it will be interesting to see if running it all the time makes it cake up with
dust faster, or leaving it off makes it cake up faster 
David Lang
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Already 460+ backers and $60K over the goal.
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Thanks to living in Timor-Leste I don’t have a card I can use for online purchases (my local bank does have a Visa credit card they issue, but it’s utterly useless).
Just before my old card expired I signed up with Wise (formerly TransferWise) - so I do have a US bank account I can pay for things with.
So put me down for 2 of them. And add that to the Kickstarter total …
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At the local makerspace, they have a 10’ wide roll up door in front of what used to be a spray booth, there is just about 12" between the two.
I’m currently thinking in terms of building a torsion box, 6’x10’ with arrangements to either hinge out (old style maslow) or have fold-down legs and detach (able to double as a massive workbench) I may go with something like this Galvanized Square Telescoping Tube | Square Splicing Tube in the corners to allow the anchors to get extended further out.
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Just added my pledge, thanks for your hard work Bar and team, really excited to see this come to fruition!!!
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Pledged as well. Have been a long time lurker since the original version but life kinda got in the way. Super excited.
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I’m thinking that I’ll probably make a special tool that locks the router spindle button, but I haven’t done it yet so I didn’t promote it. It’s one of those things that’s on the “This would make life easier, but it’s not critical so I’m going to work on it later” list
Make it a ‘stretch’ goal
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I went and bought myself a spindle to use with this. It has a body diameter of 52mm, and a fan at the end that’s 56mm in diameter.
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Background for those who remember me from years back: COVID-19 killed our robotics team (although many of the mentors were getting burnt out anyway), I got involved in other non-hardware projects, and I kinda drifted away from this community. So the Maslow 4 announcement came as a complete surprise! It looks great, @bar, so I’m in!
A few questions: it appears the belts reach pretty far beyond the corners of the 4’x8’ sheet. Could you rig it to cut a larger area? How about an area that isn’t 2:1? Rather than a frame, could you anchor the belts to a concrete slab?
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A few questions: it appears the belts reach pretty far beyond the corners of
the 4’x8’ sheet. Could you rig it to cut a larger area?
Yes, 4x8 needs ~11.6 ft belts, he is planning to ship 13’ or 14’ belts
How about an area that isn’t 2:1?
yes, the ratio doesn’t matter.
Rather than a frame, could you anchor the belts to a concrete slab?
Yes, Bar did just such a test in his driveway last week.
David Lang
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@bar a thought on the accuracy issue. you currently have two ‘frames’, one rock solid (pun intended) with the anchors in your driveway, and one that you know flexes significantly made from unistrut
It would be interesting to get a sheet of 1" foam and cut a grid on each side, one on each setup, put a bright light behind it and see how much error the flexing frame introduces.
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Of course we remember you! Welcome back!! 
@dlang already took care of all of the questions so I’m just stoked to say hi.
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I’ve been thinking about this and I’m not sure how to communicate this idea. You can absolutely do an area that isn’t 2:1…in fact the anchor points don’t even have to be in a rectangle they can be any shape. It’s hard to convey the idea that its really a ??x?? CNC not a 4x8 CNC…but every time I try to write that it comes out sounding confusing. Also I think that there are a good number of people who want smaller than 4x8 and that’s an option too. If you just want a 4x4 work area that’s totally OK…or if you want 5x5 that’s an option also.
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I’m stoked too! I have always loved the atmosphere of this community, with everyone supporting each other and a free flow of ideas.
I have had a Maslow kit sitting around, but with other commitments vying for my time, and a memory of how much time it took me to get the robotics team’s kit working, I hadn’t gotten around to putting it together. With the flexibility of the Maslow 4, I am anticipating getting back into the game.
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Is there a good place to find the Unistrut frame designs that I see in the kickstarter photos?
@bar Does the faster speed of the Maslow 4 change router bit recommendations? I’m a newb when it comes to routers and was looking at the various recommendations on the forums, but didn’t know if those recommendations would hold true with the faster feed speeds vs the original Maslow design.
Is there a go-to bit that you typically use?
What is amazing to me is just how many of the original M3 backers and early forum participants are coming out of hibernation to support M4.
Its nice to see that the interest is still there even after all these years and that the will to support @bar is so strong.
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Not yet, but there will be! I’m not sure I’d recommend this frame quite as designed. The unistrut has a little bit more flex to it than I’d like. Before we ship we will have clear instructions for a couple of different frame options that are tested and ready to go.
Yes and no. The router bits are generally actually happier moving faster, it helps keep them cooler to make bigger chips. I think that a lot of the information on the internet makes it sound more intimidating than it should be. Really the best way to see what works is to mess around with a bit of scrap wood. A lot of CNC stuff comes from the world of machining like precision titanium where I think the stakes are a lot higher. Don’t let them intimidate you! We’re doing our best to make it easy and fun.
In terms of favorite router bit I like the Maslow brand router bits 
. But that’s based just on the fact that they are cheap. We found that we could make our own and sell them for less than we could find them for sale and hopefully we’ll get those going again. My goto is a 1/4 inch two flute up cut bit, but I haven’t found there to be a huge difference between the options.
This is my favorite part too! It feels like we’re getting the band back together! I just talked to @Gero over in a YouTube comment! I am so excited!
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I had the same idea for a torsion box, made out of 2x4s.
Then add two layers of 3/4" plywood around it, leaving a 4’x8’ pocket in the middle. Thinking I’d leave a 3/4" thick sheet of OBS in the middle as a spoil board and then lay in whatever plywood I’m working on.
Not sure if it would be necessary to add a layer of plywood on the back, to increase stiffness. Also, since I kept seeing “at least 1’ of space around work area”, I was wondering if it would be better to go 18" and make the whole thing 11’x7’.
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If you have the room to go 18" I think it’s well worth it. Overall I think this looks like a beautiful design.
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