A Maker by the name of SilverJimmy may have already had a full-sized 50 watt laser cutter, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to design something smaller and microcontroller-driven.
Enter the MicroSlice, which HackADay’s John Marsh describes as an adorable little engraver.
“To keep the design simple, SilverJimmy opted for a fixed cutting table, which meant moving the cutting head and the X-Axis as a unit along the Y-Axis,” Marsh explained.
“The solution was to take inspiration from gantry cranes. He snagged a couple of stepper motors with threaded shafts, designed the parts in Inkscape, then fired up his full-size cutter to carve out the pieces.”
The MicroSlice’s bottom platform includes an Atmel-powered Arduino Uno (ATmega328) and the relays for the laser and fans, while two EasyDriver motor controllers sit above them on the next layer.
Interested in learning more about SilverJimmy’s tiny Arduino laser cutter? You can check out the project’s official page on Instructables.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 