Lowrider Configuration

Hello,

 

I’m starting the design phase and planning out my build. I’m looking for some tried and true build plans people have used with great success.

 

I didn’t see any stickies or build plans, I’ve seen plenty of tables and whatnot but does anyone have actual cut sheets and designs created?

 

Initially I thought I’d want to do a full sheet table but I’m thinking of building for half sheet now that I’ve read a bit more and thought of the items I’ll be creating.

Anyway, new here and wanted to stop by for some advice. I’m printing parts right now and plan to order the rest once I have a solid design ready to go.

I think it depends on what you plan to make with your CNC. To support my MPCNC and Lowrider I made worktops about 3 x 4 ft and 4 x 5 ft respectively. I couldn’t see handling a full sheet of plywood or MDF for 99% of my projects. Most easily fit in what I have. I have lots of space in my shop for a really big CNC but no use for one. The supports I made are simple 2 x 4 frames with one or two shelves and some side pieces to stiffen the frame. I put a piece of 3/4” MDF on top of that and screw it down. Since it gets pretty heavy by this point I used some beefy swivel wheels under it all to move it around. My 3/4” spoil board goes on top of all that. I mill as much of it as I can flat after tramming my router with an angle box and 1/4” rod. Seems to work well for me. I’ve done several V carved pieces and that’s pretty fussy about flatness and depth to get nice detail on script fonts. Plain 2D and 2.5D milling is much more forgiving. I often use VCarve Desktop and that is limited to 2 ft x 2 ft per piece without tiling. 3D milling projects (using 2 sides) with Estlcam are small too.

If I have to go bigger with my Lowrider that’s easy. Just a pair of wider SS tubes.

The MPCNC is better at what I have or smaller for more precision I think. The Z axis in both builds is best as short as practical for accuracy. With my MPCNC I made a cutout on one side so I can work on the sides of wide bowls with a simple rotary axis. Half the table at one height, half a lot deeper as a result.

I recently saw a post where someone used heavy duty storage racks. I have several of those leftover from a warehouse rebuild.

I’m considering going that route to begin with. It will allow me a solid frame to work from and if I want to go bigger down the road I’ll have my first build done and know what to improve on.

My biggest concern is making sure the table is exceptionally flat and rigid. I don’t want to waste material on the build and have it result in sub-par performance. I’ve been scouring builds and trying to pool some ideas together to build something worthwhile on my first go-round.

I think once I have the table built and pieces in front of me it’ll be more obvious what needs improved or not.

Maybe I’m over-thinking this. I’m having a hard time picturing how I’ll be able to level a large format table across the whole surface.

 

Do people normally need to run the router across the surface once completed to level?

 

Right now my biggest hurdle is properly building the table and sourcing a good material for the metal poles.

yes, you would “surface” you table, the thing to get right is the spindle/router being perfectly vertical on both axis, if not then when you surface one side of the cutting bit will be higher than the others and you’ll get ridges.

P.S. If made out of wood you DO want to build a torsion box table.

Keep in mind, the gantry rides on thr table top. So if it is higher in the middle, NBD. The gantry will just follow the height of the table. That’s the long axis.

On the short axis, you do want it flattish, but perfectly flat is unreasonable. If you’re doing through cuts or pockets, it really doesn’t matter that much. If you’re doing vcarves, you can choose a Z in each local area.

Or you can surface your spoil board and/or do some software leveling.

If you want to really design the crap out of it, I would start with a 2x4 structure and plywood on the top and build the machine. Then you can measure and test and learn and then you even have a CNC machine if you need to make a presision part. 2x4s and plywood will enable the low rider to do great work.

Just make sure the short axis is your final length, or you will need new tubes, which would stink.

I guess I’m just concerned about not having everything planed.

I’m using the calculator now to measure a table for a 4x5 working area.

 

Are there recommended online shops to find stainless?