Two Trees GRBL Drawing & Writing Robot Kit

The Two Trees GRBL robot kit is the budget end of the hobby, and it’s honest about it. This is a DIY drawing and writing robot you build yourself, running standard GRBL, that will happily push a pen around for very little money. I think of it less as a finished plotter and more as a kit for learning what makes plotters tick — and on that score it’s genuinely good value.

Build and assembly

Expect a real build. You’re assembling the frame, fitting the motors, routing belts, and wiring the controller, then squaring everything and setting the servo. The instructions get you there but assume some patience and a willingness to re-check your work. The frame is light, so it’s worth being fussy about how square and how tight everything ends up — that’s where your line quality comes from on a machine like this.

Pens, pen-lift and output

A servo pen lift handles raising and lowering, and it’ll take common pens and markers for both drawing and basic writing. Be realistic about results: the lighter, lower-cost build produces rougher, less repeatable lines than a rigid XY gantry. Slowing your feed rate, keeping plots smaller, and dialing in pen-down pressure all help a lot. You’ll spend real time tuning, and that’s part of the deal here.

Software and firmware

Because it runs GRBL over USB, it slots into the same open workflow as much pricier machines. Most people drive it from Inkscape with a plotting extension, or generate G-code from vpype. That openness is the kit’s best feature — nothing about your toolchain is proprietary, so the skills and files you build up carry straight over to a better plotter later.

Who it’s for

Buy this if the building and tuning is the point — if you want to understand steppers, belts, GRBL and pen-lift by living with them. If you mostly want clean ink on paper with minimal fuss, your money is better spent on an EleksDraw or an iDRAW. For the tinkerer on a tight budget, though, it’s a rewarding first machine.