My main aim is to
- Accomodate cuts at least as large as 36" by 24"
-Cut 3/4" plywood in square or rectangular shapes and sizes
-Cut acrylic pieces(also likely to be square and rectangular shapes)
-Optionally and hopefully be able to mill aluminum but this is not crucial at the moment
Will a 1m by 1m size cause the router to lack accuracy and cut very slowly? I don't want to have to spend a couple hours of noise just to cut a single rectangular piece of size 36" by 24"
I haven’t read through all the many back posts that debate size constraints, but from what I have read and what I experience, having a larger build for MPCNC has issues. I am able to do 32" x 32" but I haven’t pushed into harder woods or aluminum. One thing as you note is that a bigger build means the jobs will be lots longer since you would be generally using smaller tooling and low feed rates in comparison to more robust builds with larger stepper and perhaps with rack and pinion axes.
I put in midspan supports but then that makes it a challenge to put in larger pieces of material since the sides are then blocked. Also bigger builds will sag in the middle at the tool mount.
Have you thought about the Low Rider? I have been reading up on it and it seems like the thing to do for bigger builds.
That’s a little large for a mpcnc. You might need to slow it down a touch.
In my opinion it will be no problem at all, what will matter most is your spindle and your CAM settings.
My machine has similar dimensions and it works fine, just get a good spindle and half of your problems will be gone.
Oh, and also try to get the best tubes you can get, that will help too.
From one newbie to another, I had read somewhere in the instructions that at about that size you want midway supports on the rails to resist bowing and flexing. Something like this: