I have to say, I am in love with this machine. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my LowRider build too, but there’s something immensely satisfying in watching this dual-endstop beast zero itself out. And with the Z-touch plate, there’s no more back breaking or standing on my head trying to get the machine ready for a job. Just simple and easy. And I’ll admit I spent a lot more time getting every last thing perfectly square on this machine than I did with my first build.
Footprint: 37" x 29"
Usable: 600x440mm (23.6" x 17.3")
I’m not going to tease you with pages of printed parts. Let’s get straight to the money shot!
Please note: Not an official MPCNC Primo logo. I was just messing around.
Now for some details:
The foundation is a plywood torsion box (3/4" faces, 1/2" slats), plus another 3/4" MDF for the top face. The individual slats were cut on my LowRider build.
I added 40mm fans to the steppers to keep everything nice and cool. They are wired to distribution blocks on the side of the machine. They run on their own 12V power supply, but turn on automatically with the main unit by way of a 12V automotive relay.
Raspberry Pi with V1Pi and CNC.js.
Power and spindle switches. The spindle itself is activated by relay strip from the fan header, but can be defeated at the switch in an emergency.
Remixed midway risers for X-axis support. The original design came from Thingiverse but they did not have the proper clearance for the bolt heads, so I had to cut out some notches with my limited Fusion 360 skills. All good now; nice design, otherwise. I may add a link to the updated STL at some point, but it got resized by a factor of 10 somewhere along the way and needs to be corrected.
The feet are elevated 3/4" over the table surface. This allows for the spoilboard to be set below the feet. These images are of initial test results and verifying of machine operation — performed after tramming the spindle. The final spoilboard will be a solid piece instead of scraps and won’t have brad nails in it, though the machine didn’t seem to care about the nails. I used a 1/2" Freud dovetail bit to surface the current boards, as I couldn’t locate my clearance bit at the time. The spoilboard itself is recessed 1/4" into the table top.
Equipment drawer and spot for LCD panel (if ever needed) and Z-touch plate.
I’m working on some ideas for dust collection. Rapid prototyping was done on the laser cutter using poster board to determine precise fitment before firing the acrylic part. Initial concepts fit well, but the hope of using the Z-axis tubes for vacuum (per Thingiverse) did not yield enough suction. This is a work in progress and more will come. The neodymium magnets are plenty strong, but I think it needs some sort of pin/slot engagement between the attachment and the base to ensure it doesn’t slide horizontally.
I would say that figuring out the dust collection is high on my list of things to do…oof.
As a final note, I’m thinking about downsizing my LowRider to handle 24"x48" sheets and gaining back some space. It seems like it may be the best combination of form and function.
Thanks for looking! If you have any questions, let me know. I look forward to seeing more of your builds too.