MPCNC Lowrider Capabilities

Hello all,

I am looking to find out some of that this can and cannot do. First I have a 3d printer so making the 3d printed parts will be fine. I have a CAD Background and sit in front of AutoCAD All day. Machining background…I took Mastercam in College (But that was quite some time ago.

So now on to my questions:

1: I am wanting to be able to mill aluminum plate for custom car parts and was wondering if this could produce more than just flat surfaces. If I were to program with Mastercam, could I create tool paths to put radius rather than square corners to holes, and such. Like if I were to create a motor plate and make holes in it to make it lighter, could I radius the opening and make it smoother without having to go in and smooth by hand prior to polishing.

2: I would want to build a table for the machine, so I could run coolant and a scavenging pump to turn on and off. Is there anything in the build that would hinder this?

  1. I am thinking of different End Mills, and drill and taps? Can this handle building a tool changer for it, or is this just a pause, manual change tools, and then resume process (that would be fine, just wondering)

 

I am sure I will have a ton more questions as there are several projects that I would be working on at the same time, including building Architectural Models out of wood, and using the machine as a way to mill wood and add details to the models.

 

Thanks in advance,

Mark Selig

  1. It sounds like you are talking about a roundover on the top edge of a hole? That depends on the CAM software you use. There isn’t a builtin function for that in EstlCAM, AFAIK.
  2. I have seen some builds with coolant, but nothing detailed. The plastic is just plastic and if you build it with stainless steel, it should be fine. Bearings and electronics won’t like water.
  3. There is one example of an automatic tool changer for the MPCNC. It is pretty awesome, but it doesn’t change the bit, it changes the whole tool. So you would need to have a router for each bit. Every one else just manually changes the bits.

BTW, the LR is different than the MPCNC. 9/10 people are making MPCNCs, so there are a lot more modifications available. The LR does really well on larger builds, but things like the tool changer aren’t going to work with it.

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Also, I see you posted this in the MP3DP section, which is going to grab the attention of people who are making the 3D printer Ryan designed. You’ll get more attention from CAM experts in the MPCNC advice section.

Thank you for the reply. Reason I like the Lowrider over the MPCNC is the size it allows me to do. Architectural models can get quite large and so could some of the other projects I can see myself doing. I am just exploring my options. As far as sending code to this, as long as a post processor is setup could it be programmed through a program like MasterCam or am I just reaching to far for this?

Yes. Whether or not there is an existing MasterCam post that you can start with and modify for the MPCNC/Lowrider, however, I don’t know.

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  1. As mentioned, you can do it, but you’d probably want to modify the design to not use wood. Use a plastic type that resists water, as some absorb it pretty quickly. MDF likes to suck up any liquid, so possibly swap wood components for aluminum plate? I can imagine that for best results, you’d want a floating work area above a shallow tub.

At one point (I never finished the setup), my MPCNC had two flex lines. One for compressed air and one for coolant flow. GCode controller the valves (and pumps).

Another idea is to make a smaller tub + clamp system w/ curtain wall. Have it so another mode shifts software work area to this smaller section.

  1. There’s the full tool changer mentioned above, and there’s also a bit changer. I’ll see if I can pull up the bit changer one (not sure if it was MPCNC based or another, but you can likely adapt it). Iirc, it used a servo to push a wrench into the collar (locking it), it then uses the machine X/Y in a rotational movement to loosen the nut. I can’t remember if it used a magnet or a spring to dislodge the bit from there.

I’ll edit this if I find my saved link.

Edit https://hackaday.com/2016/06/20/hackaday-prize-entry-diy-automatic-tool-changer/

There’s a V2 on Thingiverse. Not the MPCNC, but you could adapt it.

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  1. I decided to start by making them out of wood, and then one of my first projects will be to get the machine fine tuned, and then make them out of stainless steel. Depending on if my shop likes what I can do with this, and they decide they want one, then I will have them trade me the stainless parts for a set of the printed parts. I work in a job shop that works with Stainless Steel every day. I have decided that if I am going to use this machine to do work on metals (I will mostly do Aluminum I am pretty sure) then I would dedicate a 4x4 area of the bed as a wet area and a 4x4 area to be a dry area, and then build a bed specifically for the wet that would do it all.

 

As for the tool changer I want to get it all up and running, and then decide on if it really needs it since this one is going to be in my home garage/shop making parts for me, and not really a production atmosphere

 

Thank You for your replies all.