This is my build of the Wall Mounted Pen Plotter by @Stoli . I’ve had it functionally working for over a year, but I’m terrible at actually finishing projects but I finally finished the wood frame.
I built it as designed with a few modifications:
It’s smaller but it is not small. The useable drawing area is 550x625mm (roughly 22x24 inches). The largest part of the wood frame is roughly a meter square.
I have a separate WLED controller for the lights which I made custom mounts attached to the aluminum extrusion so the wood frame can be removed.
I made a holder for the roll. It doesn’t use a motor. Gravity keeps the paper from unrolling.
The sides of the frame is made out of birch plywood and the main part is cherry. I’ve been ad targeted for awhile for Rubio Monocoat. It looks good but I’m not entirely sure what I think of it (other than it’s expensive).
I shared the picture in another thread, but it was a request from my daughter, generated with AI, converted with DrawingBotv3, and drawn in 7 colors with Pigma Micron pens over a week and a half.
Originally, the power supply was mounted to the board but it made a bit of a high pitched noise, so I moved it to the basement and ran wires through the wall.
I learned a ton working on this project. This sent me down a whole wire connector journey. I love the pen changer and learned about M6 macros. It helped progress my 3D design skills. I learned more about what the Jackpot was capable of. It gave me some confidence to go try some other things out (like an Eggbot and whatever my weird desktop zen garden thing is). It was a fun build.
I’ll add some more details as I think of it but I am so happy with how this turned out. Thanks again @Stoli
Is that cherry bare? The grain is beautiful. If it is unfinished, it’s really going to pop when you put something on it. I still haven’t finished mine yet. It’s a condition I have. A process that can’t easily be undone… very difficult for me to pull the trigger. Anyways, I’ve seen that Rubio Monocoat as well. I think it costs more than the wood. They must have to extract the oil from some endangered tree frog in a South American rain forest. I’d be interested if you went that route.
Fortunately, the wood was free. My dad and grandfather have a collection of wood from trees they had cut down and run through a sawmill. It’s mostly red and white oak but there’s some cherry and walnut and some others too.
That’s finished with Rubio Pure. It has a really nice matte finish. I actually bought some SheenPlus to make it have more of a satin finish but both my wife and I liked it as is so I skipped it.
I bought some samples off their website to try before committing to it. They’re $2 each.
For the sides I used 5% White since Pure has a bit of yellow.
I feel better about my incredibly expensive cherry frame now that I see your before and after. I think the wood on my home plotter cost more than the rest of the machine combined. I like the matte finish. Wood needs just enough finish to show off the grain without making it look unnatural.
Yep. There’s a bit of a process to it but it’s not bad. I was a little stressed because I was doing both sides of the frame at the same time. I was putting it off because I was trying to sort out how I was going to do that, but in the end I just said screw it and went for it. There’s enough working time that it’s ok. I will say that while it says no VOCs, it definitely has a smell for a few days.
I’d be interested if you went that route.
