They had a submission 8 years ago[1] but I came across the YouTube announcement[2] of their new 4.1 Kickstarter campaign[3]. It only seeks $16,000 of which they've currently raised $249,000 based in no small part that they've already shipped several successful releases, I'd guess
Their project is open source[4], GPLv3 for the on-device software and CC-BY-SA 4 for the cad files
1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12705546
2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5bZfNOZi-A
3: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maslow4/maslow41-access...
I saw something like this about ten years ago. It was vertical, instead of horizontal. The workpiece was set up on a big slanted easel, and the router unit was supported by only two cables, with gravity pulling it downward. The cable drives were fixed, rather than being on the cutting head, so the cutting head was just a router and a mechanism to push it away from the workpiece. Simple.
I backed the original Maslow and also the Maslow 4, and recently a 4.1 upgrade. The creator is a really dedicated guy and the Maslow is a great CNC for those who cut sheets goods from wood (though folks have adapted it to other materials) and are OK with some tinkering.
There is a decent sized community that supports the software as well.
How straight are its cuts? I've used traditional large 10'x5' woodworking CNCs and found them very challenging if not using them daily.
This is what it actually does: https://www.maslowcnc.com/about-maslow4
Aha, a plunge router attached to a Roomba j/k ;). That page is very helpful. Hard to say what it's good for unless you're a dedicated woodwork buff. Otherwise a jigsaw seems like enough for a lot of this.
I think it can do beveled and rounded edges plus do surface cuts* like for cabinent doors. And this will cut even edges, jigsaws are trickier for curves. *(likely wrong word)
Capabilities that would be most impressive with a jigsaw:
- 50mm of z-axis travel
- Cuts in the center of a 4x8’ sheet of material
- Repeatable cuts to a decent tolerance
- Cuts made while you sleep
Anybody know if there are any accessible large format 3D printers that have big nozzles? (Ie like >1mm)
I briefly looked but there were all crazy $$$ so curious if others know!
I wonder if it’s possible to have a purely portable system like this. So no cables, just omnidirectional wheels and maybe some wireless locators in the corner of the room. It would need to correct for wheels losing traction, slope etc.
What you are describing is the Goliath CNC:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2130625347/goliath-cnc-...
didn't really make it over the long haul.
The Shaper Origin seems more successful:
> The included power supply will work with 110-240 volts.
What about 100V for Japan?
I had no idea that was a thing - I guess the great thing about standards: so many to choose from :-(
That being said, to the very best of my knowledge (all 30 minutes of surfing around their project site :-D ) they only recommend the Dewalt routers, but I'd bet it would work just fine with whatever local router you could get at your Japanese hardware store that is already set up for 100V