CNC Router Drawing Robot Kit, Pen Plotter & Handwriting Machine，XYZ Plotter iDraw Hand Writing Robot Kit Open Source for Maker, Working Area A4

I have a need to add QR Codes to mats for framed photos and I aIso wanted to add return addresses to the backs of the envelopes that I use for correspondence cards. Looking through the options, this seemed like a good option to try. Assembly took no more than 10 minutes. There are lots of videos on YouTube that show how to put this together. The gantry that carries the Z motion and the pen slips on easily and is secured by 4 knurled nuts that are hand tight. Getting the software up and running took a bit of fiddling since the same software is used for several different Bachin products. My controller speaks GRBL 1.3b G-Code and one of the windows allows you to pass G-Code commands directly to the robot. This helped me get the software to the correct settings and check things out since I could manually send commands to the robot. Build quality is pretty good and I don't think I could build a robot for a lot less money and the time saved was worth the few extra dollars. My version of the Bachin software does have a QR Code encoder, but I opted to import my QR Codes as png files through GIMP so I can have more control over the size and the frame. This fits my needs so I give it a five but people who aren't comfortable with G-Code, stepper motors, limit switches etc... may struggle a bit. On the other hand, if you want to learn how stepper based CNC systems work with G-code, this is a straightforward platform to learn. If your patient, you will be able to get it to work.

UPDATE: It stopped turning on after about a week of use. Checked all the connections. They were kind enough to send me a replacement. The replacement was DOA. I've returned both for a full refund.Super easy to assemble. I wanted a robotic writer for my Christmas cards and letters to clients. This is super easy to assemble.The software is about 70% there.The drawings come out like a dot matrix printer. It just draws it horizontally line by line. Takes for ever. Not sure how to get it to plot out a drawing so it doesn't take an eternity to make a simple drawing. I suppose a CAD engineer can figure this out.The "handwriting" fonts it comes with are not good. It looks like it was done by a 5th grader. The software/website doesn't allow you to upload your handwriting. Perhaps it's a feature in future versions. All the documentation says to go to the company website and download the handwriting app for android. When you try, it doesn't exist - at least the app doesn't exist. Not on their website or on Playstore. So don't expect to see your handwriting or signature on paper with this.This product's documentation is poor. About what you expect for a Chinese company that is too cheap to hire westerners to write the instructions.You do have to calibrate the device to work with each page. Not 100% intuitive. It's taken me some time to figure it out. Being an American, I didn't have a metric ruler in my house. I would suggest you purchase one to help calibrate this device to the exact dimensions of your paper. The youtube instructions are wanting.A forum exists. You can't log in - the "create new user" has been disabled. There is no email or support link. If it doesn't work... too bad.

Coming from 3d printing and building a Voron 2.4, I wasn't expecting much of a learning curve. That wasn't the case but don't let that scare you. The documentation is non existent but the machine runs grbl 1.3a.20210424.The pen moves on the Z axis just like the print head on a 3d printer but it is inverted. Moving toward the bed is moving in the positive direction. I think some machines use the spindle commands to control the pen but that is not the case with this machine.The Z axis is spring loaded meaning that you can control the amount of pressure on the pen by pushing past 0. This also means that need to disable the step idle timeout with $1=255. Without that the spring will pull the pen back up as soon as the move finishes.

I returned this because i was not able to do the things i needed it to do. When i was using the software it comes with, the machine worked very well once it was dialed in.

I bought this machine because I have terrible handwriting. I thought the price was good and was able to set up and connect the machine easily. I want to be able to write cards, inscribe books, address envelopes, and write letters. It would be really great if the software were template based so that you could just click on the project that you want to create, (a greeting card, for example) choose the font you want, and the size of the characters you want, and then just hit "go" The font selection is absolutely terrible. There isn't one that I'd want to use in American business correspondence. If there were one clear, readable, cursive font included, one which you could change the size of the printing easily, that would help a lot. I don't want to sample my own terrible writing. I think the machine is slick and I'll keep working with it, but I don't feel it's meeting many of my expectations.