About

Goal: ShapeOko's goal is to design and build a fully open source (open hardware) 3 axis CNC machine that anyone can build for about $300. We're doing everything possible to design an easy to assemble, fully capable machine that will do it's part in both the open hardware and desktop manufacturing movements.

This wiki is designed to be the main source of information for the project. It's an open wiki with only simple registration required to edit pages. This is a community project and as such the community will be the main source of contributions to the pages. As you build your own ShapeOko mills, please help refine the assembly pages, update part descriptions, and of course add your mill to the Gallery pages!

Specifications

The work area is about 8" x 8" x 3.5". The X and Y work areas are calculated by taking the total length of the makerslide (375mm) and subtracting the width of the carriage (160mm): 375-160 = 215mm = 8.4 inches. It is quite straight-forward to scale up as has been discussed in the forum, and initially announced on Edward's blog post. There are a number of other documented upgrades as well.

The resolution of the X and Y axes is 277.778 steps per inch (~10.9 steps per mm). This was calculated using the Belt Calculators on [1], with the following inputs:

• The stepper motors are 400 steps per revolution, but 200 steps/rev will work as well. We're looking for at least 60oz/in in terms of power. Anything above that will work, anything below 60oz/in is untested.
• The belt is the MXL type, with a pitch of 0.08 according to the Belt Calculator page.
• The pulley has 18 teeth.

In full step mode, The resolution of the Z axis is 8128 steps per inch (320 steps per mm). The threaded rod (99055A125) has a pitch of 1.25mm, so one complete rotation of the stepper will move 1.25mm, and therefore each full step will move 1.25/400 = 0.003125mm. 1/0.003125 = 320 per mm. 320*25.4 = 8128 per inch.

Origin of the name ShapeOko

ShapeOko is named after the Shapeways 3D printing and the Ponoko laser cutting services. The initial design (pre-kickstarter) was based around services provided by both companies. It was really the availability of such services that gave the project legs. Precision manufacturing services enable regular everyday people the ability to create and produce extremely accurate parts. It's this low cost precision commodity manufacturing that enables projects such as ShapeOko to happen. Without these services, skilled handwork would be required. Drilling holes, cutting parts by hand, and measuring to levels not typically achievable by the average "maker".

KickStarter project

Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

On July 26, 2011, 125 backers pledged $11,078 toward Project ShapeOko, far exceeding the funding goal of $1,500.