I am a mechanical engineer by trade down in sunny south FLA, currently working in the medical manufacturing industry. Some 10 years back, I was working at another contract manufacturer where I ran prototypes and limited production on a full sheet ShopBot brand router. That job was alot of fun and I always dreamed about having a machine of my own. However, the cost and time investment of designing and building something from scratch outweighed the fun and sense of accomplishment that would come with it, especially once kids arrived. So once I saw the MPCNC I knew such a machine was finally within reach.
I have been working on this for about 2 weeks now. I have all the printing completed, using a stock Creality Ender 3. I chose PETG for almost all of the clamping parts as this machine will live in a hot, humid garage and I know PLA will get brittle out there. That cost me some more print time as the stock Ender 3 REALLY doesn’t like to print PETG quickly. The rest is good 'ole PLA.
I chose a 2’x4’ (working area) layout. I really wanted 1/4" sheet capability, especially since this machine is displacing the physical location of my table saw, so it will be harder for me to cut stock down to size. Despite the cost limitation, I can now buy the project panels from the big box stores, or even have them rip the sheets down for me. Same goes for spoil boards. I designed my own mid span supports for the 5’ rail. Nothing ground breaking.
My electronics arrive in the mail today, so I’m excited to get on with it! My first project will be a plywood belt guide to add slow motion control to the altitude axis of my 8" reflector telescope. I’m hoping to keep this thing cranking out cool stuff regularly.
Using straight up EMT conduit, with a scotch brite finish applied.
Actually, I tried but the forum software told me I couldn’t since I was a new user. Not sure how many posts you need until you can post multiple photos.
Does anyone know where I can get some straight up extension wires that will plug into the existing series wiring kit? Each axis needs another 3ft or so for a super clean install. Id rather not have to source the wire and connectors separately, strip, crimp, solder, etc if possible.
Thanks for the reply. I bought a series kit already…just need a tad more length to keep everything neat and tidy. My wire from eBay should be here Saturday. Hope to be cutting by then!
Not much progress. I got the wiring started with tape measure “cable chains” and un-shrunk shrink tube. The extensions should arrive today, along with more gt2 belt since I miscalculated and didn’t buy enough. I’m also out of almost all filament, and with current events incant get any for a month for any more odds and ends that need printing.
I did print a bracket to hold an old atx power supply for the table:
So far I’ve only done some test moves with terminal commands. I’ll trim the rest of the zip ties once I am satisfied with the belt tension.
I have a question though: my steppers sing. They make a pretty high pitch ring whole stationary. Is this normal?
The steppers get pretty warm too, with no load applied. I’m running a mini Rambo.
I’m also wondering about keeping her square. I know since I didn’t do the dual endstops that I shouldn’t expect perfection, but it really seems like one stepper starts moving justba split second before the other, and the axis twists slightly before moving linearly.
My plan was to hold a large machinist square to the rails on the gantry while powering up up, but it seems like motors don’t start holding until after I order a move, rather than right when 1st powers on. Is there a way to engage the motors I don’t know about?
