miniCNC

For more info, documentation and progress on this project, please visit: http://www.repairablemachines.com

Repairable machines is a project at timelab  to develop our own computer-controlled manufacturing machines.

Our first brainchild is the miniCNC. It is an desktop-size, open-source milling machine in kitform, built from lasercut parts. It is basically a computer-controlled Dremel with a 20 by 20 cm work surface. We own a small Roland milling machine and didn’t like the fact that you could only put small pieces of wood  inside the machine to work on. Our miniCNC has an open floor, so you can pick up the small machine, put it on a large table and mill out a logo, a 3-dimensional shape or a poem. It can do so in wood, plastic or aluminum.

The challenge in this kind of project is that your machine will only work well if it is very accurately put together. This is difficult to do by hand.

By basing our design on accurate, lasercut MDF parts, we succeeded in copying the accuracy of our lasercutter into our new machine. You can assemble our machine by fitting together the parts, not unlike meccano,  without needing a level or measurement tools.

We own a number of Makerbots, which we built ourselves from kits. These open-source 3D-printers were an important inspiration for our own project, so now we’ve published our own machine under an open-source license.  The plans for  the machine, the documentation and the parts list are all online and available for free.

We’ve also started production on a first series of kits, containing all the parts to build your own computer-controlled Dremel. We wrote up documentation and an assembly manual. Using these you can build a working machine from kit parts in  a single weekend.

You can find plans, documentation, updates and all information on the miniCNC at the project’s website:
http://www.repairablemachines.com

Why are we interested in doing this?

Computer-controlled manufacturing machines are not new, they’ve been around in industry for decades. Self-built CNC-machines are not new either, you can find dozens of documented designs for milling machines online.

However, for the longest time they’ve been the exclusive terrain of specialized engineers.

Likewise, in the early days of the web, you needed to be an IT’er to build a website. You had to write code by hand. Over time the tools and tutorials to make webpages became easier and more accessible. Flash, Dreamweaver and wordpress made it possible for graphic  artists, musicians and journalists to put their own idea of a website online. At that point, amazing, interesting and beautiful things happened.

Today the same is happening with robotics, computer-controlled machines and electronics. Website like Instrucables.com and tools like Arduino are game changers. Graphic artists are creating graffiti robots, musicians are building laser harps and synthesizers, Photographers are hacking digital camera’s into weird personal tools. Food geeks are constructing their own thermostatically controlled sous-vide slow-cookers.

At the point where a new set of tools crosses over into different disciplines, amazing things happen.
We think this is all very exciting, and consider  this little machine as our business card. Not as a finished machine, but as a hackable, adjustable, scalable, upgradeable tool for you to abuse.

Why call the project RepairableMachines?

The Makerbot is one of the most successful open-source hardware projects. Last year the machine got written about in just about every design magazine around.
A lot of the times the project has been summarized as “a DIY 3D-printer for less than 1000 euro”.

We think the relevance of open-source goes beyond free software or low-cost hardware, and don’t like seeing it reduced to that. Opensource software t like Openoffice has always been presented as a free alternative for Microsoft Office that’s a bit less powerful.

 We’re more ambitious than that. We think, rather than offering you a cheaper machine, we can offer you a better one. A machine with a longer life span, that is better upgradeable and easier repaired.

Basically, we’re tired of having to buy a new phone every two years because the battery failed and it can’t be replaced. We’re tired of buying electronics that cost more to have them repaired than to have them replaced. We’re tired being told to buy the newer, faster, bigger, brighter TV and throw the old one out. We liked our old TV, that lasted for 15 years and had the disassembly instructions glued to the inside of the housing. 

One day we might stop supporting our machines as well. But you’ll still be able to get spare parts for them, as we published our list of suppliers. And as the plans for the machines are available online, someone else will be able to take over the development and updating of the machines.
Our machines can break down as well. But because you have built the machine yourself, you will have an understanding of how the machine fits together and you’ll have the knowledge to repair it. You’ll be able to take it apart with a regular screwdriver and a set of pliers, and replace the broken part.
We’ll keep improving our machines, and hope other people will do so too. Only, we won’t pitch you the new 2012 model, but show you how to replace the modified parts on your old machine. Because the design is modular and made from flat MDF panels, the machine can be easily adjusted or upgraded.

Open-source hardware isn’t about doing things on the cheap. It’s about treating people  as intelligent, capable, participating users rather than as stupid consumers that needs to be told they’ll void the warranty when they pry open the secret no-open screws.

My old walkman had 2 AA batteries. Took all of 30 seconds  to replace those.