First thoughts – horizontal square aluminium tubing with cars running on each side. Toothed belt inside the tubing with a common shaft driven from the stepper motor. Eight wheels on the vertical shaft, also 3D printed, adequately hold the frame in position.
Assembly taking shape, both X & Y axis complete and getting the electrics sorted. All the brightly coloured parts are 3D printed. Most of the electronic parts are readily available from local on-line stores.
More parts cut out for the kids. I used Inkscape to draw the silhouettes with a "G-code tools" extension to generate the G-Code.
Vertical, Y axis, showing the drive for the X axis shaft
Various stages of the build showing the X axis cars and driving belt. The wheels are roller bearings with 3D printed tyres on an eccentric shaft to adjust tracking. Underside of the X axis showing the belt passing through the tubing frame. Test sheet cutting Xmas decorations
Another example of cutting out shapes for the children to paint. The max sheet size is 100mm thick x 1800 tall x 600wide.
I so enjoyed this project! from concept - to laying out the design and building all the mechanisms. A surprise! (for me) - 3D printed parts can actually be used as working components. Mach3 CNC software so easy to use and free to download for trials, loads of information from an enormous following of on-line hobbyists like me, eager to share their discoveries - just love it!
A HOT WIRE polystyrene cutter built for no reason at all! I liked the idea of designing and building a vertical 2D machine after seeing a video clip of a commercial unit. Maybe there would be a sensible use for it after(?).
CNC Polystyrene sheet cutter
There is a YouTube video of the build HERE