Sadly I’ve had to move on from my lowrider2 build. It was a great learning experience but I found I needed a faster/sturdier/quieter machine with a water-cooled spindle since my shop is in the basement and time is usually limited.
As my final project before disassembling, I made this sawtooth shelving system to turn an awkward and tiny entry closet into a functional shoe closet.
Loved my experience here, learned a lot, and regret nothing! Best wishes to Ryan and everyone else here going forward!
I went with a Onefinity Journeyman with a 2.2Kw water-cooled spindle. A bit less cutting area at 48" x 32" but I made a tablesaw workstation at the same height as the spoilboard to go next to it that will allow easy tiling slide-through for any full-sheet projects. So far it’s been great: very fast, much quieter than a trim router, and incredibly rigid.
Just to be clear, you’re still welcome round these parts! We still want to see the cool stuff you make, and although we probably can’t help much with any wildly different firmware or hardware, there are some basics we can help with (all grub screws get loose, it’s not a unique feature of @vicious1 's designs).
As Ryan has said before, one of his goals is to be an entry point for CNC machining. Not necessarily the end point. Most of us are dilettantes without the requisite time, interest, and/or funds to upgrade beyond our hobby rigs. Some of us are engineers who just like tinkering (like those guys who own MGs, they always tinker, and rarely drive).
Anyway, just hoping this isn’t a mushy, emotional farewell thread. We don’t do that…
never seen sawtooth shelving before. Super cool, love it!
I built another machine to do most of my router work, too, and I’m still here. Just put my primo back into service with a laser and I’m building a repeat soon (finally got the last parts, I think). This community is the best I’ve ever been a part of on the internet, hands down. Even if i forgot everything I know I about these and stopped running machines altogether, I’d stick around just for the off-topic sub.
Thanks for posting those pictures. Looks great! Unfortunately, I showed my wife… guess what is on my list of projects now…
Awesome job!
What is old is new again. I remember seeing saw tooth shelving in my grandparents old house.
I’m building a bigger, beefier 5’x5’ custom machine and going vertical with it to save floor space (similar to the onefinity wall mount). Still and going to keep my primo for small stuff like the coasters, but it will be reduced in size to 24x24. It is an awesome design! Kudos to Ryan
Thank you! This is a really exceptional community and I’ll likely still be checking in now and then. The shelves project convinced me to look for something faster as I waited for each notch of each support to be cut (and I forgot the obligatory cutting photo - corrected below!). But in that search, nothing quite equaled the forum community here and that was one of the consideration factors for me. Forums make you feel like there are people that have your back with both issues and inspiration… you all are a huge asset to these great projects!
Sure thing. Went with mobile Kreg bases for both to allow rearranging for large pass-through items. Actually did the table saw workbench on the lowrider too… my little DeWalt jobsite saw now feels professional with some extra infeed, a lot of outfeed, and an extended fence with aluminum extrusion. MFT style top for tracksaw work and clamping. Still going to make a downdraft section for sanding once I iron out more of my dust collection.
Yes, please do stick around. I learn so much from the people in these forums I get stuck with the buisiness/work side of things I love seeing actual projects (and others shop spaces)!
Interesting, I am not sure I have ever seen this one before. Did you buy their controller or use the one you have?
What are you doing for vacuum, for me that is by far the most obnoxious part?
I would love to see some speed tests. I have learned a few things recently and would love to see the limits of both machines, if you are interested ( actually have a project coming up and I intend to punish both my LR and MPCNC). We have done this before with some small cuts in MDF with a 1/4" bit. I am sure that could have some speed advantages, but I love to see actual numbers.
I am using their controller right now, which is a branded version of buildbotics.
Dust collection was another thing I upgraded as I needed something that worked better than my previous shopvac/dust deputy setup. I got a 1-1/2 HP wall-mount dust collector with a 1 micron canister filter. Seems to do a great job even with a long stretch of crappy 4" flex hose sapping it of some of it’s power and it’s quieter than the shopvac. By far the loudest part now is the endmill actually cutting the wood.
I’m still very green with the new machine and haven’t pushed it yet. It’s a new world for me with computer-controlled spindle speeds with exact rpms rather than a number dial. I will say that to start out, the suggested feed rate in the guides here is listed at 8 mm/s (19 in/min) for a 1/8" bit. The suggested starting rates for a larger 1/4" bit on the onefinity are about 4x that at 80 in/min. I’ve used that for plywood and mdf without issue and have been taking small steps faster from there. Forum users report comfortably going up to 160-180 (around 10x the 8mm/sec base feedrate), but it all depends on your router/spindle/DOC and bit of course. I think the fastest I’ve done so far is 120 in/min in plywood with .25" bit and .25" DOC, but it was all buttery smooth and should be able to go faster.
The comparison needs to be on the same bit diameter, since a 1/4" should be set to cut deeper on each pass and will require fewer passes, compounding the total project time savings. I’ll update as I venture into faster speeds, but I don’t consider MDF a very relatable benchmark since it’s basically packed sawdust and tolerates a much more aggressive feedrate and DOC than project woods.
Oh, shoot! I need that. I always assumed they would be about the same if not louder. If you don’t mind which did you get? I have my CNC running at least an hour a day and sometimes a lot more. I saw modded harbor freight versions and a grizzly I think that were similar in price / performance.
The reason I like MDF is it is pretty consistent around the globe vs real wood, and it it much more difficult than something like pine. Here is my last speed run, https://youtu.be/qNdod5hKfhs, but I think I can do even better now and the test is so fast I think we need to update to two cuts so we are not trying to compare milliseconds. Just to reiterate, I am not trying to directly compare machines or builds, like I am not going to use the numbers as a site comparison or anything. I just like to roughly know where we stand in terms of material removal rates, and a little competition makes pushing and learning more fun.
@vicious1 I got the HF 2hp (70 gallon) dust collector a few months back. aside form the initial start up, it is more of a low industrial hum vice the high pitched wine of a shop vac. Say what you will a bout safety and hearing pro, but I have rarely needed it when I am running my Bob’s CNC (Makita router) and the dust collector. I couldn’t even fathom not wearing ear pro when using the shop vac. Makes a world of difference!!
I can’t give you the exact db rating as I have never measured it, but I can run the Makita on the machine and the DC at the same time and still hold a conversation in the garage or hear my music on the portable speaker I have in the shop.
I got the grizzly. As @c00nphrog mentioned, it’s like a low industrial rumble/hum versus the raging scream of my shopvac. Kind of similar to having a clothes dryer running in the room.
True, I meant ‘relatable’ as in: it wouldn’t tell me anything about how the machine would actually perform for the work I wanted to do with it. I could see detailed benchmarks about how fast 5 different machines could move through meringue, but at the end of the day, it wouldn’t tell me much about how any of them were going to work for me pocketing in ash wood. I like seeing BB plywood numbers to get a general baseline capability of any machine that can relate to my work, but that’s just my preference.
Regardless, yes when I have some spare cycles I’d be happy to run the logo at varying speeds in MDF and report back just for fun. It would have to be different gcode so the toolpaths wouldn’t match up 1:1.
and going to keep my primo for small stuff like the coasters, but it will be reduced in size to 24x24. It is an awesome design! Kudos to Ryan
(and I forgot the obligatory cutting photo - corrected below!). But in that search, nothing quite equaled the forum community here and that was one of the consideration factors for me. Forums make you feel like there are people that have your back with both issues and inspiration… you all are a huge asset to these great projects!
