Maslow4 Is a Compact and Affordable CNC Router That Can Handle 4×8' Plywood Sheets

CNC routers are very useful tools, but conventional machines are both large and expensive. A standard CNC router needs to be larger than the sheets of material it cuts, so you can expect a machine that cuts full 4×8' sheets of plywood to have a footprint of at least 5×10' and weigh in at several hundred pounds. The table alone is expensive and that is before you factor in the high cost of the kinematic system. To dramatically reduce both the size of the machine and its cost, the Maslow4 CNC router takes an innovative approach.

Maslow4 is available right now through Kickstarter. Its creator, Bar Smith, was seeking $197,000 in funding, but the campaign has already raised over $400,000 and it still has a month left. Almost seven years ago, Bar Smith successfully launched the original Maslow CNC router through Kickstarter and fulfilled all backer rewards. They took what they learned from that machine and campaign, then applied that to the new and improved Maslow4.

This is a type of cable robot, which means that it hangs from cables instead of riding on conventional rails. There are two big benefits to this design: it is far more compact and it is far more affordable. The Maslow4 is only about a foot in diameter and is light enough for a person to easily carry. Users do need to anchor the cables and those will cover a large area, but that can be mostly vertical. That is also temporary, so it doesn't take up shop space when it isn't in use.

But there are downsides to this concept. First, because of the nature of the kinematic system, you can't expect as much accuracy from Maslow4 as you can from a conventional machine. It will also struggle to cut perfectly straight lines. Second, it has less range in the Z axis (1.9") and that means it can't handle very thick material. However, neither of those is an issue for most use cases. People don't usually need perfect accuracy from their CNC routers and they tend to cut relatively thin sheets of plywood.

Maslow4 is an open source project that self-hosts its own interface that you can access from any Wi-Fi-enabled device. It accepts standard GRBL g-code files that you can create with whatever software you prefer. To use a Maslow4, you will need to source your own DeWalt DWP611 handheld router to act as the spindle. Everything else is included in the standard reward package. Assuming you have the space to mount the cables, Maslow4 can handle material up to 4×8' at speeds up to 100 inches per minute.

If you want a Maslow4 CNC router, the Kickstarter campaign runs until August 31, 2023. Backers can get a kit for $525 and rewards should arrive in December.