways to use it. You've got some great ideas, so feel free to use this as a starting point to make them. Let me know how it goes!
the nice thing is its a robot so it can do things more accuratly and kan repeat the same thing over and over with the same accuracy
+Tinkernut Yes ofcouz !! and thank you very much for such interesting ideas and tips :)
+Tinkernut do not listen to that guy, because its just not true.. if i or anyone else could make a 3d printer easier and for less than the cost of what is essentially free. minus the 10 bucks for the uno and all 3 controllers combined..everyone would do it and the world would be a totally different place.
I want to build this, but the GRBL Controller link is a 403. I know it's not you problem,
but people need to know about this! I hope this is just temporary...
+Ted Mieske I found a link! github.com/zapmaker/GrblHoming/releases
Making one right now. Pain in the ass to mount right.. I think in terms of improvement, below we should make it 2-axis and above only the Z (up and down). Putting 2 above in some cases might invite vibrations and possibly other glitches. But what I really like about YOUR setup is that you did not use a servo push up and down mechanism for the Z-axis, which creates a ton of chaos.. What could be done with it? Really, really charming stuff with a small yet sufficiently powerful burning laser... cut pieces out, make all sorts of badges even...draw something cool in pencil or make small yet really cool body art :)
Man. This is genius!! a Home made PCB engraver) what else can we ask for.
What I usually do when I need to use PSUs outside of PCs is put a toggle switch between the green and black wires, that way I can turn it on and off more accurately than unpluging it.
Nice project. I really enjoyed it
+tinkernut Are there any other ways of getting power to the steppers that doesnt involve a 'dangerous' and cumbersome power supply
+Jack S Use the wires from an old phone charger maybe? Or just buy an adjustable voltage power supply to crank out the specific voltage you need.
+Jack S It's not really that dangerous to use an old PSU from a computer along as you don't go sticking wires in stuff that doesn't belong. Max output from the PSU for the computer side is 12 volts at a few amps(depending on the supply). If you short something, it will either turn itself off, blow it's fuse, or just die. They are designed not to catch fire if something shorts or goes wrong. So, along as you don't open its case (especially while it's on), you will be fine.
Yeah, I new that the couldn't be very dangerous.
+Jack S prehaps use an RC ESC which has a 5V output from an internal battery eliminator circuit?
+Tinkernut hi there. how do i revert my arduino back to normal after doing this project?
Well, this just makes copying a picturw off a computer a whole lot easier...
+Master's i genuinely laught
+swampthing401 Printers are old bruh, they're so last year...
I did everything exactly as you did, but unfortunately my X axis is not even able to hold and move the Z axis, when i try to print something the X wont move properly i gets stuck. if i remove the Z the X will move OK, am i missing something? it seems my steppers don't have enough power to hold some little parts.
Very good video man.
Super cool video!
Amazing video dude! Keep it up :D
That was freaking awesome
This looks simple, but I feel like if I tried it, I'd fuck it up and destroy 3 perfectly good CD drives lol.
Thank you for this video, great job!
i have 3 cd stepper motors with 3 different configurations for the wires coming from the motor. how do i know which one goes to each connection to the motor controller? im assuming it matters.
Plug all of the wires to an outlet. If you survive I don't know where I was going with this.
can you show some 3d printer extruder ideas in your next episode?
hi how can i get g code i want to draw mini cartoon. how can i do that. which program i should i use
Thats amazing!
Whoa. This is really neat. I've been wanting to get a hold of a 3D printer for awhile now for really basic, small things like enclosures for small circuits, and a milling machine for etching my own PCBs. This is a really, really good idea and it looks like if it's accurate enough for drawing it's accurate enough for printing and etching.
I have regular access to lots of computer junk so it looks like I'll be making one of these.
It may not be accurate enough for printing, or strong enough for milling PCBs, but this gave me an idea - old scanners/photocopiers/printers! They've got better motors!
i made it but it is not working, xloder says file uploade (26580 bytes
uploaded) but Gbrl controller 3.5.1 says "No data from Com port after
connect. Expecting gbrl version string > CTRL-X)..... help plzzz
im pretty damn inspired now, im going to do this, thanks for the teachibg m8!
Quite a useless project. A somewhat good learning tool, but I'd go directly to dot matrix printer(inkjet printers have servo loops inside them, not steppers) carriages. Same setup, much more applications and space for expansion.
Hello i like your project and you definetly should add a hotend to make a 3d printer. It would be worth if
It would e great to build a pick-and -place machine for smd soldering
if i could i would give 2 thumbs up! finally an easy to follow, quick and detailed cd rom cnc!! thank you
Write Line [Sentences] for the teacher with it: IEG: I will not chew gum in class x200
I wonder how hard it would be to make the software for a CNC machine? I think it would be an interesting step up from this!
Hello , you might as well make a video on how to reset all motors to the right position and limit , I have followed your schemes but the engines go on his own. help me
Is it possible to do the exctly same thing just with bigger motors and a bigger bed?
+Blindyyh Thanks
+GamerJyden Search for DIY CNC machines on the web. Some of my favorites are ones built by homofaciens. His approach is dirt cheap. Don't let the fact that he sounds like a mad scientist put you off. Bear in mind that increasing the precision of routing or milling, size of the bed and hardness of the material you intend to cut will make the cost go up exponentially.
Easydriver input power must be between 7 and 30 volts so why don't u use yellow wire (12 volts) on pc power supply ???
A very good video, but for a german gay a little bit to fast !! :-) thank you !!!
can I controll this with my phone or laptop via wifi with a arduino wifi module or anything like that?
max you could but it would require a special wifi module on the arduino and a custom app on the phone
THIS IS GREAT!!!!! I am buying all the stuff to make this right NOW!!!!!!! But I am using a 3D Pen and modifying it so then it can be a 3D Printer!!!!!!!! Instead of using your power source tho, I am using a GameCube Power Supply. This is awesome THX!!!!!!!
please make it as a laser cutter to cut balsa wood
You don't know how happy I am right now !
very great video :)
I'll have to use this as a basis for a CNC made out of several printers. I've got plenty of old parts to work with.
+ProGamer1515 I highly suggest you dump the newer printers, and use the dot matrix ones. They have steppers pre-built in them, whilst printer carriages have an optical feedback servo system, and an arduino or any small processor cannot, simply cannot do 3 or more servo loops at the same time. Or one, really, for that matter, since it's not a multithread system.
***** Alright, I took them apart and found some stepper motors. Though they were small. Do dot-matrix printers have much larger stepper motors?
ProGamer1515 Does the main carriage have a thin greyish plastic stripe running across it? If yes, it's not a stepper motor drive, it's an optical encoder feedback system with a regular DC motor on the belt.
Dot matrix printers have steppers instead, so you can easily control them with some kind of driver.
+Spirit those old dot matrix printers have some incredibly powerful for their size motors. Takes some oomph to slam that print head back and forth. You could gear down with a belt system as well.
consaka1 You could, but why bother? Just half- or microstep, still a ton of torque.
One of my drives had a dc motor instead of a stepper. Will this still work?
+Jake Crowley no
Can someone help me ? I import a svg file in makercam scale it , folow path op , calculate all, export g code, I do thath exactly like in this video , but my picture or letters wont get written as they shoud ......
Hi tinkernut, can you tell me what is your cnc max axies travel distance, Thanks and great job im thinking to do one for me
Thanks for this awesome post.I have a problem controlling the stepper motors,they work fine when i connect them to the arduino individually but when i try to connect all the motors to the arduino not a single motor works.Please help !!!
Do we need to code in arduino as well? if yes then please provide that...BTW your videos help me a lot Thanks.
I can't draw circle and curves.. Somebody know what is problem?
super cool!!
Can you make a terminator next? And how is that sex ed coming along? :P
This is great, I don't care what any of the others are saying. It gives me hope that I can put together my own CNC, using the concepts explained here.
HOWEVER (and you knew that was coming, right?)
It also opens the question-door on so many other things such as:
1) Will the driver-boards support larger steppers (I would assume so)?
2) If I'm wanting to cut wood and maybe acrylic, how do I decide how big a stepper to use? Or just get the max size that the driver-board will support?
3) Is there a site someplace that lists all the various freeware software that would support this arduino/driver combination?
Thanks!
hello, I did everything described in the video but the engines are not moving to use the program, sorry for my bad english.
Hi Tinkernut!
I want to build one of these small plotters but I have some questions I'd like to be answered:
-I am using an old printer axis, which means there are pulleys and belts: do I have to configure something?
-I have a pretty wide (10x12 inches) drawing surface: is there a setting to modify in the controller software?
-Can I use a servo for the Y axis? If yes, where do I connect and how do I configure it?
Thanks in advance!
Well, the Lego EV3, with some Lejos firmware modifications, is basically an arduino, and the Lego servo motors are easily programmable, so if a I can make an X Y and Z platform, and attach a 3D pen to it, I could make a Lego 3D printer. The only problem would be getting the EV3 to control the pen, as Lego has some hefty hardware restrictions, but hacking can do the trick. Weekend project!
Appreciate your work but i have one query do we have to write code in arduino aswell??
hi i tryed following the link to get the grbl controller but on the download link it keeps coming up with a 403 error, any other way of get the controller?
same error
github.com/zapmaker/GrblHoming/releases
I LOVE YOU TINKER nut
+Tinkernut thanks for the detailed tutorial. I made mine, it's not working well yet (to much weight on the X axis), so I'm trying to improve it. I also used some alternative methods (compiled my own version of grbl) and used other software, as I'm on a Mac.
Anyway thank you ! It was my first Arduino project and I had much fun doing it. Ah I also did the power supply, but I made easy connectors attached to its side, so it's easy to use alternate tensions, to different projects.
I'm waiting for you to post new fun projects.
Is there an alternative to using a pc power supply/psu.
i Just liked and subscribed :) , im so sorry i thrown all those DVD drives away :( if i can get 3 DVD drives i will DEFENELY make this project , it;s too fun
Guys can i use L298 MOTOR DRIVER CONTROLLER BOARD instead of easy driver board ?
can i use raspberry pi 3 instead of arduino
I would create circuit boards with one. I have seen hobbyists do this with CNC machines. However this is the first DIY CNC machine. I am thinking about collecting this parts to make one myself.
NOW is hardly working on all axes but... i changed several cd / dvd motors because they have no power at all if you attach something else ... any idea on how to increase the power of the motor ?
this is an awesome idea. I love projects like this. and PC builder/modder and I have a bunch of drives just laying around. I think I'm gonna try using the infaread DVD burner diode to make a desktop engraver, using this method. would you be interested in hearing about my build?
Hi Tinkernut! Could you make a solar powered SETI@home machine out of Raspberry Pi? The automated alien finder or something :)
I want to build a very similar small CNC for making PCBs for small electronics projects. I don't have access to a laser printer conveniently enough to make the common laser printer resist + chemical etching method feasible for my needs.
Any suggestions on drills attachments to look into for such a project?
I have a question, the xy axis of a cnc machine is usually the horizontal plane, why did you put the y axis on the z axis, and does this effect how the g code works, I'm really interested in building this with the xy on the bottom, I'm a machinist so making and fabrication are no issue to me... just want your thoughts... thanks...
I found an old Teac floppy drive that I would like to use for this project, the only problem being that the stepper motor for the floppy drive is unipolar (it has 5 wires). How can I connect it? Can I run it as a unipolar motor or should I just look for another CD drive?
can this print objects I designed from sketchup?.. i exported it as an STL file and converted the STL file into Gcode..
Why no just use the thing that brings the computer tray in and out? The only problems I'd find doing that would be the bulk and maybe the accuracy. But on the plus side you'd only have to use two cd or DVDs drives.
Amazing video, thx alot, what is the working area of the unit? any exact dimensions?
I understand tat it will be limited by the size of the CD-Drive.
Seriously, how do i make this thing running on APT Language (for CNC simulation) , and this's so fuckin sick, oh my god
Can you use H bridges?
and if you only used 2 cd roms and a servo for lifting a pen how do you make the grbl controller work with the servo? tell it that's a "z axis" and turn accordingly?
A cool project! You did really great job! so, I'm trying to make this cnc machine, a 3d printer, but I don't have money to buy a 3d pen. So how can I attach the hotend to the machine, and what setting should I change?
working on replicating this but the stepper motor just vibrates and doesn't turn. I'm positive I got the wiring correct from the stepper motor. Any suggestions???
I made the 3d printer, but the stepper motors don't work. What the problem may be? (I used A4988 drivers)
i want to do this with a raspberry pi. as we speak i have literally built the hardware and everything is mounterd but i have no idea about the pinout of the GPIOs for this project as im using a RPi. most RPi schematics say to connect 5v to the gpio and then to the h bridges but if i were to connect external 5v to the h bridge and normal micro USB to supply power to the pi could this work?
This is genius, i have at least 6 of CD/DVD players and they haven't been used since 2010, youst wow...
I have the same laptop as you, im using it now.
Would it be possible to add one extra cd drive on each axis so that there would be 2 on each and six in total, which would make the print size a 9cm cube instead of a 4.5 cm cube? If its possible, would I need an additional 5v to power the extra 3 steppers and drivers, or would the one 5v line be enough.
Hi i was think of building this for a school project. Are you using the Easy servo drivers for Arduino? and is there any type of motor that you can use to cut out small PCBs that's low cost?
great video! how can i minimize risk when i’m using the desktop power supply? i don’t have a lot of experience with electronics and wiring nor can anyone supervise me with this. I’m very interested in building a cnc machine and later turning it into a 3d printer.
Hi. I have a different easy stepper driver. It is L298N which has 4 inputs. Can I still use them and what do I need to change to make it work?
Once you set this up, is there any way to get slicing software to output Gcode that works with this? It may be small but, it'd be nice to say run Repetier host to drive it. For many small purposes.
Great project. I really like the combo of animations and real footage. This is a good direction to be going in I think.
I don't think you mentioned the name of those stepper controllers. What are they?
those are "easydrivers"
PLEASE build this as hot-glue Machine. That would be SO AWESOME
hello I'm 12 years old and I'm gonna build my own 3d printer and I'm not all that good with power supply anyone recommend something also couldn't u use a rpi for this
I wonder if this can be made sturdy enough to hold a brush with acrylic paint. It would be cool to make a "painting printer" kinda thing.