Hello folks,
I’m self-isolating due to COVID and I need to keep myself from going bonkers. I have decided to take on a new group project. A project that I’d love to share with you all. The project is to build a painting machine. No, not a printer…a way to put acrylic paint to canvas using a computer and an XYZ machine. Exactly what it will turn out to be is uncertain, but it is up to us.
Here’s what I have so far:
- I scored an old plotter a couple months back, tore it apart and rescued the X-axis. It’s five foot six inches long (estimated canvas size: 5 x 8 foot).
- The Y-axis is going to be 8 feet long. I’ve decided to use my 3D printer and the MPCNC design by Ryan Zellars to create the Y and Z movement (see www.v1engineering.com). (MPCNC = Mostly Printed Computer Numerical Control)
- I bought a Mini-Rambo board to run the stepper motors, which I had left over from my earlier robot projects.
I’ve built XYZ machines in the past so it’s not a total mystery, and what I don’t know I can always ask people in the online Maker Community.
I’m starting this blog to gather like-minded people to help me design and build this machine. Please join the discussion below if you want to participate and use the machine. Please tell us a little about yourself, your expertise, what interests you about this project, etc. I will be raising issues/problems to be resolved with most of my post. If you have a possible solution, please share it here.
I’m not sure where this will lead to but I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you.