CNC Laser Engraver

Affordable X-Y gantry laser engraver composed primarily of laser-cut/3D printed parts.

FILM · CNC Laser Engraver

My partner and I designed and fabricated a CNC Laser Engraver with an emphasis on being as affordable as possible. The project was the class final project for DESINV23: Creative Electronics and Programming.

I started by researching gantry systems, moving forward with an X-Y gantry system. I sketched out designs that utilized laser-cut parts as much as possible.

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 1 — **FIG. 01** · CNC Laser Engraver

Once I had a suitable design, I created a CAD model of each part, creating a full assembly to see the tolerances and fitment of each component.

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 2 — **FIG. 02** · CNC Laser Engraver

Once the CAD model was complete, I moved to the prototyping phase. The only part that required redesigning was the gantry sliders, as I honed down on the smoothness of the sliding mechanism.

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 3 — **FIG. 03** · CNC Laser Engraver

The next step was to laser-cut the rest of the parts and assemble them, which surprisingly went very smoothly with little component redesigns.

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 4 — **FIG. 04** · CNC Laser Engraver

Finally, my partner set up the Laser Engraver software "GRBL" on our Arduino Uno board and calibrated the movement of our system. We had a working CNC Laser Engraver!

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 5 — **FIG. 05** · CNC Laser Engraver

CNC Laser Engraver, figure 6 — **FIG. 06** · CNC Laser Engraver