I took a little time off from making the paper models to experiment with an Arduino card, stepper motors and some old printers and drives I had collected.
I made a little prototype plotter from online tutorials using the dvd rom motors and frames. It actually worked really well, albeit small.
My next step has been to modify an old deskjet to be a plotter. This is working well, I just have to get the software scaling corrected. I don't think I have it 1/1 scaling from drawing to plot. My next step will be to replace the pen with either a swivel knife or a dremel type tool with a very small tool to act as a router with the card stock.
I know you can purchase working cutters pretty cheap nowadays, but I am having fun and learning new things. In the very least, a plotter using 50 cent ink pens will trump a printer that uses 30 dollar ink cartridges. At least for my models, which are usually not colored to begin with. :)
If I do get it to work decently, I'll post some video. I may end up tiring of the whole idea and returning to modeling, but I'll probably give it a couple more weekends and see what happens :)
Also, does anyone else have experience with Arduino's and coding? I may need to pick your brain :)
Here is a picture of my mini plotter.
I made a little prototype plotter from online tutorials using the dvd rom motors and frames. It actually worked really well, albeit small.
My next step has been to modify an old deskjet to be a plotter. This is working well, I just have to get the software scaling corrected. I don't think I have it 1/1 scaling from drawing to plot. My next step will be to replace the pen with either a swivel knife or a dremel type tool with a very small tool to act as a router with the card stock.
I know you can purchase working cutters pretty cheap nowadays, but I am having fun and learning new things. In the very least, a plotter using 50 cent ink pens will trump a printer that uses 30 dollar ink cartridges. At least for my models, which are usually not colored to begin with. :)
If I do get it to work decently, I'll post some video. I may end up tiring of the whole idea and returning to modeling, but I'll probably give it a couple more weekends and see what happens :)
Also, does anyone else have experience with Arduino's and coding? I may need to pick your brain :)
Here is a picture of my mini plotter.
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