Lego CNC/Laser Cutter

 This is a Lego Mindstorms based CNC/Laser Cutter. It has a DC-motor with a drill bit for engraving or a magnifying glass for going out in the sun and cutting paper or thin foam core. It was not design to be a super accurate CNC/Laser Cutter and does not use stepper motors but instead uses mindstorms servo motors. For electronics I used the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT brick and programmed it in the original software but i plan to to program it in NXC and have it engrave the words LEGO. if you like this project please comment and rate my project , thank you .

Comments

[Poppy Ann]

A good use of lego well done.

[cwillard1]

wow great idea! im going to build one myself..but programing this must be a pain.

[Mateo JCF]

Im doing to do the same thing too.

[MakeItWithJason]

Lego NXT is one of the most revolutionary products that nobody buys. Along with the Technic clocks, you can build robust systems. Thanks for posting. Hope you'll check out my instructables. Right now, I'm building a CNC--and I have one for building a sword.

[thewelltemperedguitar]

So where is the laser?

[Timothy95]

As he mentioned above, It uses a magnifying glass. No laser.

[jnesselr]

Not a bad design at all. I wish there were more pictures so I could see how the axis work. I created a 3d printer/plotter for the contest too: https://www.instructables.com/id/Lego-3D-printerplotter/

If you can, I'd like to see you put up an instructable for this. It's pretty neat. Also, having it mill something would be nice too. Maybe a small block of wood or something. I hope they give away more than one makerbot like they did in the makerbot challenge (They gave 5 instead of the 3 they were going to) because I think you are like me, and love makerbots and cnc machines.