Low & Slow. This is gonna be a while

Ok. This is something else…


I had the velcro tape in my bag of networking goodies. I added the plastic sleeving to the X motor cable, and strapped it to the dust hose I am printing clips for the router power cable which will clip it to the hose for about 2’ and then to the angle to the table edge.

My wiring at the SKR is still a tangle until I finalize a few more things but it is functional.

1 Like



I was hedging my bets a little with these. The one clip uses the velcro strap, the other holds to the perforated angle.both worked out nicely, as it happens. I should have left another 1mm for the velcro slot, it’s a little tight. The velcro is 15mm, and I think due to my slicer settings the slot is 14.66mm, bit I managed to get it fitted. I don’t know how much abuse it will take before breaking, but they don’t take long to print.

Still waiting for my T nuts for the track, so I’m printing a solution. Pretty sure they will fit fine, I will just need to run a thread tap down them for 1/4-20 thread to hold the same hold downs I use for the Primo. Being printed parts they will be weaker, but should be strong enough for a few uses as long as I don’t gorilla them down.

I would really like to get a good cut from this machine so that I can start on making the Primo smaller. I think I can fit the target Primo size table on the LR2 bed.

The printed T nuts actually worked out OK. I printed them with a thread in, and chased it with a 1/4-20 tap. They’re strong enough to bend the printed hold downs and provide good clamping force. My steel T nuts got here yesterday and are easier to use, so I probably won’t use the printed ones anymore.

Clearing the router plate is a bit of a challenge. My printer side panels are a tight fit on 2’ wide stock, and I don’t have cut-out areas that I could screw down easily, unless I want to leave random holes in the panels when it’s done. (Well, maybe those holes could happen anyway. I was originally planning to do something like that.)

I think that I’ll try a slightly different hold-down solution, one that’s lower profile. The LR doesn’t have the plane clearance that the Primo does, so it’s easier to “get in the way”

Frustrating…

I posted the pic in my printer PLOG too, but trying to figure out what the eff happened.

Something slipped. The material did not move, it was held in place very securely.

It followed the new path the rest of the passes, so it didn’t happen again, just on the very first pass.

The “foot” there was along the X axis and the tab on the Y. That corner is nearest the origin.

I’ve been having trouble with the X motor. I had to bump up the current a little to 1100mA because it was missing steps at 3.25mm DOC. For this I also reduced DOC to 2.15mm.

The machine followed the new path for the rest of the cut, so whatever happened that first pass did not happen again.

The resulting cut was way out of square. About 1cm difference in diagonals.

The X axis can’t do that if it skips steps. It will only be a little short, so what I’m guessing is that the Y2 motor skipped some steps right at the far end. It’s about the only thing that I can see having this effect.

The measurement from origin corner to max corner is 823mm, the opposite one is 835mm. Hmmm. I can’t see any physical obstruction on the Y2 side…

Another issue is that getting 1/2" seems to be really pushing it for this machine. Using the V1 store bit, I can’t get the Makita low enough in the mount to get more than that for stick out. Maybe if I removed the air diverted, but that has its own issues with dust collection. I might need to do it for deeper cuts though.

2 Likes

It could be worse. You could be me procrastinating! :wink:

Although I’m learning heaps thanks very much. DOC I understand, but PLOG? Is there a reason you can’t just use a longer mill? In the spirit of procrastinating as well as learning at your expense - can the base be re-designed to get a few more MM of depth? I can fit my Ryobi trimmer such that the collet nut is flush with the protruding screws in the base - if I go the Makita route, does that mean a re-think?

1 Like

PLOG – Project log. In this case, Building the new printer

I can probably do something to get the deeper cuts. There’s a plastic piece in the bottom of the Makita “shoe” to divert the cooling air so that it doesn’t blast down into the dust collection area. (This can completely overwhelm the vacuum for dust collection) If I remove that, I can very probably get quite a bit extra. the piece is 12mm tall. I might not get the whole 12mm, but I should be able to get 6-7mm more, which would be enough for 3/4" (barely)

1 Like

I’ve just checked my trimmer (Ryobi) and there is only 20mm from fan outlet to the bottom of the collet. I am having a think! :smiley: (I rather like printing bell mouths) :smiley:

I have the dw611, and a LR1, but I can definitely get it low enough to touch the work with the collet (I have Barry’d it more than once).

Maybe a picture would help? Or maybe it is just different gear.

Hmm, maybe you bound up on your table. If you start with your gantry too tight to the table on one side when it gets further away it can get stuck on the table itself. A good test/preventative for this is to start your gcode by putting a little mark at (0,0) then have it put another mark at the opposite corner and come back and hit 0,0 again. If it is off at all it moved. This is also how I test for square before an important cut (like a printer frame), I have it make 5 marks, each corner beyond the actual cut and 2 at the origin.

1 Like

I’ll set this up before I try the next piece. I think I’ll see about risking the birch plywood this time. I didn’t really want MDF anyway.

1 Like


Inside the router foot

Under the carriage

I have the bit collar on because I wasn’t planning on cutting more than 1/2", but I can’t get that full cut with the bit stuck in all the way like that. 12mm is pushing it, and I like to cut some into spoilboard. I’ll pull that bit out another mm or so before I start the next cut.


So worth it…

3 Likes

With the dewalt it removing the blower shield gets you more room if needed, but makes more of a mess. Not sure about your router, but looks the same.

1 Like

That bit only has flutes for just a hair over 1/2". The other bit I carry is actually a 3/4" bit. After that you would need to go to a 1/4" diameter shank to get any longer.

1 Like

Yeah, I split the finishing passes using those in the Primo for more than 1/2" DOC. It does work well for up to 3/4" cuts though. :stuck_out_tongue: just a little bit of sandpaper required for edge work.

I used a 1/4" bit for the gift box project, where I needed a whole lot of hogging out at depth. I should make more of those…

I think I will re-make the router plate, and countersink all of the screws in the base. The router screws were countersunk in this one, I’d have to add the countersinks to the #6-32 screws that hold the other stuff in is all. I might also sink the Makita base in about 2mm. Hmmm. Well, the countersunk screws would give me my necessary DOC for 1/2" right there. I could probably just do it to this one quick enough. I’ should fix that ding where the pulled out bit nicked the shoe too.

1 Like

Ah, that’s more clear. Yeah, but v1 doesn’t have that piece of white plastic. I guess that’s what you were calling the shoe?

I know the Mak has a lovely metal base and everything, but I’m wondering if there’s a bit of an elephant in the room here?

The base was designed for a purpose that isn’t this. Is it worth building a custom base with a different air deflector? I’ve been pondering with pen and paper, mostly because I’m thinking about turning my existing trimmer into a spindle - but I think there are a few mm to be gained if that’s important, which it seems it might be.

I am continually asking myself the same question though in an effort to stop myself racing off in some strange direction: with hundreds of builds already operating, how did others solve the problem?

I really like the 1/4 bits with my makita clone. The extra shank length means I don’t accidentally bottom out anymore. And my deflection issues magically went away when I stopped using the collars.

It is a lot messier though as the vac is farther out from the surface and I’m making 4x the sawdust but I’m not looking back.

I thought about this too, but first I need a better 3D printer, which is what I’m using the LR to build…

I think the answer is probably going to be the 1/4" shank bits. I’m going to miss having the resolution, but I’ve already gone to 1/4" for many of the Primo projects that I’ve done. Well, I’ll still try to get this working with the 1/8".

I was playing with some other cuts, and managed to catch a screw head on the bottom of the plate. It got by, but that’s definitely an avoidable problem. Tomorrow, I’ll get some countersink head #6-32 screws to replace those with, and I’ll take the countersink drill bit to the bottom of the plate.

That’s the Makita equivalent of what’s called the VacDuct.stl in the LR2 files. I just happened to have white in the printer when I printed it. Actually it looks like it doesn’t allow the router to go much lower with it out, because there are stops in the side of the shoe (Clamp, whatever) to prevent the collet nut from coming out the bottom, and there’s not a lot of clearance there.

Yep. I do have a tendency to want to re-invent the wheel, but I’m always happy to take a hint from those who have gone before me. Even if nothing else, I can get an idea of what pitfalls I want to avoid by looking at other solutions to a problem. My CoreXY laser had all kinds of things inspire it, not the least of which is the ZenXY. (Actually, I’ve found quite a few V1 inspired changes in my designs, like the way Ryan does the bottom of screw holes to layer the slicer’s bridging. Something that obvious once you’ve seen it is hard to ignore, but I’d have never seen it if I hadn’t paid attention to these designs.)

I think that the DeWalt router might be a little different from the Makita, but there can’t be THAT big a difference. It does seem to me that the screw heads are really in the way when I look at it now though. I am fairly convinced that going with the countersunk screws might be all the difference that I need in order to do most of what I want to do with the LowRider. For more than 1/2", I think that I’m willing to go with 1/4" bits.

Actually it’s only double. A 1/4" mill does have 4x the total area (A circle 2x the diameter has 4x the area) but except for drilling operations, it’s the width of path that matters, which is double. It might seem like more though. XD

The vac being further from the surface is another issue. Lots less suction there every mm you raise the plate. I don’t think that I want to put bristles around mine either. It’s hard enough to see under there for zeroing on the tool to the work.

3 Likes

Okay, so the LR has been operating pretty well.

Some of the solutions:

  1. A 1/4" shank bit which is a 1/8" 2 flute upcut bit has been the main bit in the router, because it’s got more than an inch of cutting depth, so now I don’t have the plate riding on the work for most of my cuts. The overall length of the bit is 3" which might be a little longer than ideal for up to an inch of cutting depth, but it’s working for me.

  2. The ESP01 wifi is actually pretty handy. It might actuall be better placed on the board rather than on the LCD, but I like it on the LCD, because otherwise it can only access the board SD card. This can get both SD cards, and the USB port. Still, the firmware has some quirks.

I’ve been trying to get a better drag knife solution. I did make one that is mostly good:


It holds the drag knife spring loaded so that it has a little bit of give, but it still allows a little more wobble in the knife than I like, and can be more than 0.5mm out of place at times. I’d like a little better precision. This is likely to end up hanging off of the vacuum shoe, which I regard as less than ideal, but hopefully it isn’t something that I’ll need to do often.

I’m also probably going to give up on the coreXY laser, and put a laser on the LR2. Not because the CoreXY laser isn’t good, because it’s awesome, but just because I’m not likely to need both at the same time, and it’ll be one fewer piece of equipment to maintain, heaven knows I’ve got enough of that!

Probably for much the same reason, when the next LR comes out, I’ll be rebuilding and retiring this one.

But first…

As I mentioned in my “Repeat” build thread, I’ve got another use for this SKR Pro, so I’ll be pulling it off of the LR. In its place, I’m going to set up my other Duet Wifi. Since I’m already running a Duet on my Primo, the firmware isn’t going to be a big challenge (Though I haven’t really looked at laser control with the Duet specifically, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be a large barrier.)

The wiring change will be the first thing. I have to change out the endstop connectors, but that’s not too big a deal. I probably don’t have to change the motor connectors, but I will. It’ll give me a chance to make the wiring harnesses much neater than they are currently.

I’m a little concerned about replacing the board adapter that I have installed for the SKR Pro, but only a little. One of the big reasons for it was so that I didn’t have to drill into the Y plates, after all.

6 Likes