"REDUX" of Pen and Drag knife attachment for LowRider

LowRider CNC Hardware Development
1

UPDATE Oct 5, 2021:
NEW (version 2):

Heads up, folks. I liked the first remix (linked below), however…

  1. It protruded too far out in front of the router plate.
  2. Something bumped it (see #1), and it broke.

So I designed a new version, which mounts the pen/knife tool closer to the router plate.

Here’s the link to the new design:

OLD (version 1):

This is a remix of “LowRider CNC Pen and Drag Knife Attachment” by dwooder August 14, 2017. His is a brilliant design. Yet it seemed to attach to the router plate in a way that cannot work when there is a router and vacuum shoe in place. I wanted something that could attach the “original” MPCNC pen holder (link below) so that it could be left in place even while the router and vacuum shoe were in place, and of course this meant leaving space for the vacuum hose too.

Also, a nice design stroke in dwooder’s original is that it “angled the deflectors” that hold the pen so that they are turned so as to be symmetrical in alignment with the X axis. I took that one step further by offsetting them so the pen’s tip (writing nib) is centered along the Y axis.

In the screen shots above, highlighted in gold, you can see both the original LowRider 2 vacuum shoe part, and the original “Mostly Printed CNC -Add On- Pen Holder” by Allted June 06, 2016.

To be clear: the pen does not attach to this part. The pen attaches to Allted’s part, and his part attaches to this part. If you wonder why I did not merge his part and mine into one, consider the need for two parts based on how 3D printing works.

Links:

Mostly Printed CNC -Add On- Pen Holder by Allted June 06, 2016

“LowRider CNC Pen and Drag Knife Attachment” by dwooder August 14, 2017

Thread on this forum about the design by dwooder:

HOW TO ATTACH:

  1. Attach Allted’s Pen Holder to this part, using two (2) screws that are M4 x20mm, and two M4 nuts.
  2. Remove the lock nuts that hold on the vacuum shoe part shown in the screen shots. Hopefully the existing screws are long enough to accommodate this additional part. If not, replace those screws with longer ones. Put this part in place as shown.
  3. Reinstall the lock screws.

You should now be ready to use zip ties to attach a pen for drawing (or knife for cutting).

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

3 Likes
2

Heads up, folks. I liked the first remix (linked above), however…

  1. It protruded too far out in front of the router plate.
  2. Something bumped it (see #1), and it broke.

So I designed a new version, which mounts the pen/knife tool closer to the router plate.

Here’s the link to the new design: