Just started planning

Hello.

Just looking into dipping my toe into the world of CNC routers and saw Teaching Tech’s videos on the Lowrider and it has peaked my interest.

Although this is my first foray into CNC routing I am quite practiced in 3D printing so have a grounding in the basic concepts of wiring and firmware configuration.

My aim would to be to have it able to work with full 8x4 sheets of wood. I’ve already had a look through the forum pages and have seen a few mods to make improvements to rigidity and usability. I do enjoy tinkering and making small modifications to my kit so this sounds right up my alley.

So a couple of basic questions if you would be so kind.

  1. As I understand it the only difference between a large Lowrider and a small Lowrider would be pipe and cable lengths? Would there be any merit in assembling my first Lowrider on a smaller scale to figure it all out then increasing its size or should I just go for the full size unit straight away?

  2. In general what sort of capabilities does the stock unit have in terms of cutting wood or aluminum i.e thickness and speeds? As this would be my first CNC Router I just want to get my expectations in line with what the unit is capable of.

  3. Would anybody be able to point me to where I can source parts in the UK? Would love to support the developer and order direct from V1 but the shipping and import duties would really dent the wallet.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

  1. That is a great strategy. I think you might find you would rather have a smaller (but still quite large) CNC and a circular saw for breaking down sheets. But that depends on the kind of work you want to do, and how much you value your space.

  2. I’m not sure there is any real answer to this. A smaller low rider (2’x4’) would be very capable of doing aluminum at reasonable speeds. It will be much less than a $10k machine. Al requires more skill and experience, so even the same machine may mean two different users will get two very different speeds or depth of cuts.

  3. There is a licensed vendor in the EU. There are a few threads on sourcing parts in the UK.

The other thing I will mention is that the skr turbo and 5130 drivers TT recommends isn’t probably the best choice. We keep some configurations up to date, but Ryan tests the firmware configurations for the skr pro 1.2 and 2209, or the rambo or mini rambo. Dual endstops on the LR are configured, but they are still new, so there may be bugs.

I think a great place to start would be looking thru the LR gallery of things people have made.

I would also suggest trying to build it close to spec at first. I think you’ll find it very rigid and usable.

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@jeffeb3 is it was to do a Low Rider as a first build? Maybe I’m mistaken but it seems to me that the MPCNC is better documented and a larger community. Wouldn’t that be a better place to start?

I’m not asking to upset anyone or undermine anyone but rather trying to understand and learn.

I believe that any of the MPCNC machines are reasonable first build candidates. I only have the MPCNC “Burly” and not a LowRider (at the moment), but I have built a couple of 3D printers and another CNC machine (phlatprinter) from scratch, so while not intimately familiar with lowrider specifics, I can speak from some experience with machines and capabilities.

The skills for building either the Primo/Burly or the LowRider are very similar. On the mechanical side you need to:

  • Choose your conduit/tubing/piping and cut it (or get it cut) to the proper lengths
  • Acquire the matching 3D printed parts (print yourself or purchase)
  • Assemble the framework with hardware-store style nuts and bolts and bearings
  • Add the motion-control specific parts (pulleys, belts, lead screws, motors, wheels)

On the electronics side you need to:

  • Select your controller based on desired feature set (dual end stops, tool head(s), spindle RPM and/or laser intensity control via PWM, run from connected PC or LCD controller, etc.)
  • Flash and configure the firmware (boards from V1 shop can come pre-flashed)
  • Connect the controller to the motion components and display (if selected)
  • Customize for your machine’s specifics (velocity and acceleration, tools, probes, etc.)

The primary differentiator seems to me to be the size (and to a certain extent kind) of work you’d most like to be doing. but even then there is a large overlap. There’s definitely a “too big for Primo/Burly” territory, but I don’t know that there’s a “too small for LowRider” zone, assuming you’ve got space for the table it lives on.

For me, it’s not practical to dedicate the floor space to a full-sheet machine, and I honestly don’t expect I’ll ever need to do wider than 30" pieces. Also, my shop is in the basement, I can’t get to it without going through the finished part of the house, and the stairs have a 90 degree turn so it is a royal pain to try and manhandle full sheets down there anyway. For me the Burly made the most sense (at the time, today I’d do a Primo) for the smaller (20" x 30") projects I had in mind. I’ll continue to have the home center break down full sheets for me, or do it myself in the garage before I bring the material down stairs. If I want to do something longer, then I’ll slide it through my MPCNC and do it in multiple jobs.

If I were still doing theater sets, or had other large furniture projects in mind, or wanted to build a(nother) boat, I’d figure out how to get space for a temporary LowRider setup in the garage, but then if any of those were my goal, I wouldn’t have set up a basement shop.

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Just been looking at sourcing parts here in the UK. Found most bits without issue. The only thing I am struggling with is finding suitable wheels.

Are there any UK builders that could point me in the direction of some suitable wheels?

Thanks.

I got mine off ebay from China. Put “rollerblade wheels” in ebay and pick one.

Faser,

Here was my thinking on the lowrider size.

I built a full size (60") gantry as I wanted to be able to cut a 4x8 sheet but the table length is flexible. You can make a rigid table to cut 1’x4’ for 90% of your work then slap together a large temporary table on sawhorses to cut the occasional cabinet project.

You can also feed the full size sheet through the machine and run multiple jobs if you have a full width gantry.

The workarounds are a pain but as a hobbyist in a 2 car garage so is a 10x5 table.

That’s the approach I’d take if I were putting one together since I know I can’t dedicate a full size table permanently. Full width gantry, and flexible length table. I’d either work out a way to clamp the belts that run the length of the table without cutting them, or have a short set and a long set that were easy to swap.

I have a garage full of crap that needs chucking out before I can be certain as to what space I have to play with.

So just to confirm, If I were to build the LR on a table that could manage a 4x4 sheet the only hardware change I would have to make if i were to extend it to 8x4 would be the Y belts?

That’s my understanding, but I haven’t built one myself.

Roller blade wheels usually are 78mm or so. My skates are 78/78/80/80. The goalie wheels are 60mm, and so are the recommended ones from V1.

Follow Jeff’s recs and you’ll start off well. Once the build is done, spend a significant amount of time doing basic shape test cuts in a variety of materials. This way you can rule out CAM issues before making any modifications.

Been looking through other posts and docs on here and I have a question about the Z touch plate.

I understand how it works to be able to set your Z0 height but how does it/would it work in combination with dual Z end stops for auto squaring? If using Z Min for the probe does that mean you need to square the Z Axis by going to it’s max height instead?

Thanks.

On a low rider, the dual endstops are at Zmax. So the machine homes up (with G28 Z). The plate is attached to Zmin and G38.2 Z0 probes down and stops, then G92 Z0.5 sets the Z height.

https://docs.v1engineering.com/electronics/dual-lr/

End stops do the squaring. Probe is used to set tool height relative to work piece (or spoil board, I suppose).

Thanks for your help so far. I have some more questions if you don’t mind.

  1. Router Vs Spindle. I am guessing that the router is the simplest option but are there any benefits to going down the more complicates Spindle route? I don’t have anything bought yet so would make sense to only buy one.

  2. Control board for multiple tools. I like the idea of adding a laser unit for engraving at some point. I haven’t done much research into the laser side but I believe to run it I just require a spare PWM output from the control board. Is there anything else the board would require?

Thanks.

  1. Router vs Spindle - biggest differentiator I see is the ability to control RPM so that you can slow down for metals or plastics. I have implemented the PID solution from the V1 store which adds variable RPM controlled by PWM from the control board through an extra dimmer board and Arduino Nano. This has worked smoothly for me but takes a bit of tinkering to get in place.
  2. Based on my readings of the various forum topics, with the standard MPCNC controllers, the biggest hiccup seems to be the control voltage that the laser expects (5 or 10V DC) and getting the right PWM pin on the controller identified. Some lasers are “plug and play” and some require some tweaking. I’m not running a laser on my MPCNC but am using the same controller as a “brain transplant” in my K40 CO2 laser engraver. The CNC Shield/Arduno Uno combo with grbl laser mode enabled provides the PWM signal to control the laser intensity just fine, and allowed me to add both a rotary and motorized Z stage. I use Lightburn software to run the laser, which is not free but is definitely worth the $30 (us) for the license.
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Next question is about Stepper Motors.

I know the basics that the Lowrider uses Nema17 motors and the ones supplied by V1 have a rating of 76OZ/In.

Are there any other specs I need to look for when sourcing my motors locally?

Thanks.