Excited to share my passion project from the past year, the Compass Handheld CNC Router. It’s a portable, open-source tool designed to bring precision cutting to your fingertips, perfect for those who want flexibility and control without needing a large CNC setup. After a lot of development, I’m excited to finally share it with the world!
For all interested, here’s the GitHub repo! It’s still very much a work in progress, but you’ll find everything you need to build yourself a router and get cutting - 3D printed parts, PCB design, firmware, etc. Check it out and let me know what you think! Happy to answer any questions.
Hey! It was fun to talk with you and see your machines at Open Sauce. I’m glad you decided to pick an open source license (or three). This is very cool and I hope it gets legs.
There was a demonstration at open sauce of it drawing a diamond/parallelogram/rhombus shape. They had it using a pen. But once you started it, it would lower the Z. As you moved forward and backward, it would move the X to draw straight lines for the rhombus pattern. IIRC, it also had an arrow on the screen to help you know which direction to push it.
It doesn’t have a Y axis (or what we would call a Y axis). So the designs need to be split into horizontal and vertical pieces. Then you have to run the machine two ways.
Instead of a full computer and a camera/dominoes that the shaper origin uses, this uses optical mouse sensors. It is a very clever solution IMO. I wanted to try making an open source shaper origin. But the idea of making the computer vision odometry system is daunting when talking about an open source project. This is a geeat way to sidestep that issue and get something functional enough to share without a big development team.
Yes, exactly!! Thanks for the wonderful explanation Jeff. You covered pretty much everything. If you want to learn some more about the inner workings @RockinRiley, there are more details on the project page.
And yup @Tokoloshe it’s the same exact concept as a Shaper, except without the tape
Yupp, thanks for linking that. The aluminum is the most expensive part of the project at the moment. I’m tryna workshop some 3D printed alternatives to those pieces at the moment, though. Lot’s of it is unnecessary. I had access to a metal laser cutter and lots of free metal during the initial prototyping lol
Looks like a neat project. 100% 3D printed sounds cool for reaching lots of people. Alternatively, less reach, but more design options would be partial printed and CNC’d. More complex parts means more kit sales for Compass🙂
If partial CNC design, then, would HDPE, Polycarbonate, Acrylic or other common Home Depot/Lowe’s stocked materials be an option? E.g. Waxed plywood/MDF plate.
What would MacGyver do? Assuming he also has access to Amazon prime shipping… Maybe there’s common material that can be repurposed, for example, a commonly sold Alu pre-drilled printer bed plate?
Ahhah I love the what would MacGyver do thought experiment. Gets the creativity flowing. Maybe a 3D printed base reinforced with aluminum tubing? Or t-slot?
I could see acrylic or a similar material working for the base. That would allow for laser cutting too which should be easier for a lot of people. The main constraints for the material are really just stiffness and durability. If that makes more sense for someone, it’s worth a shot.
Another alternative is to order the aluminum pieces in bulk if the interest gets high enough. It should be possible to get the base plate (which is the most expensive and trickiest to replace) for around $10 or less, depending on the order quantity.
Curious if the open source Maslow 4 glass fiber polycarbonate molded base plate could be used as-is, or slightly modified? Maslow CNC folks are raising funds for their 4.1 update likely figuring out part quantities to order for the next batch/release…
Replacement sleds are sold for $25, but actual fabrication cost is way way less (vaguely recall < $5, they can confirm).
Totally understand they have to price at a point that helps cover initial design, mold forms and individual packaging/shipping .
Sharing incase this sparks design ideas/mods for Compass and/or Maslow 4 mods, or partnership ideas even…
Hmm, probably not, Compass needs to move router relative to hand held parts, which isn’t possible with a sled with a hole for router bit. Sled needs to have a slotted/larger hole to slide router, or, the handheld handles will need to move relative to the sled, no idea if that’s possible given how the optical sensors work (i.e. XY gimbal stabilizer). Any how… They seem to like glass fiber polycarbonate, but seems brittle if molded too thin. Consider chatting with Bar if you haven’t already.
Oh yeah that brings up some interesting ideas. The sled design as it is would definitely still need to be modified for the routing slot and sensor holes, but it makes the idea of a fully plastic base seem more plausible. Albeit theirs is composite, but it’s worth a shot. I’m building out a new machine right now so I might as well try a quick 3D printed base design for it and see how it goes.
Well last night i just saw firsthand how easy 1/4" aluminum cuts on the lr4! So i can see how you could make it really easily!!! I cannot imagine you would need more than 1/4
I have so many questions, but I will hold back and just follow along for a while. I really hope someone builds one with you soon. I won’t have a chance until Feb or March.
