Polar Drawing Machine Made with Simple Tools

It’s amazing the kind of things that people make with sophisticated equipment. However, if you only have access to fairly basic hand/power tools, you can still make something awesome. As shown in the Mr. Innovative video below, he was able to create a polar plotter using little more than a saw and handheld rotary tool.

The device uses a stepper motor to rotate its turntable via a toothed belt, along with a second belt section glued to it to act as external teeth. The second axis of movement is an overhead gantry actuated about by a second stepper/toothed belt. This belt pulls a wooden frame held on to metal rods with a pair of linear bearings. A pen and micro servo are attached to the frame, while the servo extends and retracts the pen’s ballpoint as needed for a proper picture.

More details on this Arduino Nano-controlled machine can be found here, and the coaster polar plotter that forms the basis for the build is available on this page.

Be sure to check out a demo and the build process in the video. Besides resulting in an device, a few interesting tricks are shown along the way. How the base is made to accommodate a stepper motor by simply cutting a notch in a piece of framing lumber at around 2:15 is especially clever.