Portable Lowrider in Annapolis

I should have been more specific in stating I was noticing the metal square tube guide rails that the Y & Z gantry rides on. That is what my question was about.

Its electrical strut and can be found at home depot in 10 foot lengths for about $25. They are located in the electrical aisle. I used the narrower 3/4" but kind of wish I had used the wider 1.5".

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Superstrut-10-ft-14-Gauge-Half-Slotted-Metal-Framing-Strut-Channel-Gold-Galvanized-ZB1400HS-10/100164315

I may not believe in destiny but man, this might make me a believer :slight_smile: I just got those exact sawhorses for christmas and have been watching some low rider videos on youtube in preparation for a a build…When it came time for a a prtable build, the EXACT thing I’m looking for comes up in the forums…

Anyways, fantastic design and thanks for sharing–I’ll post back when I’m done (hopefully soon…)

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I put together the “MC low rider” in fusion 360. It’s just based off pictures and Michael’s dxf files…but I wanted to see it “as built” before I started ordering and cutting pieces.

Since it’s Mike’s design I’ll send it to him if desired and he can share with whoever…

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Looks good to me. Flattered to see somebody using my ideas.

After using mine a bit I would design it for 2 panels or 4 (or both). What I’ve fount is that 72" isn’t very useful. 48x48 covers 90% of what I cut and the other 10% need the full 96" without much in between .

Good luck on your build!

Hi Stu -
Would you mind sharing those files? .dxf works fine (I’m in Rhino)… I’m struggling with how I want my platform/base to work, and the breakdown of this design has it as a front runner.

Like you, I need to see it CAD’d out though before I dive in. I am not that gifted in the shop to work without plans!

Andy

I’ve made some revisions but can send those to you…You’ll have to decide which version you want to go with.

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That’s too funny as I built my mine with scraps from my numerous shop mistakes. The brackets were designed to use what was laying around.

I’ve had good luck with mine but it does take some tuning each time you set it up. Level the sawhorses first. Next square the rails to the brackets. Finally establish your long axis offsets as you may not have the rails precisely lined up the same as the last time you used it set the offset using M666 and save it to firmware. Figure setup time of about 20 minutes to get it squared and ready to cut.

Mike - I love it! Quick question, did you use 8’ pieces of plywood for your long axis? I’d like to be able to handle the occasional 4x8 sheet.

I wasn’t sure if you spliced pieces to make it longer than 8’.

Thanks!

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Mine are 90" which gives me 74-75 inches of cutting space.You would need 10 foot ply or splice it to cut a full sheet.

@Mcunn So I have progressed quite a bit with your design and am now giving some thought to how to store it when not in use. How did you store the main LR body in your setup? All I can think of is using a few ladder supports on the wall and hanging it off that…

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The plan was to build 2 stubby rails and mount them to the wall so it sits on its wheels just like when in use… haven’t gotten around that one yet and for now I just keep it on a shelf.

This is fantastic! I posted in “advise” looking for a modular portable table design for very large format projects. What I described, or at least what I had in my head, is exactly what you have here. I’m building the new LR3, and will adapt this overall concept and design to fit the form and function of the LR3.

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Agreed- this break down table is an awesome example of ingenuity. I’m also currently building an LR3 and immediately saw that this format would be perfect for my small shop. I’m considering using my current outfeed table to support the LR3 so it can cut parts for its own table.

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Keep in mind you will need to tweak the bracket for a lr3 if you want to cut full sheets I think my design is about 2,5 inches too narrow for lr3.

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Yep, got it.

I was curious- did you consider using the ‘2x4’ sized holes in your saw-horses to place the perpendicular rails, essentially the saw horses act like the cradle? Just something that came to mind when I saw the second pic in the post

Thanks

The design was about having the outer rails be outside of the table. Which I needed to be 58 inches for a full sheet on lr2. It would be a good way to bootstrap a build though.

Havnt put much thought into how the design translates for a lr3 yet. My instinct is to just slap a 6" strip of ply to the top of my rails and call it a day. If I was starting from scratch like you I think I’d just buy a door slab, throw it on a couple of sawhorses and attach the lr to it for a 2z4 cutting area.

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What’s the logic for tapering the under-supports where it is rather thick in the middle and tapers down at the end?

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The LR2 wrapped under the table so the table could only be about 3" thick. The wings were my solution to that issue… not needed on lr3 but they do reduce weight and look cool!

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It makes it look faster!

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