Evil Mad Scientist, makers of Axidraw pen plotter acquired by Bantam Tools

bantamtools.com

2 pointscosiiine2 comments

That's interesting. I had an Axidraw plotter I liked though eventually built my own plotter because I needed a bit more versatility.

Perhaps there are competitors there now, but would love to see a hobbyist level machine with the convenience of 3d printers. I spent too much time with my plotter doing things like formatting svg's or manually homing the machine.

Axidraw's are pretty much plug and play, and the software support is outstanding with plugins for Inkscape along with a CLI and Python API. There's also Vpype, another piece of FOSS software that can make SVGs plotter friendly.

I believe the new Axidraw (teased on the Bantam Tools website and called the Nextdraw) has better honing capabilities. Seeing as how Bantam tools specialized in CNC mills, I suspect we'll see further improvements too.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com