I am here investigating build me a CNC to make wooden molds for me thermoforming machine, I just finished my second thermoforming machine, I have built, old one was 22 by 45.
The new one is a 4 by 4 shuttle machine.
First part off it shown here.
A 2 by 4 machine will be perfect for my molds. Best option??
The only thing I see being an issue is the depth of cut. So if you cut out your bottom pattern and then add the side walls after the fact, either machine will work. Since you are working with molds you can build a smaller MPCNC and just connect the parts. That allows for some different combinations and faster milling.
I have to show my buddy he loves looking for gold!
Lowrider would be cheaper to build for this size, but only barely. I think the hardest part will be milling out your side drafts. That’s a lot of stickout for a really long endmill. The dewalt used for the lowrider can only use up to quarter inch endmills. You’d be looking at hours of watching it profile the sides with a ball endmill. I still think it would be faster(and a hell of a lot easier) to glue the top detail part to a lower draft angle piece. Even if you did the top say, 2 inches in solid oak then glued that to another 2 inch oak piece, then run it through a table saw to give you a draft angle, that’s going to make the machining waaaaay easier on the machine, and you. Wood glue will be stronger than the wood. Basically look at the highest point in your riffles, and the lowest point in the trough, then add that together, then add an eighth inch for safety and clearance. That’s the length of endmill you need to be working with. The longer the endmill the beefier the machine needs to be to push it through material. I think my longest endmill is maybe an inch and a half long and a quarter inch diameter.