Vertically mounted large format MPCNC to avoid conduit flexing problem

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Advice
1

Hi all

I have very limited space in my apartment so I’ve been thinking about getting a MPCNC and mounting it vertically. One thing this has made me realise is that I think this might offer the opportunity to create a very long vertical axis allowing you to cut much larger material. Gravity wouldn’t flex the conduit because it is mounted vertical not horizontal. Does this make sense to people? Has anyone tried it before? I was thinking around 50cm wide by 150cm tall or so.

Thanks

2

I am afraid you might still run into issues with flex on the long axis and the steppers struggling to pull the full weight of the center carriage back up unless counterweights are added.

Varying Z depth due to not enough weight pressing down on the end mill causing the long axis tubes to flex away from the work piece instead of toward the work piece when the end mill moves into the work piece.

The carriage would head toward the bottom as soon as you power down the steppers. This could be partially offset by connecting counterweights to the carriage but you would need those exactly balanced to prevent any minor twisting of the carriage.

3

You might be interested in the maslow cnc. https://www.maslowcnc.com/

The maslow design solves the problem of putting pressure on the work piece.

 

Vertical mounted Lowrider (don’t know about mpcnc) has been discussed before and has me really thinking about it a the moment for a plasma table like so:

If you look carefully you can see the pullies and counterweight in the back of this machine. I thought maybe some 23.5mm electrical conduit and the mpcnc’s roller parts could be used as linear guides on the back side for the counterweight to keep them from swaying…

Here is another vertical cnc discussion: https://www.v1engineering.com/forum/topic/vertical/

4

The Maslow is huge, about 10 feet long. It is also loses all accuracy near its edges and while it can hold a 4x8 sheet it cannot cut the entire thing. Have you considered using the mpcnc flat and storing upright?

5

I came across this recently and wondered if anyone has experimented with it? I know it’s an old post, but thought it was interesting enough to follow up on.