Tips for a large build?

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Troubleshooting
1

I’m looking at doing a moderately large build. I’m planning to use 2 Ikea organizer shelves as the base (about 6ft in each direction, 18" high with a nice grid of wood underneath for support) with a 3/4" plywood sheet on top to provide a level surface. I think this should reasonably provide a 4x5 ft work area with enough room for a controller box and a small laptop on the side. I figure I’ll use the 1" conduit version with mid span supports and keep my working Z area to about 4".

Is there anything else I’m missing? I plan to use this for woodworking, hopefully with complex interlocking joinery, which means I’ll need fairly tight repeatable tolerances. Is this realistic for this size of a build?

2

I have a 4’ x 4’ version. I regret not going to stainless tube. I would strongly recommend spending the extra and going to stainless. Once I make enough money with my rig I am going to reprint and upgrade.

3

Which conduit size did you use? I’m having trouble finding 1" stainless steel at a reasonable price…

4

I used 3/4 EMT… Yes it gets quite expensive in excess of 4’. Gonna cost me like $120 to redo mine from a local supplier

5

I’ve not had any issues with the 3/4 emt on mine.

6

Barry, how large is your build? And are you using it for wood cutting?

7

I can cut almost a 4’ by 4’ sheet of plywood. I only use it for cutting. I have a rostock max for printing.



My advise is build it big with emt. If you find it to be too saggy or whatnot, then upgrade. Emt is cheap.

8

I have a 1" stainless setup with a 25" x 49" cutting area. No supports. I am however using aluminum for the the Z axis. I did buy stainless for these as well but it’s really difficult to drill the holes for the tool holder in stainless (read I’ve destroyed some bits trying). The corner posts are also aluminum. So only x and y are stainless. 3 ‘x’ pieces and 3 ‘y’ pieces that is. This is a new machine with only a few test cuts so far so I can’t tell you much about it’s performance at this point.

9

Well… for the first time I did some actual router work (been working strictly with laser up till yesterday) and I am quite impressed with how well it did.

I was just doing some engraving so no real heavy work but it came out perfect. Circles were circles, cut was nice and clean.

So I partially retract my previous statement about regretting not going stainless.