Lowrider V2 at a medium pace

[doctoracula (doc)]

Trying this again, nothing posted when I clicked submit last time... some sort of cloudflare error.

(if you are familiar with Adam Sandler - At a Medium Pace, seriously NSFW don't click this with kids around, I hope the song is stuck in your head now).

I previously built an MPCNC without any issues. However, I didn’t have any time then (still don’t really, I have to take vacation days to work on these things like today) and got cheap/lazy with my build. I used “2x4 basics” workbench table legs, 2x4s as straight and acclimated as they could be, and MDF. The end product has served me well over the last two and one half years. I mostly use the MPCNC for laser work (10w+ endurance laser) but just successfully dusted off the old 500w cheap Chinese spindle and easily made my Y- and 611-plates for the lowrider v2. I should mention that I did all that after I moved a few hundred miles and had to reassemble the entire frame for the MPCNC - it just picked right up where it left off.

I have mocked up the lowrider v2 torsion box and table build in Fusion360 (images to follow). It will be 56" in X and 120" in Y, I calculated the height so that is will also serve as an outfeed table for my table saw.

I am going to rip 0.25" from either side of seasoned 2x4’s to make a nice consistently flat 3" member for most of the frame and webs (a 2x6 cut down to 5" will serve as a back stop). I was thinking of using a planer on the dimensionally longer sides but the DWE7491RS has a DOC of 3-1/8" - any thoughts about facing 2x4s with a table saw?

I have a rather large level surface to assemble all of this on, but plan on using cabinet making corner clamps/T-clamps to help me keep my angles true (wolfcraft).

The legs for the table will be made from 4x4 posts (not treated), rabbets/shoulders to set the torsion box/rails onto the legs. Structural screws as fasteners all around.

Skins will be 1/2" MDO or MDF - I am having a debate about the price points for each (more than double for MDO) and the advantages MDO has over MDF - I pondered ultralight MDF but cannot seem to find a local source where I can physically go and pick my own pieces.

This is the completed table with the skins, pretty self explanatory. When I first went through and designed everything (not using the parametric functions of fusion360 like an idiot) I realized I did not make the table long enough to accommodate for the actual cutting area once the x-carriage is moved to the furthest rearward position. Rather than start over, I just made some adjustments and I am happy with the result - now I can have a desk when not using the lowrider to cut full sheets.

[attachment file=“completed table LAO.png”]

[attachment file=“completed table RPO.png”]

This is the completed table without the skins. There will probably be some sag/deflection without posts towards the center - I was thinking of spanning these from the bottom skin of the torsion box to the skin I will be laying across the slats on the base frame, although I could always cut that base skin/bottom shelf on the router to perfectly fit around center legs that will reach to the floor.

[attachment file=“completed table no skin LAO-1.png”]

[attachment file=“completed table no skin RPO.png”]

These are the table legs, see the rabbets I plan for the legs along with the dados for the slats. The table legs will fit with friction (and screws) between the torsion box and the outside rails that the lowrider will glide along.

[attachment file=“base-frame-no-skin-no-slats-LAO-2.png”]

I will edit this post once I take photos of the assembled plates. Here they are:

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I wired and belted up the x-carriage and it moves like a dream! 1270mm of travel. Go figure, no issues with tension using zip ties, works perfectly just as it does on my MPCNC.

Any thoughts or comments are welcome!

 

[rant] I was scheduled to get my stainless tubing delivered yesterday by UPS. Check the tracking and it says it was delivered?! I was home at the time the drive attested it was left on the doorstep - not a single security camera picked him up. No notifications from the doorbell. So I call UPS last night and file a claim. As I am writing this up my neighbor rings the doorbell, two separate packages in hand (my tubing and something my wife ordered). Our house numbers are not close, our names are not close, the neighbor has lived there for 30 years and we just moved here 3 months ago. This is the third time the UPS driver has delivered something to the wrong house since I moved out here. I have rather large reflective numbers on both sides of the mailbox (MPCNC made?) that someone with 20-200 vision could easily see 20 feet away if driving the speed limit. [/rant] Very pleased I have these in hand for this weekend!

[doctoracula (doc)]

Finally have some time to post an update. I managed to get everything [pretty much] together last weekend. Without having a nice flat surface to work from, building a nice flat (not square, flat) table was difficult.

 

I was too impatient to wait to finish the rest of the table and wanted to see this thing move. So I took an angle bracket and made the world’s most inadequate yet functional pen holder.

[attachment file=115223]

Sorry Ryan, no obligatory crown. I am a big Iron Maiden fan so I took the Fear of the Dark album art, did a fast raster to vector in illustrator, exported to svg, then told fusion360 to trace it all. This was a serious stress test for my z-axis, lots of retraction going on in the gcode. Bear in mind raster to gcode on the CNC was about 6 minutes total time, nothing was setup properly start to finish. I just wanted to see her move.

[attachment file=115224]

[attachment file=115226]

I will get another day soon to work on completing the table, maybe let some dust fly then.

 

[doctoracula (doc)]

Everything is essentially completed, need to find the time to post a proper update. I will also start a thread in advice regarding some strange behavior on my Y-axis.

I am awaiting some goodies in the mail from Amazon for my day off this weekend.

The Powertec workbench caster kit along with plates for quick changes of the casters between my lowrider and MPCNC. There are various deployable caster wheels out there (some even capable of 3200# per leg) but this seemed the most reasonable in price and functionality (these are reportedly 100# per leg). When I get them, I will be adding some square SS tubing between the two lever arms so that one side of the casters will activate in unison upon a single press of the foot.

Here is a link to the casters: Powertec 17000 workbench caster kit. The nice thing about these is that you can add them to any workbench you may have without having to flip the dang thing over.

[attachment file=115857]

I also purchased furniture leg levelers found here: Rok Hardware heavy duty furniture leg levelers.

[attachment file=115858]

We will see how well these hold up to the weight. There are over 150 linear feet of 2x4’s and 3 0.5"x4’x8’ MDF panels - this thing is pretty heavy.

[attachment file=115859]
For those that are interested, there is another type of caster and leg leveler wrapped into a single package with rather impressive load tolerance - the name and brand escape me but it is easy to find with a Google search for caster leg level ratcheting.

[doctoracula (doc)]

I am creating my grids now to lase onto the members/webs of the superior portion of my torsion box - if they all appear perfect then I will take my surfacing bit and remove 12.7mm in order to recess the top skin of the torsion box.

Will post some pics of this soon.

[attachment file=116414]

[a8ksh4 (Dan)]

Your table looks great, doc! I’d bet it’s satisfying pumping out some artwork with it. Were you able to get the pine rails really level/straight?

[doctoracula (doc)]

[quote="a8ksh4,post:5,topic:11447"] Your table looks great, doc! I’d bet it’s satisfying pumping out some artwork with it. ? Were you able to get the pine rails really level/straight?

[/quote]

Thanks!

I was originally going to face/plane everything with my table saw… but it reminded me of some simple wisdom that I rely on frequently in my profession, there is a right tool for the right job. Since I have yet to find a planer suitable for my needs (I use a hand planer if need be at the moment), I decided to keep it simple with this build. I could have used 3/4" plywood but what was available to me around here was more crooked than our politicians… seriously, I should go take pictures of how bad “grade a” plywood was sagging.

I moved two entire pallets of 2x4x10 (and 12’s, and 16’s) to find only four pieces of lumber that where properly planed all around. Most of the lumber I chose for the rest of the project came from the 2x4x16 pile and all had a proud crown at one end - which was easily remedied with the chop saw.

So the secret to having close to perfectly planed lumber without a million crowns in different directions was patience and lots of splinters sorting through piles of lumber at the big box store - remember to bring good work gloves.

I took measurements of my Z-axis (torsion box top skin wrt superior surface of my 611 plate) and found .1mm the largest difference all around. This seems great considering I have yet to surface the torsion box top yet.

[doctoracula (doc)]

I have plans for the open area of my build (which was left open with intention).

I was originally using this area for tool changes and as a desk; however, it seems like poorly utilized space in that fashion.

I am going to cut an acrylic plate (6.35mm thickness), patterned after the 611 mount, and place this into a recessed surface so that it sits flush… that’s right, I am building a router table into this thing!

My 2" cutting diameter surfacing/hogging bit comes tomorrow… I need my dust collection system up and running before I use that. Those fines produced are carcinogenic and mutogenic. I highly encourage everyone to think about the micron size of the air filtration they have when using these machines.

For now, I leave you all with some more artwork:

[attachment file=116621]

[attachment file=116622]

The resolution is “52dpi” - line width of my pen plus bleed from the material resulted in about 0.7mm of line width. I like how it has that dotmatrix printer feel to it.

[vicious1 (Ryan)]

Awesome! More than Awesome!

[doctoracula (doc)]

I’m raising my thread from the dead.

So SARS-CoV-2 happened.

To anyone not hype to my history, I was a resident in general surgery left for family medicine residency and have since spent most of my time working critical care and as a general hospitalist (family medicine is SUPPOSED to be an outpatient specialty). COVID is real and our lack of understanding is profound. So. Much. Death.

I basically escaped into a world of playing pinball since last on here.

I’ve used the lowrider to make a the first 1/4 of a bally/Williams style pinball machine (used as a controller for Visual Pinball in VR). I also used the drag knife to cut some vinyl that wouldn’t fit on my wife’s toy (cricut).

Right before the pandemic I was toying with my Endurance Laser 10w (don’t waste your money, there are better alternative diodes now). While it was cool to lase material 4ft by 8ft, it took FOREVER.

This got me looking into CO2 and RF lasers. I bought a cheap omtech kit and that has yet to come in on the slow boat.

Will build up some experience on a tested design and maybe add CO2, RF, or a yag to the lowrider - the sheer size of the lowrider easily accommodates a 150w CO2 laser.

So now that I am graduating (off cycle because I left surgery), I will hopefully have more time to tinker.

Hope everyone has done well through this pandemic. See ya around.