A few questions about the Lowrider

LowRider CNC Advice
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Hi, all -

I recently stumbled onto the Lowrider and have gotten quite interested. It’s a very clever design and I’m considering building one. However, I have a few questions.

(1) I’ve read that the Lowrider was inspired by the Crawlbot, a machine I think is really cool. And I see some of the Crawlbot’s influence on the Lowrider’s design. However, one thing I can’t tell is whether the X-axis is adjustable on the Lowrider the way it is on the Crawlbot. Is it? Or does one permanently set the X dimensions?

(2) Related to the above question, must you use a table, or like the Crawlbot, can you simply use the material your cutting as your Y-tracking material?

(3) I don’t own a 3D printer, but have long tinkered with getting an inexpensive one. How large a printing volume is required to print the Lowrider components?

(4) I’ve seen a couple of posts about mounting the Lowrider more vertically rather than horizontally. I believe a few folks were even pressing ahead with those designs. Any news to report? Success? Problems? I’d be interested in doing the same thing.

Thanks to all! Great tool! Great forum!

Eric

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  1. It’s adjustable, but will take a little more work to do it than the crawlbot I think. Mainly just loosen a few screws to slide one side in and retention the belt.

  2. I don’t see why using the plywood you’re cutting wouldn’t work, not sure if anyone has done that yet though. I’m not sure how many of us have built one yet.

  3. Pretty sure any 3d printer can print the parts, none of them are much larger in diameter than a soda can, and about half the height.

  4. So far all I’ve seen is talk/planning, AFAIK no one has done it yet. Counter weighting the carriage is going to be an issue.

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W.r.t 2) I’ve been running without the bottom wheels touching and it doesn’t hurt anything. If you want accurate Z, then it will need to be flat. The belts attach to the end of the board. And you’ll need some thicker plywood. 3/4" at least.

If you used 3/4" plywood, and attached the belts to the end, and supported it pretty well, then I think it would work. I think I would at least make a 2x4 frame to go under the board, above some saw horses. You can screw it together like a wall, and it would survive a few assemblies.

If you were trying to do 1/4" or something like that, then you’d need another board under it.

These are some good questions.