Here’s some more testing I did last week:
It needed some support because I made my tabs way to thin 
Now I’m working on putting together a good looking one with carbon fiber parts so that it looks good on video:
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aaaaaaaand…… what were you cutting??
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Looks great! It seems that the original frame may easily be converted for the M4. I imagine the cable anchors are on the same plane as the motors.
Any issues with the sled lifting from cable tension, if the anchor height is off? Would achor height need to be adjusted for different thicknesses of material, or is it pretty forgiving?
What’s the max z travel depth? How difficult is tool change? The new sled would seem to have an impact on those.
Looks like you had a bit of z axis drag on the video.
It does look great and can wait to get on. Can we get a short comparison video of the original maslow vs M4 speed cutting the same thing?
I know you’re a busy man, appreciate everything you and all the guys smarter than me have done for this project.
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It was this coat rack that I built a long time ago:
I was just testing though. The particle board isn’t strong enough to make long thin things out of and have them last. I’ll make one from 3/4 plywood soon.
The anchor points are roughly in plane with the wood being cut so they pull the sled down against the wood. I guess if the anchor points were WAY off it might be an issue, but as long as they are reasonably in plane I think it should be OK. There is no need to adjust them for material thickness, but the math does take into account the Z-axis height when computing the belt lengths.
50mm or 1.9 inches
Kind of a hassle. I’ve got to work on adding a button in software to give you some slack on the lower belts or something to make it an easier process. There are a lot of “ease of use” type features that I haven’t worked on yet.
Yeah, I zeroed the z-axis right on the wood and the gcode file didn’t have any extra height in the moves between cuts. This gcode file was generated with a free CAD/CAM program that I’m working on, but it’s still pretty buggy and not quite ready for use. The machine did exactly what the gocde file told it todo, but the file could have been better (see tab widths too).
I actually don’t have a original maslow set up anymore, but the original could cut at 40 inches /min cutting speed. This was cut at 70 inches /min and the Maslow4 can do up to 100 inches / minute so its about 250% speed. I will absolutely get some real time cutting videos ASAP. The current sled design has a tiny window that is basically impossible to film through, but I’ve got one with a bigger window coming Thursday.
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Tool changes……. this is important.
How hard is it to remove the router from the carriage and re-install without upsetting the Z zero?
If we have to re-zero thats ok. It would be easier to tool change of we could easily remove the spindle.
Removing the router from the sled isn’t too hard, but it does mess with the z-height. Although if we are changing the tool we probably want to reset the z-height anyway. I’d like to be able to do tool changes without removing anything at all by accessing the router through the hole in the bottom of the sled. The tricky part is reaching in and pressing the button to lock the router from spinning, so I’m planning on making a special tool to hold the lock button during the tool change.
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Ive been setting my bits in the collet using a gauge that sets the tip of the bit relative to the the collet nut face. It saves me the trouble of having to re-zero between bit changes.
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The final version of the sled arrived today so here’s how everything will look in the final injection molded version:
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Awesome Bar
Please tell me that you’ll have help putting the kits together.
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Hannah is in Alaska for the summer 
… My buddy Roman is helping with the software and organization, but he’s in Kyiv so remote things only (I’ll make an introduction post for him soon). I’ll get some help in person when it comes time to start packing boxes.
I was working on some PID tuning today and recorded some video showing the real time speed. I didn’t have a bit in the router here (the router is on because the router fan doubles to cool the electronics), but you can get a sense for how fast 2,000 mm/min is compared to the original Maslow. And this isn’t even full speed!
Edit: The file that it’s running is a giant Maslow logo
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Ok, well I wasn’t prepared for the speed difference.
I need to start planning my frame modifications apparently.
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Looks great!!!
Earlier in this thread you mentioned a serial port for add-ons. Have you worked out zero touch, router on/off, or spindle speed control capabilities in the terms of hardware and/or software yet?
I’m getting really excited about this thing!
Nope! But there is an aux port that should be able to handle all of those things easily
pardon my lack of knowledge but what form is the aux port?
It’s a 4 pin JST XH connector with two IO pins, power, and ground right now, but I’m open to changing it around. Switching from the ESP32 S2 to the S3 gave us a couple extra pins so I might add a second one too
Just don’t release it too soon, I’m on vacation and won’t be back till Monday!! Can’t wait though! It looks great!!
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Hi Everyone,
I’m new to the forum, but have been researching CNC and the best options for getting started at a budget. I am I glad I found this thread!
It seems you are extremely thorough with your design @bar as well as responding to feedback. Since this is my first step into CNC, I am curious how much of the setup for M4, physical and software, will be supported with a guide, or whether it will be researching the answer through the rest of the forum and my own trial/errors. Not complaining, just genuinely not sure what the learning curve will be if I have never built an original Maslow, CNC, or used the software before. Thanks!
I’m chomping at the bit for the Kickstarter to start! I really do see this as a potential life-changer for me, to bring my ideas to life, build projects to improve my home, and find a new income stream (not many paramedics work long enough to build their pension, let alone max out). I was thinking an M1 would last me for the bare beginnings until I scraped up enough to construct a sturdier commercial setup. With all the detail in improving with the 4 belts, the modular portability, and the dialed in accuracy, I think your M4 would not be a starter, but a staple tool in my arsenal.
Thanks so much for your hard work, and dedication to open source industry. It’s very much appreciated more than it’s already been said!
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We will absolutely have both a written and video guide. It’s also quite straightforward to assemble (no tools or special skills needed). If you do have any questions though, we’ll be here to answer in the forums.
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After four years of participating in this forum I can honestly say that this is an understatement. If you post a question here. It will get answered.
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It’s a tough job, for sure. I told prospective students it was a job to either begin or end your career with, I did the latter for 15 years. I only retired because I coded at work…