EDIT: This is now a build post since I have gathered most of the info I need
I’ve been working with 3D printers for a couple years, and am reasonably familiar with wiring and hardware, but I’m lacking in the Marlin firmware and CNC department. From my reading on here and based on the amount of posts on MPCNC vs Lowrider section, I think the MPCNC is more beginner friendly and has been through more iterations? I’m looking to primarily cut wood, but maybe aluminium sometimes. I’m in Australia and I think I will buy the kit and flat parts from Ryan, and print the parts myself (Sidewinder X1). I’ve seen how Teaching Tech added endstops and changed some things in the firmware for the LowRider, so I’m wondering if endstop mounts are built into the MPCNC and its firmware? How much harder is it to operate the machine without these? I’d like to cut out mostly smaller things that would easily fit into the 0.6x0.6m recommended build size of the MPCNC, but I’m also looking to sometimes cut out some bigger things like a skateboard deck. Would it be worth building the LowRider for that reason?
Thanks in advance for the help and sorry if any of this is completely wrong!
This is a big step. You are familiar with thinking in 3D and understand coordinate systems. The firmware of Marlin for the MPCNC and Lowrider are all mature and should give you no problem, especially if you buy a pre-flashed board from Ryan. It isn’t that difficult to flash the firmware if you get a standard board.
When you order for the MPCNC, you specify dual endstops so that you get the hardware kit and the firmware pre-flashed for their use. There is a part on thingiverse you have to dowload and print which is the roller platte that has a spot to affix the endstops. Then there are hard stops to put on the belts. Not quite familiar with the Lowrider and how those are attached.
It is not any harder. Squaring up the gantries before use is either a manual job using hard stops that you work out for ensuring the two sides of each axis are not out of square. If you go with dual enstops, its a little fiddling with getting the wiring connected correctly and plugged into the board. Use isn’t that difficult. It’s the setup that can throw folks who aren’t used to wiring and control boards. The the fact that you have do get all the connections correct and the belt clamps which they endstops bump against in the correct spot all contribute to complexity.
Use the recommended dimensions for the MPCNC if you aren’t going to be cutting larger signs and stuff. How many skateboard decks are you going to cut? You can set up a job to feed in material for the MPCNC bit by bit and cut things larger. It’s all about setting up a good reference plate to slide material against that has a good straight edge.
If you think you are going to do more small projects like engraving things or want to do aluminum, seems like the MPCNC is more for your use.
Lowrider is definitely mature and there don’t seem to be issues that I have read on the forum which make the design suspect.
I wish I would have stuck with the orginal footprint for the MPCNC and built my table for that. Then I’d have a much smaller build and material investment in the table. What I spend extra in making an outsized table for a 700x700 work area I could have spent toward a bigger setup for the lowrider.
Now I know why you’re so praised on here! Thanks so much for the help! It’ll only be one or two skateboard decks so that job setup to feed material through sounds fine. I guess I’ll go with the MPCNC (the series version), buy the extra wiring kit, and possibly upgrade to dual endstops later on?
Kind of a sore subject. Here is the mega-topic on it. It starts fine but the later posts are tough when the conversation on social media indicated that there would be an impasse.
I listen to the Melt Zone he does with Stephan and I got a bit ruffled when he seemed to advocate for creators protecting their work. E3D having to rename the Hermes because of trademark violations.
Thomas makes some awesome videos and I place trust in his words. I’ll either be self sourcing for MPCNC or LowRider, or be building a Root3. Open source and community input helps innovate IMO, and I’ll continue to support that ideology.
This is a rough subject. I also support open source, and I run Linux on all my machines. It definitely helps the whole world. But, Ryan is a great guy, and if you appreciate the design, you should try to keep him in business. It’s a one man show, and he does a great job of designing the machines to be self sourced anywhere. E3D is open source, but can you build a Hemera yourself? What about Prusa? Open source legends, but good luck finding their new board if you didn’t already buy from them, or their heated beds.
FWIW, Ryan has never claimed the MPCNC was open source. He also is very kind and helpful to anybody that builds it themselves. In these forums, he is on here all the time supporting people who don’t pay him a dime. Add to that, the fact that the new design iterations, the forums here, the firmware configurations, their testing, and the shop (which is a good benefit, even if you don’t use it) are all here because of the economy of V1Engineering.
Feel free to self source, but if you’re trying to make a moral argument, maybe spend some time helping out. Adding some support here or something. Paying it forward to the project, instead of just making a point of not paying Ryan anything.
Ryan really does like to see the V1 Machines grow up and cut stuff, even if it doesn’t pay him. I think he’d probably say he was happy to see your machine either way.
About the endstops. It is really hard for 3D printer users to walk away from endstops, but you really don’t need them. In CNC, the origin is on the workpiece, not on the machine, so endstops don’t really make sense. The Dual Endstop configurations are mostly to be able to adjust the slant of the gantry to make it square. Setting the 0,0 location is a side effect.
Yeah fair point. Apologies if my last post came off the wrong way, I don’t think Ryan’s a bad guy by any means, I just think that particular situation could have been handled a lot better considering Thomas’ influence on the community. Unfortunately it has probably turned away a lot of people that would have been happy to throw money Ryan’s way. Right now, I’m looking at four machines and trying to decide which one to build. The RS-CNC32 looks like the most stable build, but lacks the community support provided here. MPCNC and Lowrider2 seem to be much easier to build, but have disadvantages when it comes to stability I think. Root3 is a good compromise between the two with the FaceBook group and it’s quality. I’m a bit stuck with which to build to be honest. If I do end up going with one of Ryan’s machine, I’ll certainly send some money his way via a donation or buying the kit. To design something like this is and release it to the community is a testament to him. I’ll most likely be designing an adapter for a router that is more commonly found here in AU, as the DeWalt is priced quite high here. I’ll make sure to check what license I need to publish it with to Thingiverse
I’m going to pull the trigger on the MPCNC, but will have to self source as shipping is 60USD to where I am for the bundle and LCD. Hopefully I don’t have any trouble with flashing firmware to the mini rambo and LCD. Will swing some dosh @anon74685196 's way for his hard work and will design an Ozito router mount for all the Aussies to use. Need to make it look sexy so I’m gonna cable manage the shit out of it and go with a silver black colour scheme. Excited to see where this goes. Peace
I come from 1 year of 3D printing background. I just finished my MPCNC and got it working this weekend.
Get the dual end stops. You type two gcode commands and it automatically squares the machine perfectly as long as your end stops are adjusted correctly (only have to do it once depending on the ones you print). After it homes to 0,0 it’ll be square as long as the steppers stay on. Then I just command it to move until it gets to my designated “real” 0,0 based on the CAM and do a G92 x0 y0. Now it’s still square and in the correct place to do a job (except the Z).
Will do! Now that I’m self sourcing I feel like I’ll learn a bit more about the components. I’ll go with a full sized RAMBO 1.4 unless you have any better suggestions?
No idea. I bought the kit from V1. It was plug and play. I didn’t wanna deal with firmware and flashing code. I think anything with enough stepper drivers will work.
Little update: I’ve gathered together all the parts I need and will be sourcing mainly from AliExpress, with a few exceptions such as the 6 pin terminal block and silicone grease. I will post a BOM once I’m back home with exactly where I sourced all these components. I’m going with a clone Rambo 1.4, Endstops and Dual Firmware, and software will be Fusion 360 and some some other CAM software probably. It came to about $330 USD but I have no doubt there’ll be a few things I’ve missed. I should be able to cut that down if I go with a router instead of spindle though. Does anyone have a good source on AliExpress for mechanical endstops and the necessary wiring to connect them to a Rambo? I’ve found some already but not sure how good they’ll be. Thanks for all the help fellas!
Any endstops will be fine. They are pretty simple. Just don’t connect to the (+) side, only s and (-).
There was a problem with some of the cloned rambos. They somehow didn’t have the right pinout, so they needed some changes to the pins files. I am not sure where those posts were. Hopefully they have fixed it by now.
I’ve been having a huge issue with teaching tech’s upgrade. I understand the shipping charge may seem a bit high, but do yourself a favor, wait till tomorrow until the Rambo boards are back in stock and buy everything from Ryan. The $60 shipping will be so worth it !
