In case anyone was interested just how badly you can mistreat this design and still get useful results, I present to you, my super Janky MPCNC.
We’ll start with the fact that the 3D printer I used couldn’t print the XYZ part in once piece. So it was printed in two pieces and super glued together.
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Then, I didn’t have the proper materials to build a decent table, so I used pallet wood and scrap ply for the installation.
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This, as you might imagine, presented some flatness issues. Thus, for critical applications, I build a leveling table. Another hunk of scrap ply with a grid of holes routed into it. Each hole has a recess for a 1/4-20 nut.
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That’s supported by 1/2 inch bolts with big old knobs routed out of MDF. My 3D printing plate is the glass door off an IKEA bookshelf, covered in painter’s tape. I’ve been able to get it within 2 thousandths of level across its 14 inch length using a dial indicator that I printed a magnetic mount for.
It’s been used to make the template for routing holes in a cornhole board (just a circle, not that interesting), some goodies to hand out to fans (I’m also an author).
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And some fancy stuff for a clock my brother is making.
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Not bad for a cobbled together pile of broken rules!
Thanks everyone! And yes, the very first full print after I got it running was a new XYZ plate. Impressively, the darn thing is still going strong on the glued together original!
Oh! Worth pointing out, I just finished printing the parts for my buddy to attempt to build a 36x36x12 inch version. I’d suggested that was… inadvisable, since he only wants to use it to 3D print and that sounds like WAY overkill. He was rather insistent on giving it a shot. I figured if it didn’t live up to expectations he could downsize it to something more sane, at least height-wise.
Use a bowden setup with the extruder on the center gantry, and keep speeds on the low side and it will work but it will take forever to print something remotely large enough to make any of those dimensions worth it. You are going to need to wire up one hell of a heated bed.
My Hat off to you! Job well done with all that recycle material and got a printer to do a descent Job. I got all the best material for my MPCNC build and can get it to print a simple Basie Crown.
