Hey everyone in the MPCNC community. Some weeks ago I finished my ZenXY Table (ZenXY Espresso Bar ) and in the background of some of the pictures I noticed my very long procrastinated MPCNC Primo I abandoned because of the severe procrastination issues that make projects take forever in my workshop sometimes.
But I found so much joy in my ZenXY and still wish so much for a functioning CNC that I decided to finish it at long last. I basically started building it when the Primo first was released (IIRC it was around September 2020) and it just collected dust ever since I finished assembly and XY-cablemanagement and was unsure what to do about the Z gantry. So it has been sitting there (most of the time even under a blanket) since end of September 2020.
I discovered that posting about the build somehow makes me commit to finishing it, so here we go.
It is a MPCNC Primo F version for 25mm stainless steel tubing. The work area will be 605x405mm (my main application will be 600x400mm wood panels and I do not plan on cutting any metal with it. Control board is a SKR Pro 1.4 with TMC 2209 steppers, the router will be a Makita RT0700 and I plan to try and make it work with LinuxCNC in the long run, but first will follow along the well written tutorial with repetier/ESTLCAM to get the grips of it.
I have extensively documented the parts I bought so I will also share the total cost for it as soon as I relocate the file, to give inside and cost estimate for fellow users. Iām from the south of Germany and yeah: welcome to the longest procrastinated MPCNC build (at least in my garage).
LinuxCNC is used in some of the plasma tables here. It has so much more capability, but it needs a dedicated computer. It is definitely interesting though. I really should just try it, just to be more familiar with it (I use Linux as my desktop, so I should be able to manage it).
Yeah, I figured as Iām out of RasPis at the moment but still have a (quite old) Thinkpad that is usually collecting sawdust under my workbench it would be the perfect time to learn about LinuxCNC I will have a look into the plasmacutter threads, thanks.
Iām also quite familiar and not intimidated by Linux at all, but there is this myth around LinuxCNC that it is really complicated. Most of the time these rumours are not true, gonna have a look myself. I will share what I learned in any case
Hereās what I got so far. Still need to figure out how to attach a cable chain to the core, but I already have a cool candidate in my printer queue that probably does the job.
While taking the pictures I noticed itās not a SKR1.4 but a SKR Pro 1.2ā¦ But that should not be a problem (I think). Iām still not sure whether I am going to leave the machine on its cart or move it to a stationary shelf, I kinda liked the idea to roll the machine out of the shop, so it can be dirty outside But Iām still not sure on how loud these machines actually are. Is it considerably louder than just using the router in a regular way? I often do this outside and that level of noise would be absolutely okay. But Iām thinking maybe resonance in the pipes or something somethingā¦
The ācontrol panelā will move into a nice enclosure after initial setup (3d printed or laser cut, not sure yetā¦) and before anything powers up there will be an emergency switch installed with a cord that I can take with me to the machine, just to make sure I have the ability to completely stop anything at any time.
I adapted these from various files I found on Thingiverse, but I have trouble relocating the prints on Thingiverse, the search there is abysmal sometimesā¦ unfortunately.
Since my cable chains had other dimensions I had to re-fit them. For the Gantry I have an L-shaped aluminum extrusion that the cable chain is going to sit on. And for the X and Y I made a bracket that clamps the cable chain to the steppers.
I attached the file for the XY thing for you, I have a 40x20mm cable chain. It might explode on you if you change any parameter since Iām still absolute novice in CAD It is a ZIP file containing the Fusion360 file. Could not upload directly. nema17 bracket fuĢr 20x40 cable chain v5.f3d.zip (324.8 KB)
@supraguy shared his tube-mounted core setup along with his core mount with me and I remixed it to come up with this Feel free to use it as a reference idea or as a part. My CAD skills are minimal. I made the extension thicker because I snapped the first one in half trying to get it off the bed, but changed it by copying, cropping, and overlapping, so it is a hacked up result at best. Discretion advised. Note that it works on my machine thoughā¦
Heck, I created that setup in TinkerCad, so it wasnāt brilliant CAD skills in the first place, but itās been working on my machine for more than a year. I have a shorter piece at the core, with the longer on the tube, so my drag chain goes back to the side elevated, with the router power cord in it, too. So long as youāre not anchoring anything to the Z tower though, itās all good. Iām plenty happy to see that my design is useful.
It caught my eyes back in the day because tidy cable stuff is a kink of mine The Z mount looks very promising and the XY mounts are adapted for the primo as well. Thought I share it here, especially since @olijouve asked about it as well
Thank you also @orob because basically right after I saw your picture I suddenly remembered how the part looked I was desperately thinking of and even a vague remembrance of the profile pic of the dude who uploaded it. So I found it again on Thingiverse. Brains work in all kind of miraculous ways
Shortly after my opening post Omicron.B2 came by and shattered our plans for spring.
This project will now once again sleep in my workshop, while we recover and sort things back to normal. At least I have built the control box, solved the Z Cable thing and flashed the firmwareā¦ and had lots of fun doing it.
So I still have the MPCNC on my to do list, I absolutely consider it worth it and it will be the first thing I pick up as soon as my time budget allows for workshop time.
i got exactly this question on instagram. no it is not, it goes above the y-rail at xmax and attaches to the rail mount on the core. i have extracted some pictures i sent as message back then since i did not make newer picsā¦ but i think u can see.
i designed the holder from scratch since the other one i found and took basically all the ideas from had issues with printability and did not fit my particular extrusion.
I will have a look into the plasmacutter threads, thanks.
