Hello everyone! New to the forum and wanted to show you the frame I designed for the Maslow CNC using 20mm Aluminum Extrusion. Although wood may have been the less expensive alternative, I wanted to the dimensional tolerance among all the structural pieces to be maintained. The reason for this was to ensure that the waste board and frame itself would be as square and flat as possible without the side effects of warped pieces of 2x4. Also, I did not have the tools for cutting wood like that and I wanted this design to be easily taken apart and semi transportable if moving from one home to another. I generated the design in Solidworks and is completely constructed out of Laser Cut 1/4” plywood, 3D printed parts and M5 Screws and T-Nuts. All the load from the weight of the components is transferred straight to the floor so there is no chance of components sliding down the rails over time. I still need to attach the brackets that will hold the project board/material to the frame during cutting, and print/obtain the components for the dust collection system, and finally cable management, but overall I’m very pleased and cannot wait to start my first project! Let me know what you all think!
That is a work of art. The most beautiful frame I’ve seen. It must have cost more than the M4!
Was there a reason why you did’nt go into the corners with the belts, not criticizing just wondered if there was a reason.
And it is a beautiful frame, very clean
Yes, the frame definitely was more expensive than the actual CNC 
There are a few reasons for this, the first being that I tried to mimic the dimensions of some of the anchors designed on the maslow shop, and obviously the plywood being used for the corner brackets is too thin. Secondly, the brackets that are currently in use have certain geometric features that allow for a quick connect pin to lock/unlock easily, something I could not get from a plywood bracket. At the moment now I am working towards figuring out the issue with relative belt height to anchor points. I don’t like that the belt is having to bend towards the anchor at such extremes. I’m thinking what I might do is make varying anchors of various heights away from the frame depending on the thickness of the material I am cutting from and recalibrate the machine upon every use.
It’s so satisfying to look at! So cool!
You shouldnt have to recalibrate if you’re just adjusting the z offset of the anchors from their lowest possible z offset to match the z offset of the surface of the workpiece.
For example, if you put a 1/2" thick workpiece on the spoilboard and added 1/2" spacers under your anchors to raise them on the posts by that amount, you shouldn’t have to make any config changes in software.
Someone is welcome to correct me if I’m wrong, but this was my interpretation.
True, but my anchors may be physically removed and replaced with different ones, requiring recalibration
what a beautiful build!
Update on this: I was having issues with running the calibration sequence as every time the machine would get to the highest point on the board, the sled would lift badly and not stay flush to the work surface. Initially I thought this was an issue with my anchor mounts, but after 3 design iterations nothing seemed to be fixing the issue.
Eventually I got the idea to test the angle of the frame relative to the floor and lo and behold, I found the issue: the frame was only at an angle of around 11-12 degrees. Checking the CAD file showed the frame was at a 14.8 degree angle, and I think it’s pretty odd that it would be so low as I remember starting the design telling myself I wanted it to be at 25 degrees. Anyway, after a redesign of some components and some new aluminum purchased for certain sections, I was finally able to get through the calibration and we are just about set to make our first cut!