I’m planning my MPCNC build, this will be my first CNC machine after playing in the 3D printing world for a couple of years now. I’m fairly space-limited in my garage, so have been looking at things like a table that flips 90 degrees when not is use, like the one from Fisher’s Shop (Woodworking: Making Fisher's Mobile Assembly Table - YouTube)
Question I have is, does this introduce any complications in terms of setup or accuracy? Ie. do you have to run any sort of calibration or check after the CNC has been stored at a 90 degree angle? I would think/hope that if everything is fastened down tight/correctly, that it wouldn’t be an issue, but not sure.
It shouldn’t cause a calibration issue, provide that the legs of the machine aren’t moving relative to the work surface, so if the whole machine and work surface tilts together, you should be fine.
When the motors are unpowered, the gantry moves fairly easily. so you’ll want to make sure that you “park” the machine where the gantry won’t fall. You will not want the machine to be inverted. Gravity is the main thing keeping the Z axis seated, and if inverted, it could come out and get damaged. Similarly if it’s on its side, you’ll want to be a little careful moving it.
The belts are oriented vertically when the machine is in its operational. I’d recommend a cover over them when stored if they’re going to be flat. Dust on the belts can introduce accuracy error. (I think this was one reason for changing them. The old versions used to be horizontal.)
Several people have built tilting tables for the Primo and LowRider both for storage when not in use. This hasn’t yet been an issue for me, but I’m doing some home repairs, so my machines are getting plenty of use. I had both the LR and Primo running last weekend.
If you are looking for even more inspiration and also some discussion on the problems to solve when tilting a machine like this etc you might be interested in watching this very well-built wall mounted fold-up MPCNC. Maybe it fits your garage or you can combine it with a cart/wheel/thing:
That is a very cool video. I wish I had the wall space available to do something like that. I will most likely make a rolling table that can fold/rotate 90 degrees when stored.
