Hi Robert, I am hoping that with the right bit and the rubber rollers we should be able to engrave on aluminum. But I am not even sure how you would cut it or what bit you would use. I am sure you would have to take your time and step it. This would be a good show for the PhlatLAB to see if it could be done. We are going to build the first set of rollers as soon as they get here (tomorrow we hope) and they will have the grip for the foam. The next set will have the rubber covers and that should be cool to see all the new materials we can feed through.
Mark and Trish

 

Today I go the z axis working (Phlatcat chewed the wires) and then hooked up the rollers we were wanting to test and they work good, but I know the new ones will be leaps over these. I just had to get the machine running to work on finalizing other details of it. Today I did a 3D carving of half a harrier jump jet and it came out cool! I have done most of the modifications to allow for the larger new rollers. When the actual rollers get here I will need to get the measurements and double check that everything will work, so it just a matter of time before we have them in and running.
Mark and Trish

 

Jeff that was a small test to see how it would look.
I just got some 2" blue foam. I am going to try and carve both sides in that one and glue them together. I should have it to show you guys on the next PhlatLAB show. The one you saw is small about 2" wide because it was the last scrap I could find of thick foam in the house Now that I have the new foam we should be good to go.
Mark and Trish

 

Sounds good Jeff
Sorry about the scare
Mark and Trish

 

We want to give you an updated on the status of the Phlatprinter. Right now, we are waiting on the new drive rollers to be delivered. We have ordered two sample parts and we hoped we would have received them by now. After some research, we found that they were shipped today, ground. They are scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday. This long holiday weekend would have been perfect for us to devote our time to incorporating and testing these parts but everything happens for a reason and we are going to keep a positive outlook on this unexpected delay. We really have high hopes for these rollers and are excited by the amount of customization that will be available for them through different roller covers that are readily available. This should allow us all to experiment with and expand our material capabilities. This is our last major hurdle in the design process. From there, we will dial in our parts list as some parts have changed and will change with the new drive roller. Then, record and edit the build log and start shipping!!!!! We'll keep at it guyz and do everything we can to get this exciting project to all of you as soon as possible. We can not wait!!!! Thank you for your continued patience, support, and help along the way.

Mark and Trish

 

We worked in the Phlat Shop yesterday and got everything (almost everything ) clean and organized. This is going to help a lot when production begins.

 

So true

 

It's getting closer!

 

they should be here tomorrow and we can't wait!
Mark and Trish

 

We are excited too. We were really hoping they would arrive a day early but it didn't happen We are looking forward to tomorrow!!!

Mark and Trish

P.S. We worked out in the Phlat Shop some more and now everything is clean and in order. We can't wait to get started producing the Phlatprinter MK3!!!!

 

Sorry for the delay Yoram
Right now they are, we hope someday to bring back the MK1, but that will be a ways off if it happens. We have to keep moving forward and improving when and where we can.

rcflyboynj, as much as we wish we could, you know we would

Mark and Trish

 

Here is the latest pic of the Phlatprinter 3. We just updated phlatboyz.com and are now accepting orders!!

Thank you,

Mark and Trish Attached files

 

Looks awesome!

It seems like the wording would look better with forward slashes or straight up and down slashes instead of back slashes. It really doesn't make a difference to me though. I'm loving the fan cover, but why wouldn't I. :mrgreen:

edit:
I was thinking about it a little more after seeing a pic of the MKII in the header and decided to play a little with it in Sketchup.
Just another idea... No need to change it Mark, I thought I'd just throw it out there. Attached files

 

Update
The Phlatprinter 3 now uses precision bearing for the drive rollers and we have upgraded the axle to a 7/16 hex rod as well! We experimented with the standard bearings and although they work fine they were noisy and had a little play. This should be a huge improvement in the over all performance and longevity of the machine that we can all appreciate. Attached files