I am thinking of getting going on this, but I have no room for the full sheets. If I could do my projects with 2"x4" precut sheets of ply or plastic, I think I am golden.
Assuming I go with a 28"x52" xy travel, is this any sort of problem for setup/programming/Flash etc?
That’s about the size I have. I think it works great.
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I have got nearly the same, 120x85ish working area. I know Ryan says X should be the shorter side, but I opted to max X the full width (as did Aza, as far as I know) and have a shorter table (Der Froschkönig - Lowrider 3 in Oldenburg, Germany - #64 by Tokoloshe). This way I have the possibilty to make a longer table some day or build a second one for outside. I don’t know if this is ever going to happen, but I could.
Only problem is cutting the strut plates then. I did it on my Primo and flipped them over, but for that you need at least ~71cm in Y on the new LR if you went full width.
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This is a main reason (as I understand it) why Y should be the larger axis. Also for rigidity and power requirements, the span of the gantry should be as short and lightweight as possible. This provides a superior specification machine for a given cutting area if it is done this way. That said, if your span is less than 4’, you are well within specifications for the machine.
@DougJoseph has a list of parts to swap the axes if you want to use the run of the table as the X axis, for me, it was way easier just to visualize the table differently. (to swap axes you need to reverse one axis homing.)
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Yep, and a “how to” documentation on it as well.
Below are both local links with info on edits to firmware, and external links for printable parts.
I’m glad I swapped the X and Y. I know it is truly only about how you think about it, but it also eases my design process since my laptop screen is wide, and now my LR3 X axis is “wide.”
LINK: full details on both Marlin firmware edits and LowRider v3 hardware/wiring changes here: Swapping X and Y Axis on a lowrider - #31 by DougJoseph - General - V1 Engineering Forum
LINK: parts option for metal XZ plates: Printables
LINK: parts option for printed XZ plates: Printables
LINK; You can follow my LowRider upgrade from v2 to v3, here: On upgrade path: LR2 -> LR3, Clarksburg, WV, USA - Your Builds - V1 Engineering Forum
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I think the actual intent is not so much “x on shorter side” but rather “gantry on shorter side” — assuming the short side is around 4 to 4.5 feet, and the long side is about 8 to 10 feet or whatever. The point, as I see it, is not that X cannot be the long axis, but that you want your gantry being short axis. The gantry being within a reasonable length, but on the longer side — because the “normally” longer side is short, pending possible lengthening of table, seems OK. The “x being on short side” is (I think) more about an arbitrary choice because of need to standardize things.
Yeah, could also be. 
I now have a wide table without belts or rails in the front and am happy. Tomorrow I am going to print your cable chain holder. 
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That’s a good place to be. There is an old saying, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” This new saying is also true: “If the guy who built the LowRider is happy, then the guy who built the LowRider is happy.”
An advantage of having the wide side be the open side is you can then position wide and very long pieces in, and with stops and program breaks, move your stock and then restart the program. As long as you have supports for your workpiece and precise positioning/squaring when you move your workpiece.
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