I’ve just started design work on incorporating a sharpie within the M4 assembly. The rough plan is that it is going to be a 3D printed and spring loaded design with a mini sharpie. I am still working on the design and will continue to share as I make progress on it.
Nice! I was thinking of doing the same thing!
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Initially looking like it will require a spacer on the bottom of the Maslow in order to give space. I should have more design time this evening to get more details added. Pieced together the Maslow assembly for his project
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If I had a mini on hand, I’d take a dremel to it and see if I could get it shorter without ruining it. Might be better that trying to add to the sled?
In regards to adding to the sled, plotting would potentially be on paper, and the sled could always damage that, so it might be good to have that riser be on casters, or something that lets it roll around rather than sliding.
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It took me a while to find one locally so a bit gun shy to modify it but I get what you’re driving at.
I do like the caster idea as well. I think I’ll try a sled first then casters if needed. I have a roll of butcher paper about 36" w x who knows how many feet which I would use so the paper could always be oversized and cut later. For smaller pieces wheels would be better.
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Here’s how it is coming.
A 3 piece design which would be screwed together with a single spring to press the sharpie down. It would get squeezed with the router to keep it stationary.
Upright position
3D
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Would the router z height be what controls contact with marker and plot surface, or would the router be stationary and just hold it still?
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Router would still control z height, the spring load is just to ensure the tip of the marker isn’t smashed with overpressure. So in between lines you would liftoff 0.2" to ensure you dont leave a mark instead of 0.1" with a traditional bit but I see that doesn’t work with the current design … more work needed.
Perhaps have it threaded onto the router stock to give z control?
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I love the idea but don’t love that it looks like I’d have to disassemble the sled dust shield and reassemble to install the pen. Mounting in the collet seems like the best way to go. What about a design where the top of the pen holder has the router collet integrated (and so to install the pen you remove the router collet and thread the pen on instead)? That would hopefully give it enough lateral support while making it easy to install and remove.
I created this sort of pencil holder that fit into the router. Works like a charm when checking for any deviations after the calibrations.
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The cad for the dust shield has the whole diameter incorrectly too small so in the process of fixing it and resharing the assembly for everyone but agreed with your points.
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Are you able to share any design or did you just wing it and build. ?
I also thought about using a ball point pen refill but trying to get the thick sharpie line for drawing if possible
Thanks
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Just a brainfart and build it… I made a “exploded” view picture of it… the pencil is a spare graphite core of a lyra deep hole marker.
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Thanks for the exploded view. Similar to what I wanted prior to switching from the pen to sharpie. Perhaps just a pen / pencil is more feasible.
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Nice design! I love the simple look of the end result.
I was just going to post a similar post when I saw yours 
EDIT: I was to quick, didn’t notice there where multiple ideas here 
I took a completely different route, great to see other ideas for the same result!
My take on a marker holder
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That looks really slick. I take it the metal parts were custom machined?
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We did this years ago and I just did it for my current cnc. We created a holder that was the size of the router and added the hole in it to hold a regular sized sharpie. We used a simple rubber band on to give you tension on the marker. I have used it over a hundred times without any issues. It’s simple and effective. You will also burn through the markers quicker than expected which is why the holder we made was great because you could swap it out in seconds. Just my two cents. Yours looks great though.
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Oops! Just said thank you! Looking forward to the sharpie holder!
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No worries.
Purchased a set of 6 mini ‘pill’ markers from AliExpress as those look to fit within the space below the router without any trimming required and are dirt cheap 6 for $1. Will update the design to accommodate once they arrive and I can measure.
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I did like this design and remember seeing it when searching. However, trying to integrate it below the router so it doesn’t have to be removed for ease of use.
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