I’ve been getting some positive feedback and requests to sell wood, hardware, and electronics kits for the Mantis CNC PCB Engraver which is awesome. I got enough that I decided I am going to go ahead and do that! I have my Mantis working now and ready to start fabricating PC boards for model railroading electronics projects, several model railroading molding projects and a bunch more stuff but that got me to thinking about the build process and all of the shortcomings and gotchas I ran into – I started thinking about all the things I would improve to make the machine more functional for what I want it to do – make all sorts of model railroad pike stuff, buildings, figures, PC boards, control panels, etc… I’m not knocking the Mantis and David Carrs design in any way at all – it’s a great little machine and I am very thankful for all of David’s hard work but I feel some changes needed to be made to make the machine more functional for us model railroaders, especially if I am going be selling these to the community in kits along with documentation, plans, etc… I’d really prefer that the design be a little more personalized and the best it can be. So I am breaking the design off on a new tangent. Here’s how I got started on this path.
A little while ago I began modeling the Mantis in 3D to begin creating exploded diagrams, documentation, etc…in anticipation of offering kits for the original design. Subsequently, I have taken that model and began making some of the changes I had in mind and I am now proud to announce that coming to a TrackHacker online store near you (as soon as I get one up on the website), the FabricationStationTM A versatile, desktop CNC Engraver/Router perfect for making all sorts of model railroading models, molds, panels, PC boards, nameplates, and way more (perfect for almost any small sized, non-model railroading projects too). I am still working on the design and refining it so it will be a little while until I am ready to launch but I wanted to let everyone know that I have been working on it and am getting ready to sell engraver kits. Some of the improved features of the FabricationStation that are more or less done at this point are more Y axis travel, a larger Y table bringing the maximum engraving envelope in the XY axes to ~ 5 inches square, raised Z axis to accommodate the sacrificial table and more finger room under the engraving bit, more overall Z travel for engraving objects taller than a PCB, removable mounting (no epoxy!) of the stepper motors (including that funky Z axis motor glued to the back of the Z axis table), table guide rods, table bushings, and drive nuts meaning less overall epoxy and fewer chances to gum up your leadscrews and/or rods and most importantly the tables will come apart for maintenance! Some additional improvements that are more like upgraded hardware or additional accessories are removable leadscrews that don’t require permanently epoxying them to the stepper motors, optional mount for a Dremel in place of the low-cost spindle, optional spindle area lighting (it can be hard to see under the spindle), optional FabricationStation base with sliding electronics drawer that includes active cooling, removable motor connectors, and a storage drawer for bits, wrenches etc…! How cool is that? 
One other major update that is a little further off but, I think, crucial to getting the FabricationStationTM to take off is a combination opto-isolated USB breakout (no more clunky parallel port shenanigans) and 3-axis stepper driver board. I think small CNC machines everywhere have been screaming for this? I am in the works on designing a compact 3-axis driver board (capable of driving 1 – 2 amp NEMA17 steppers) but that includes a breakout on the same board complete with limit and e-switch inputs, jog inputs, opto-isolation to protect your PC, choice of external or USB power, and more! I am figuring to have the FabricationStationTM GEN2 USB CNC Driver board ready by mid-February. We’ll see.
At the top of this post is small glimpse at the upcoming FabricationStationTM
I realize that this picture isn’t too exciting and doesn’t look much different then the Mantis but trust me, it is. Since exporting the picture, I have subsequently begun work on improving the whole stepper motor, table rod, and table bushing mounting methods which isn’t shown here (I have to leave some things secret 
). Anyrate, keep checking back often because things are going to start progressing rapidly. I will also post a schedule of sorts in the Coming Soon! Page
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Wow, so big article, thanks for hard work!
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I love the idea of an upgraded control board — USB + opto-isolation makes it so much cheaper (no need for a separate computer just for control.) Glad to see this is becoming a reality! Also, I just realized that with the right bits you can totally use it as a mini-CNC router for wooden parts for miniature modeling in addition to CNC routing.
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Craig Bickford Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Me too! I think the entire DIY CNC community would love to see a USB 3-axis driver and breakout all-in-one board. It really fits with the “desktop” nature of the Mantis and upcoming FabricationStation. Really a CNC PCB engraver is nothing but a CNC router. The Mantis with it’s size limitations could only route small objects – thin bucks (positive wood pieces) for casting molds for making resin pieces, small pieces of wood, nameplates, glass, etc… but it’s still got more capability then JUST PC boards. The FabricationStation will have a lot more vertical (z-axis) clearance and movement which will allow for various types of sacrificial tables, clamping fixtures etc… but most importantly, the ability to machine objects that aren’t 1/4″ thin. Plus I am currently designing an optional Dremel holder to replace the current low-cost spindle pieces to give the FabircationStation way more power and versatility. I can’t wait to build one myself! Thanks for the feedback!
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This is very interesting. Keep up the good work trainhacker. Bookmarked.
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Any update on when these might be available? Thanks!
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