Hello,
I live in the UK and parts for this kit are no so available. I was wondering if anyone has bought separate components and possibly alternatives to what is used?
I would like to make a smaller machine, or smaller cutting area anyway. 1 metre x 1 metre as a maximum. I mostly want to make templates for guitars and things of that size. The current frame is way too big for what I want. If I downsize would that effect the operation of the machine? I would like to make a frame that could pack up and move around easily.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Simon
I don’t have any suggestions for alternate components. If you can get a kit, a custom smaller frame will work, you simply adjust the work area size in the software and calibrate. I’ve done it for 1.2 M x 1.2 M and now 1.2 M x 2 M and it works fine and the working of the machine is not affected. You will want to make sure your beam height is high enough, the beam has enough length and the cutting area is high enough off the ground. If the beam is too low, top center of the cutting area has the chains too tight. if the beam is too short, then you will get terrible cut quality in the lower corners of your cutting area. Make the beam 1-1.2 M longer than your working width. If the cutting area is too close to the ground, you run the risk of catching your vacuum hose on something. Generally speaking, you can easily avoid each of these pitfalls.
keep an eye out for people selling thier kits in the sales section or on the 2 facebook groups. it will be much cheaper to get a used kit than trying to source all the components yourself
or buy one new, shipping to the UK is around $125 USA last time I checked. $725 total not too bad, but for a few hundred more you can get a gantry based cnc which might fit your smaller needs better
As far as I know, one of the original goals of the Maslow project was to bring large format cutting to the masses, while simultaneously avoiding the large footprint of a flatbed machine. While it’s most certainly possible to limit yourself to a smaller working area, if you really have a hard requirement on portability, the Maslow is likely not for you (IMHO). In that case, you might be better off with a gantry system as @Metalmaslow already mentioned. I guess it depends a lot on the question “how portable is portable?”
I’m based in Ireland myself. If interested, you can find some initial experiences - including parts + build + prices here. I purchased a new “2021 M2 Automated cutting machine kit - UK”.
Best of luck !
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