hey there, i was thinking about switching to the primo j 25.4 in canada. My question is if i use the 1" od pipe with 1/8 wall, can i make a bigger machine (let’s say 24"x48") that’s stronger, and more rigid that the 3/4 emt conduit machine?
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I.am using 1" steel with my Primo, 25x37" cutting area.
If you are careful with the CAM it can work, but will be limited for what materials it can cut and where it can cut them. You may find that near the middle it flexes under load and your accuracy decreases, so it depends on how accurate you need the machine to be.
Mid-span supports on the rails can help with sag, but the gantry rails can’t be supported., and will flex. This is a geometric progression so every mm increased span has a greater effect on rigidity than the previous one.
24x48" (really 48" on any span) is into the LowRider territory for size. If that is the target cutting size, a LowRider is probably a better fit.
That said, I have been quite happy with my 25x37" Primo, but I only seldom use the long span to its full length, and I am very careful with the CAM when I do.
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they will bow even tho im using 1" od tube with a 1/8th thick wall? thats pretty heavy duty for this application
Take a 5’ length of that tube, and you’ll see that it’s actually pretty easy to flex it in the middle with just your hands. consider the force that the router puts on the tube in the middle when it’s being pushed through wood or anything harder, and it’s not difficult to see that it doesn’t take much for it to flex.
I see this as the gantry tube vibrating a mm or so sometimes when plunging, or cutting small circles near the middle of the long axis, and I’ll get a somewhat oversize hole with rough edges, or a cut with a rough corner.
so im better off smaller machine on 3/4 emt conduit?
how big should a machine like that b
It does depend on what you want to do.
1" steel will still be more rigid, but of course more expensive. 24" or so as a naximum cut area size is pretty safe, and people are making some pretty impressive cuts in harder materials with that.
My LowRider has an X span of about 47.5" and 72" of Y rail, so a cut area about 38" by 62" I think. I don’t need that much, so it’s not important to me what the actual total cut size is. I used 1" steel for the X rails, but only because I already had it. The LR is also capable of some good work. Because I have it, my plan is to cut the Primo down for use with aluminum and smaller hardwood projects.
I’m just about to get my tubes cut at metal supermarket, I have 1" OD with 1/8 ID stainless.
I’m going for about 25" x 13" cutting area and hoping to do wood and aluminium.
Should I think about a last minute reduction in my cut lengths?
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