Hey everyone,
I somehow stumbled across the LowRider on the old interwebs last week, and have watched just about every video on youtube on it since then! Looks cool!
I dont have a CNC myself, but have a very early Maslow (im sure you’re all familiar) which i was converting to an XY machine, but now just wont bother because this just looks so much better! the only upside on the Maslow is the fact it’s vertical for space saving, but with this i can use the table for other stuff, or hoist it into the rafters in the garage or something… Plus i dont want to design any more things for it… i just wanna print and build and have something usable!
So thought i’d start a thread here as i have just spent $69.59 (NZD) on 6 meters of 1" stainless tube!! so it’s officially begun!!! I pick it up this weekend from Auckland (i live in Taupo, 3 hour drive each way, for those who are curious) Figured i’d start there and print some parts and see how they fit before i commit to printing the whole lot. My printer is pretty crummy and wanna see if i need to give it a tune up before printing or not.
Which brings me to my list of plans/goals/dreams so that you guys can set me straight before i get too far down the rabbit hole in the wrong direction!
My garage isnt too big, so will build a small-ish version to see how it goes, and build a bigger version when i need it. Ideally, i would like to be able to cut 5’x10’ sheets. Im guessing i’ll be pushing the limits a bit there with the 1" tubes? One of the main reasons being that i built a teardrop trailer years ago, and want to build a bigger one… and will need a machine that can cut 1.5m (5’) wide panels ideally.
Next, im thinking of using a board with 5 stepper drivers to drive each stepper with its own driver, and am wanting to use the TMC2130 stepper drivers? For 3 reasons mainly;
- quiet (for when i want to use it with a pen or drag knife or some other silent tool)
- detect loss of steps to tune in feeds and speeds etc and re-home if it loses steps
- virtual endstop/software endstop/whatever you want to call it
this way i can hopefully square the machine easily, and potentially do a ‘bed level’ and possibly z probe as well?
Those are the main ‘weird’ things i wish to accomplish with it anyway.
I’ll try keep a log of things here for me (or others in NZ) to look back on later with where i got things and what i spent etc. Though i assume the main thing people will get from NZ and might struggle with is the SS tube, which i just got
Anyway, thanks for reading! and feel free to explain why nobody else is doing the things i want to do, as im sure there are great reasons for not using 5 axis controllers and building 5’ wide machines etc, i just havent realised yet
Oh, and thanks Ryan for designing all these bits… much appreciated!!!