How to build a CNC plotter?

[geekynerd]

i am planning on building a cnc plotter as my audrino project and i am a beginner. can you guys help me out and give me some tips on how to build it. what should i buy. i am going to buy t dvd drives and 3 motors for all three axis moment and thats it i have a audrino uno board. idk what to do for the frame. and this is my first hardware project so give me some beginner tips

 

[Baluncore]

By "plotter" do you mean something to draw lines on a page, or maybe to cut stencils?
How big will you make it?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/355675496503

 

[geekynerd]

not for laser engraving its for like drawing. And a fun project nothing serious and it need to fit a a4 sheet so thats the size and honestly i dont have idea i am just learning so can you guys help me out

 

[berkeman]

not for laser engraving its for like drawing.

If you are making 2-D drawings, why do you need 3-axis motor movement? If you need to just lift the pen in the 3rd dimension, you can use a simple solenoid to do that instead of a 3rd motor.

 

[geekynerd]

If you are making 2-D drawings, why do you need 3-axis motor movement? If you need to just lift the pen in the 3rd dimension, you can use a simple solenoid to do that instead of a 3rd motor.

yea idk i thought for the lift of the pen i need a motor. as i said i am new to this hardware project any idea on frame of the machine

 

[Baluncore]

any idea on frame of the machine

Look at what is available for sale on the internet.
That will give you some idea of the requirements.

 

[berkeman]

So for an x-y plotter, you have two main ways to move the pen. The first uses a moving x-arm and a way to move the pen along that arm to give you movement in the y direction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotter

(BTW, that Wikipedia article has a lot of useful information about plotters, so be sure to read it through.)

The second way is to have the pen move in the x-direction along a fixed arm, and use the y-motor and a gritwheel to move the paper in the y-direction:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...cKEwig3KaUmaeSAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQJA&opi=89978449

Getting the gritwheel part to work is not easy, so you may want to stick with the first technique instead. It took HP a lot of work and some patents to get the gritwheel paper movement to work and be consistent. (I worked at HP when they were doing that development, but I was not on that team.)

 

[geekynerd]

moving the paper is crazy and for the controller i am going to use the audrino uno is that good can it handle and for the frame like what should i do i understand the mechanism but what material should i use or is there any readymade arm avilable in the market

 

[berkeman]

i am going to buy t dvd drives and 3 motors

What's a "t dvd drive"? And what kind of motors/encoders are you getting? Stepper motors with end-stop detection, or servo motors?

 

[renormalize]

i am planning on building a cnc plotter as my audrino project and i am a beginner. can you guys help me out and give me some tips on how to build it.

You don't need to reinvent everything from scratch. Instead, search for instructional videos like this one:

DIY Arduino Based CNC XY Plotter Withouth 3D Printer/Aluminium Rails. Fully Custom Build. This is 100% homemade with minimal tools and items required.

 

[geekynerd]

What's a "t dvd drive"? And what kind of motors/encoders are you getting? Stepper motors with end-stop detection, or servo motors?

this is what i meant about dvd drive https://www.dell.com/en-in/shop/8x-dvd-rw-95mm-optical-disk-drive/apd/429-aayt/storage-drives-media stepper motor for z axis and servo motors for x and y

 

[geekynerd]

i just wanted to hear new ideas and like brainstroming not to replicate something. wanted to build something from my design and myself thanks for the video i will take it as reference

You don't need to reinvent everything from scratch. Instead, search for instructional videos like this one:

DIY Arduino Based CNC XY Plotter Withouth 3D Printer/Aluminium Rails. Fully Custom Build. This is 100% homemade with minimal tools and items required.

 

[geekynerd]

i just wanted to hear new ideas and like brainstroming i want to build something myself not to replicate something off internet. thanks for the video it is useful i will take some part as reference to my project

You don't need to reinvent everything from scratch. Instead, search for instructional videos like this one:

DIY Arduino Based CNC XY Plotter Withouth 3D Printer/Aluminium Rails. Fully Custom Build. This is 100% homemade with minimal tools and items required.

 

[DaveE]

It would help us if you said which part(s) of this machine you are interested in designing. The mechanical part, just the software, motor control, etc.

If you just want to do SW, I would look into buying a used plotter from eBay. Some have analog inputs, others have digital. Back in my day HP owned this market, at least in our labs.

You might also look for a used cheap 3D printer, most all have an x-y stage built in.

Anyway my point is that you could get a bunch of the mechanical and/or electrical bits easily this way.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2774142843...uTXG1QILZGhKImN+MK9T58yw8=|tkp:Bk9SR-KQ44qBZw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2270346716...dHNBw==|tkp:Bk9SR5Tzg4uBZw&LH_ItemCondition=4

 

[renormalize]

i just wanted to hear new ideas and like brainstroming not to replicate something.

I understand your desire. But Physics Forums is not really the platform for a free-wheeling, "back and forth" discussion intended to develop something new (like a homework answer, an experiment, or a piece of hardware like your plotter) from scratch. Instead, we expect you to have already researched existing knowledge applicable to what you're trying to accomplish and then come here seeking answers regarding specific questions or areas where you've become stuck. Indeed, I would summarize the PF philosophy as:

Physics Forums best helps those who first help themselves.​